Page 78 of True Sacrifice
“I meant that for the pool.” I said like it was obvious.
“Vampires soak naked in the pool, darling,” he almost poised it like a question.
“Oh, so it’s like a bathtub. You get all squeaky clean and let me know when it’s my turn, then. I just need a quick shower and a new set of clothes, and we’re all good for the night, err morning.” I corrected as I looked out to see the sun had poked out the horizon behind the mountain as light filtered to the surrounding ground.
“Wait here.” He turned and went through the other door attached to this bath house kind of thing. He came back a few minutes later with a bundle of clothes in his arms.
“I will have to have you fitted tomorrow, darling. We can also start your training on vampire basics. I’ll have an armoire delivered tomorrow, as well. I brought you a pair of my boxers, some shorts with a tie, and a few shirts to wear until then.” He put the bundle on a ledge. “You can clean up first.”
With that, he turned and walked back through that other door. I stood there, mostly baffled at what had happened between us. It definitely didn’t feel the same.
Thankfully, there was soap near the faucet for the shower. It got relatively hot, which was what I needed to scrub this many layers of blood from my body. I did not know how many people I had drunk from before Jace stepped in. I even managed to cake blood into my hair.
None of the blood I had tasted tonight was anywhere near as good as Jace's. My demons tasted that good. I wondered where they were and if they were looking for me. I had figured out I was in mid-realm, which was close to the human realm. But even if they were here, how would they find me?
I hoped the fact that I was a vampire would lead them toward the vampire kingdom. They knew my sire had possibly contacted me. Searching the vampires would be at the top of my list of places to check. But if they looked when I was held in the prison, they certainly hadn’t found me. I hoped they hadn’t checked it off the list as a potential place for me.
I needed to concentrate on getting myself out of here. I just needed to figure out where the nearest portal was. After my shower, I got into the pool for a quick soak while watching the morning greet me. I didn’t get this when I was in Hell.
I reached my mind out to collect all the birds I could find. Their minds were so easy to get into, it barely used any power. I sent them out in all the different directions to find a realm portal. At least that power was working just fine off vampire blood as well.
Just hold on boys, I’ll find my way back to you.
CHAPTER32
JAX
Tonight was the pop-up concert. We had followed the leads and kept track of the social media postings, dug into the research, and figured out the puzzle. This better fucking work, or else I’m going with Jasper’s ever-increasing urge to burn down realms. It had been nearly two weeks since we last saw her. Lucifer sent word a few hours later saying that he didn’t know where she was, but he assured us we would feel it if she was dead. It didn’t help at all.
We were waiting in the woods. The concert was still several hours off, but some humans were filtering into the area with large boxes and arms full of other equipment. Justice was using the local birds the way Mor had planned. That much was clear from her journal ramblings.
Even after Justice poured over the pages, we still did not know where she had gone or what clue she had figured out. Most of her ramblings pointed toward the plan of waiting for the next concert, so that was the plan we went with as well. Justice’s body was hunched over and cuddling with a rock while he pushed into as many birds as he could manage. He was still somewhat in his body, but only just. Mor had recorded being able to survey with twenty-seven birds, according to her journal. Justice was pushing it with eight.
Jasper was standing nearby, dressed in a leather jacket and a band shirt. Something mortal. He was planning on going into the crowd during the concert. Plan was to find any realm jumpers, follow them back and hope it leads us to Mor.
“Nothing yet.” Justice muttered, his eyes pitch black. Even Justice’s monster was out to play.
Hours later, the sun had dipped below the horizon long ago, the concert was ready to start. I could see the flickering of the giant fire as it weaved its warmth and light through the dense trunks. I tapped Justice to signal it was time for his last power-up.
“Ugh, really.” Justice made a face as I pulled the bag of demon blood from the backpack. There was enough Hell magic in there to replenish his power loss, but it certainly didn’t taste good. We needed him to be at full strength, though.
“Drink it down. It’s almost showtime, asshole.” A bit of blood wouldn’t kill him.
“I can’t even add some cyanide to it?” he pouted.
“Just drink the fucking thing,” I growled out. I couldn’t understand how he had been so calm. All week. Even now. It was like he wasn’t even worried.
Justice rolled his eyes and drank until the very last drop was gone. He licked his lips, which only smeared the blood from his tongue to them. Mor always did the same thing after she finished drinking from Justice and Jasper. My heart physically stung as her absence dug into me. The moment I saw her, I would hold her against my skin.
“Justice is powered up. We’ll be watching from the sky. Send a blast up from the fire if you need us to come in.”I didn’t have any reason to worry about this part. We have hunted together as a pack for centuries now. I saw Jasper’s form head towards the party, as the beat of the music started through the speakers in the distance.
Justice was already back into the minds of the birds, and I settled in to watch the dark of the forest. I pulled back into the shadows and watched.
The entire concert droned on without even the slightest tingle of any realm other than the human one. Fuck. That was our only lead. Fucking nothing.
“I’ve got movement near the realm portal,” Justice announced, and my heart galloped.
It was happening. We were going to find her.
