Page 11 of Hidden Sacrifice
I wore something like a modern adaptation of a Xena Warrior Princess outfit, complete with a leather tassel skirt. My hair was back to blonde, the spell wore off sometime in the night, and I had it tied up in two buns. They looked like little ears.
“I am going to fight in this.” I put my hands on my hips. My thigh-high buckled boots chimed as I moved. Maybe those would be a problem. Quickly pulling them off and my socks, I felt much more confident trying to evade barefoot. “Thanks for the suggestion; that is so much better.”
Jasper rolled his eyes as his arms came to cross disapprovingly across his chest.
“Ready, Justice?”
He was squatting, balancing on the balls of his toes on the chair. He had a wild smile across his face, like he had just opened a present he couldn’t believe someone picked out just for him.
“Whenever you are, my fox.”
“Ground rules. Jasper and I will go outside. Give me a thirty-second head start, then find me. You lose if you cannot find me before Jax and Jace get back. You must also catch and secure me if you find me, then bring me to Jasper. In that case, you win. Jasper, of course, all you have to do to win is not help me.”
Both boys nodded, and I saw the determination in Justice’s gaze. He loved the hunt.
Using Jax’s power, I opened the door to the cabin and shot into the woods using vampire speed. Did I think I would be able to hide from Justice for who knows how long? No. Was it going to be fun as hell to try? Abso-fucking-lutely.
I spent my first precious seconds gaining as much distance from the cabin as I could. Once deep woods surrounded me, I closed the mental doorway to all my mates, in case Justice tried to use that to locate me.
As soon as the doorway closed tightly, I zipped off to another location. Passing trees full of animals that scurried away as I approached. Fuck, they would give me up to Justice in an instant. Just their panic and sudden movement would be a dead giveaway.
Switching to shadow mode slowed my movements, but I was otherwise primarily undetectable. I wish we could be doing this at night, though. Making my way through the forest, the animals calmed as I moved. Before long, the animals around me were entirely oblivious to my presence. Flipping through their minds, I couldn’t detect any of my boys, which meant I was far enough away from them that they wouldn’t be able to sense me.
My travels through the woods became more of a stroll as I passed silently through the trees, marveling at nature. This world was so quiet and peaceful. I continued to flip through the minds of animals as I went, never entirely forgetting my mission.
Eventually, I found my way to a slight stream bubbling across the land, fed by some mountain off in the distance. Justice was always talking about my scent; crossing the river would probably help. Using as much speed as I could muster, I ran across the water, barely letting my toes touch before propelling forward again. I made it to the other side, paused, looked back across the water, and smiled. There wasn’t a single trace that I had come this way. Maybe I could escape him after all.
I followed the water upstream until I found a waterfall. If this happened to have one of those little inlet caves behind it, it could make for a great hideout. I could station animals around the perimeter to watch while hiding in the shadows. There’s no way I could be that lucky.
I was that lucky today, or this was a terrible idea—one way to find out. I situated myself in the darkest corner I could find, making sure my entire body was shadow. Mentally, I snagged the first five animals closest to me. Three birds, a deer, and a squirrel. Good enough. Using the birds first, I surveyed the area. Nothing. Laughing to myself, maybe the most significant challenge I would have would be finding my way back to the cabin.
Waiting. That was the absolute most tedious part of all this. After what felt like hours, an itch started up inside me. How the fuck couldn’t they have found me after all this time? So much for their super demon abilities.
I switched between the animals, spreading further and further, looking for any sign of Justice or Jasper. Annoyance turned to anxiety as I continued searching for them. Nothing. What if something happened while I had my connection cut off from them, and they had no way of getting ahold of me?
Battling between the two sides of me, I ultimately caved, opening my mental connection with the boys.
“Jasper? Did you guys give up already?”I hope I came across as playful.
Neither Jasper nor Justice would be able to respond, but I could feel Jasper and Justice were in the same realm as I was, but nothing beyond that. Jace and Jax were still out of the realm. The game was still on. The other boys would probably be here looking for me if something important had happened.
Heading out of the waterfall cave, I sighed. It would have been a beautiful place to take a last stand battle against Justice. I noticed the light above was dulling, signaling that I had spent quite a long time hiding in the dark space. Jace and Jax sure were gone for a while. Little trickles of doubt seeped back into my mind. Fuck it; I was going to head back to the cabin.
If I came across Justice on the way, I am sure the anger from all this worry they have caused me with their incompetence would give me an edge in battle. With all the anxiety spilling runaway thoughts through me, I wasn’t having fun with this game anymore.
Following the water back downstream, I took birds with me. They soared high above , plotting my path back home. I ran behind them, each step hitting the soft forest floor sounding like thunder in my ears. Fuck stealth; I was getting angrier and angrier with each step.
Arriving at the cabin, the number 42 burned into a plaque by the door. A wash of relief flowed over me as I successfully made it back. Smoke rising from the fireplace as it always does in Hell. I mentally checked the cabin, and no one was inside. Fuck it; I could use a bath while I wait for them to find me. The run back had cut my bare feet in several places. They were nicely healed up, but mud and blood still splattered my thighs down to my feet.
I walked into the cabin, looking around. The table and sitting area were both empty. Rolling my eyes, I headed back to the main bedroom. The bathroom attached had an amazing copper tub that I had been dying to try out.
Opening the bedroom door, I lost all vision as I felt my mind overwhelmingly stuffed.
“Fuck off, Justice, you couldn’t find me,” I yelled out into my mind knowing he could hear me just fine.
“You mean pop out of the waterfall and tackle you?” Justice responded.
Well, fuck.
