Page 55 of Be My Sacrifice

He raises his hand above his shoulder, two of his fingers bent grotesquely back, and he nods in the negative to everyone watching. “Ignore my spirited friend here. He takes objection to anyone touching his Ms. Camrose.” Without taking his eyes off Dinah, the fucker snaps his own fingers back into place without even a flinch. The sound is so loud in the silent room that I hear the audible gasps from those watching.

The look on his face, mixed with his actions, has my heart sinking into the pit of my stomach. This guy is more dangerous than I thought. The calm and contained interior is just a mask; he is just as much a monster as we are. That siren in my head blares even louder, telling me to grab Dinah and run.

From the corner of my eye, I see Zeke raising an eyebrow at the action, before schooling his features into the mask of indifference that he wears so well, but the rigidity of his frame tells me he’s ready and waiting for the violence to commence. Neither of us will allow this man to get his hands on Dinah.

The stranger’s eyes move to mine, holding my gaze, letting me see all the anger below the surface. A fake grin crosses his lips, displaying perfectly straight, white teeth that I long to shatter with my fist. “Duly noted, Abraham.”

A bored sigh leaves Dinah, and she uses her elbow to push me back and away from the Holy Father’s man. “Games. You came to waste my time and yours to play games, Mr… ?” She lets the question hang in the air, waiting for him to fill in the gap.I don’t give a fuck what his name is... dead is what he’s going to be, if he keeps playing games with Dinah.

“David, just David.” His eyes appraise her, and I can feel much more than just interest emanating from him. He wants her for himself. He’s attracted to her. My blood pressure rises and I can feel myself already losing control again.I won’t let him have her. She’s mine.

“David? As in David who slayed Goliath?” Dinah takes a step forward, menace radiating off of her as her shoulders straighten, and she brings herself up to her full height. Her head tilts to the side, giving the impression that she’s studying him and thinking, but I know my Atasi, she’s getting ready to gut him. There’s violence in every line of her body, plain to see, if you know how to look.

“You think you’re an underdog trying to take down a giant?” A soft chuckle leaves her pouty pink lips. “Someone thinks very highly of themselves. If you are David, what need do you have of me?”

He doesn’t hesitate, and obviously hasn’t learned his lesson as he moves closer to her again. “You are the slingshot. You are the weapon that I will use to bring the whole thing crumbling down.”

His words give me pause and terrify me. My hand rises again, ready to do damage to this piece of shit, but I force myself to lower it, and remind myself Dinah can fight her own battles. She doesn’t need me, even though I want her to.

He readily admits that he means to use her, that he means her to be the weapon against the Brotherhood. Suddenly the room feels too small, and crowded with too many of our enemies. My eyes meet Zeke’s, and he pushes his body between them. His broad, hard chest bumps against David’s as his features narrow, and his nose flares in anger. He uses his body to force David back a step, and I release the air that was trapped in my lungs.

“You think we will just let you use her for your nefarious purposes? I’ll fucking snap your neck right here while your acolytes watch. I’m not afraid of you or your rebels.” He doesn’t hesitate, shoving David back with his palms on the other man’s chest, who takes a few stumbling steps back and then rights himself, as if Zeke poses no danger to him. Let’s see if he’s still playing at being cool and controlled when I rip his fucking heart out.

“He’s in an old warehouse, deep within Brotherhood-controlled territory, Dinah. I have information that he will be moved outside the country in three days. That is if he even survives that long.” His words freeze us all. My eyes widen as my gaze immediately goes to Dinah, who grabs Zeke by the arm and pulls him back.Sammy. Shit.

The fucker takes that as permission to keep speaking, even though I wish he wouldn’t. His intent with his words is sinister. He’s not here to help us get back what we lost. There is no way Dinah will ignore him now; he knows about Sammy, or at least he is claiming to.Fuck, fuck, fuck. What do we do?

“Noah Rothesay hasn’t been the most hospitable of hosts, and my informant says your guard is in bad shape, and not likely to survive without intervention.”

He pauses for dramatic effect, and to make sure he has our attention. He has it, but if he’s just lying to us, I will see him fucking dead. “You see, Dinah, I can give you what you want. I can get your Sammy back, and I can even tell you where the boy is hidden. You just have to be willing to do something for me.”

Shit, we’re fucked. Hook, line, and sinker.This guy has got all her attention. For his sake and that of everyone in this room, I hope he’s not full of it and really does know where Sammy is, otherwise, Dinah is about to go on a killing spree.Shit, she’s going to make the Purge look like a Sunday picnic.

Chapter thirty-six

The Sinner

Dinah

Iforcethetearsback and regulate my breathing. I can’t allow this asshole to know how much his words have affected me. How they are giving me hope. Hope that I can still save Sammy and my nephew. Hope that Sammy will return to me, and that we can get far away from all of this hell together. Hope that I was starting to lose, when it seemed that we would never be able to find either of them. The air becomes lodged in my throat, preventing words from escaping, even as my heart beats rapidly like a war drum inside my chest.

He’s lying. He wants to use you. They all want to use you. No one loves you, pretty little Dinah.The words slither through my mind, with the familiar inflection of the monster that haunts my dreams, causing a shiver to slide down my spine.

“What do you want her to do for you? Hmm, it seems you have enough rebel troops to overtake the Brotherhood. What could one woman do that you can’t?” Zeke’s voice breaks through my panic, as he voices the thoughts racing through my mind out loud.Trap, this is all a trap.

A frustrated sigh leaves David, the only indication so far that he’s losing his control. The man seems to be colder than the frigid northern regions of our world. He motions to the side, where there is a glass door leading to the exterior of the space. One of his rebel soldiers opens it wide, and after a brief moment of our eyes all connecting, I nod. Zeke walks out the door first, with me following and then David, with Abe bringing up the flank. I have no doubt in my mind Abe will snap David’s neck if he tries anything. The minute we are outside, the cool air hits my overheated flesh, and I can finally clear my head and take a deep breath.This is bad, really fucking bad.

“You don’t fear me, but you should. I will destroy you, David. I’ll destroy these little toy soldiers you have amassed if you are lying to me.”

David comes to a halt, and his chocolate brown eyes seem to glow in the moonlight. “That, right there, is why I need you. That is what I want. A fierce leader, ready and willing to do whatever it takes to free a person she loves.”

“You don’t want a leader; you want a figurehead and a scapegoat, in case things go wrong,” Zeke mutters, getting right back into David’s space. His display of anger on my behalf, and his protective tendencies, are causing emotions I don’t have time to process to swirl inside of me.

“I need someone who can rally the people. Someone who they would support with the usurping of power.” He uses his shoulder to push Zeke back, utterly unfazed by the larger man radiating violence and his possible death before him.Who the fuck is this guy?

“Who better to play that role than Dinah Camrose?” He turns to face me, his eyes meeting mine, and his features open so that I can read them. He is either suffering from delusions, or believes every word coming from his mouth. I don’t know which is more dangerous to me. This man either plans to kill me himself, or sacrifice me to his cause.

“The beloved daughter and sister of the men who betrayed the Order, and lost their lives trying to bring about change that would have lessened the foot on the necks of those below them. The daughter of the woman who called for vengeance against the Brotherhood, before taking her own life in a room filled with her oppressors. How about the niece of the most powerful man in our world, defying him and leading us forward in a revolution?”

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