Page 3 of Taste of Fate

“I’ll be the blood pet,” I said, resolute in my decision, even though I was jumping off a cliff into a massive unknown. But I’d always been an act first, think later kind of girl. “Sacrifice me, not her.”

“Tavia, no!” Amy pleaded from behind me. She pushed on my outspread arms, but physically, she had never been stronger than me.

“As I said, Octavia.” Nancy boomed my full name from the stage like a stern grandmother. “The council’s decision has been made.”

“Did the council even bother to ask for volunteers?” I shouted back. Of course they hadn’t, because who the hell would sign up? “You should have done that first, not this secret-meetings-late-into-the-night bullshit. I’m volunteering, so take me.”

The crowd began to pick up volume as several animated conversations took place.

“We should vote. All of us should have input on this decision,” someone shouted.

I shook my head. At this point, Amy would likely be selected by the majority anyway. The council already put her forth as their choice, and most people wanted to make the council happy.

“There’s no need for a vote when you have a volunteer right here,” I argued, stretching my hand high into the air. “Just choose me and let this be settled, Nancy.”

The chairwoman stepped away from the microphone and turned to the other council members on the stage. They huddled together, whispering amongst themselves as the crowd buzzed with energy.

People shot looks at me over their shoulders, all wearing different expressions. Some with disdain and sneers. Others with muted surprise and respect. I met all of their gazes head on, daring any of them to come forward. Where was the shit-talking and insults now, huh? Who else in this crowd of sheep was brave enough to sacrifice themselves for someone else?

After a few minutes, the council members broke up their huddle

“Octavia,” Nancy called from the stage, no longer using the microphone.

I swallowed the thick knot in my throat and straightened. “Yes?”

“Come see us in the council chamber.” She jerked her head to the side before heading down the small steps at the side of the stage.

I turned around to find Amy flat against the wall, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stared at me. If this worked, I had saved her life. But I had also broken her heart. We would never see each other again, and I’d probably be dead before the end of the week.

As much as I wanted to hug her, rocking her gently from side to side like I always did when she cried, I forced my gaze away and looked at Robin.

“Take her home,” I instructed. “Stay with her there. Don’t let anyone in but me.”

“You got it.” Robin slid an arm around Amy, her face grim as she looked out over the crowd. She didn’t like this any more than the inconsolable young woman at her side, but she was tough enough to put a brave face on, and wise enough to deescalate if things got ugly.

With a final heart-wrenching glance at Amy, I turned away and the crowd parted for me as I headed for the room where my fate would be decided.

“Why are you offering yourself in place of Miss Aster?” Nancy got right down to business as soon as the chamber door closed and the council members settled in their seats.

I squared my shoulders and met her stare head-on. “Because she already suffers enough as it is. She’s given all that she can to Sapien, and her reward for it is to be kicked around like a dog. It’s honestly abhorrent that you would make her suffer more by choosing her for this. You know she would suffer more than the average person.”

Nancy leaned back in her seat, putting down the pen she’d been twirling. “You know, I remember the last Selection. I was twelve years old and I’ll never forget that terrible scene.” Her eyes locked on mine. “They didn’t just drink her blood. As soon as the vampires received their blood pet, they tore into her like a pack of animals. They ripped her apart and ate pieces of her in front of the whole community.”

My stomach turned, but I stood firm. She was trying to intimidate me, to make me back down and save my own skin. It would never happen, though. When it came to protecting Amy, I was bullheaded to a fault.

“I remember it as well,” Peter chimed in. “I was oh, maybe fourteen. Threw up all my dinner that night and couldn’t help Pop butcher meat for months after that.”

I turned a disgusted gaze to him. He’d watched one of their own get violently slaughtered, her life cut short for no reason, and recalled it like any story from the good ol’ days.

“The silver lining was,” Nancy went on, “that poor girl didn’t suffer long.” She gave me a pointed look. “It was a brutal, terrible thing but she went quickly.”

She went quickly. Like a lame old goat that had been taken out to the pasture and shot.

The suffering aspect wasn’t even the point. It was the fact that the Half-Century Selection existed at all and was never questioned. It was the fact that they used it as an excuse to get rid of people they saw as less worthy.

The council overlooked everything Amy was great at doing, and saw her as the weakest link in the community. I’d bet my entire batch of cherry cider that was the reason they’d chosen her to be the blood pet. In their eyes, they were cutting dead weight.

In mine, they were heartless fucking bastards and Amy was worth more than the whole room of them.

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