Page 5 of Hidden Sacrifice
“Time to come back, Fox,” I whispered.
There wasn’t an answer, so I shook her. Her body moved with me as limp as a doll. Darkness seemed to leak from within me as my emotions rose uncomfortably. They coated my insides like tar while I held the lifeless body of my mate in my arms.
“Tell her to come back right now,” I barked out, looking at Jax. She wasn’t in her body at all anymore.
Jax looked up at the manor, trying to spot her bird. There were too many of them flying around to guess on sight.
“She’s not fucking answering me,” Jax muttered while anger emanated from him. I thought he looked ready to tie her up, and not in the way she liked.
“I’ll go find her. Protect our bodies.” Nothing else mattered except finding her. The hell with the risk someone wanting to come and fuck with my body while I was gone. I wrapped my arms around her tightly as I mentally snagged the nearest bird. Spinning away, my wings caught a current as I raced toward the manor.
I needed to start bringing one of my crows on hunts; they’re faster. Diving near the far corner of the house, where I last pulled free from the bird, I scanned for her soul. I found her inside the house.Are you fucking kidding me? Looking around, there didn’t seem to be any other souls around but I noticed a cellar door partially cracked open.
I pulled back into my body, my arms still securely around my mate. NowIwanted to tie her up in a way I knew she wouldn’t like. She followed instructions so well, until we were out of the bedroom.
Heart of glass or heart of stone. Hit me and find out.
Picking her up as I stood, I walked with her body cradled against my chest. “Jax, take her,” I said as I dumped her vacant body into his arms.
He scrambled a bit to grab hold of her before she hit the ground. If he couldn’t have her touching him like this, then there was no hope for him.
“She’s in the structure’s basement. I couldn’t sense any other beings around her. I’m going to go in there and get her out. Jax, you have the best shield skills, so you get to protect her meat bag until she’s back in it. Then, punish her.”
I stormed off, the long-overgrown grass pulling at my new favorite pair of pants. Footsteps sounded behind me, and I sensed it was Jasper. Waves of rage hit me from behind as he approached. My anger towards her sharpened like the end of a blade.
Jasper ripped the front door off the hinges, and the rotting beams groaned as the structure shifted before resettling. If the building collapsed and the bird died, her mind would zip back into her body. Deaths in the mind were brutal as you felt every moment leading up to the end. But at least she would be back in her body, where she should be.
Finding my way downstairs and into the extensive cellar was easy. Cool air with a hint of earthiness filled my lungs. The bird was there, twisting and flapping in a panic. She got its legs tangled in some netting, and hung upside down.
“Princess, go back to your body right now.”
The bird cawed angrily at us, temporarily giving up its struggle. I tried to pull out to double-check Mor was in this bird but found myself locked out of my power. That’s when all the pieces came clicking together.
“Grab her. We need to get out of here immediately. All our power is locked up,” I said, grabbing a knife from my holster before cutting the netting that bound the bird’s foot.
It flew straight into Jasper’s welcoming arms before we turned and ran from the room. As soon as we cleared the threshold, I felt a wave of complex emotions coming from Jasper up ahead. The emotions rushed through me, signaling that our powers were operational again.
“Back in your body now, Fox,” I yelled at Jasper, as I continued to run from the building back to where the others were waiting.
The bird flew free from Jasper’s grasp once we were outside, and I hoped that meant Mor was struggling against Jax’s wrath by now.
Approaching casually, as I sorted through the myriad emotions coming from the pack, I was happy to see Mor was tightly bound with rope. Her arms were wrapped securely at her sides. Jace was holding her up while Jax was pacing back and forth.
“Do you want to remind her why leaving her body without a single protection rune is a terrible fucking idea?” Jax snapped, looking at me as we approached.
Mor rolled her eyes, and I felt a renewed wave of anger as it moved through the group. I understood the other boys’ offense, but I didn’t understand hers.
“Care to explain, Fox?”
“I didn’t mean to get locked into the bird. I was trying to pull back into visual-only before pulling out. The bird ducked into the cellar as soon as I let go of control. Instead of pulling out, I got sucked into the bird. I tried to get back. I called for all of you. Then, I got stuck in the fucking net trying to figure out how to get out of that damn room.”
My anger towards her seemed to melt away as I felt her determination, her panic, her intent to get herself free. She was trying to listen when we told her what to do. Sometimes, you do everything right, and things still go to shit. That is why we have each other.
“Oh,” Jace said, releasing his hold on her as his anger melted away. She fell forward, and he quickly grabbed her.
“I’m going to destroy these ropes if you all do not stop fucking dropping me. You do realize I can burn these off me now, without damaging my clothes. All this control you think you have over me is an illusion I grace you with.” I imagined her hands would be on her hips if they weren’t bound.
“We were worried, Pet.”
