Page 97 of Hidden Sacrifice
“I swear if he just wandered off, I will rip his hands off right at the start of our demon moon thing you keep talking about,” I said pointedly to Mor. The feast was ended regardless, so the next step would be to grab Justice and head off to one of the mate realms until everyone was fully healed.
“Deal,” Mor said with a firm nod. Her body was tense, and I wasn’t sure if she understood what she had just agreed to. I wasn’t about to point it out, either.
Cautiously we headed down the hallway, allowing Hell to guide our turns. Mor continued to check in with the shimmering light that was Justice, finding him stationary. The fact he wasn’t dead seemed to be the only thing holding Mor together as she walked with determination.
The hallway ended in a solitary wooden door. A quick nod from Mor confirmed that Justice was inside. Silence stretched out around us; we were far enough away that we could no longer hear the caws of the crows or the screams of the demons.
Mor twisted the knob of the door using her power before it creaked open. Inside was entirely dark.
“He’s not answering my calls, but it shows him inside,”Mor whispered into my mind.
Jasper pulled a roaring ball of fire into existence before pushing it through the doorway. The room appeared circular, and inside the center, Justice hung upside down, unmoving, suspended above a black abyss. I knew I needed to stop her from rushing into the room as soon as his limp body was illuminated, but I didn’t move quick enough.
We all rushed in after her, and the moment we all cleared the threshold, the door slammed shut as thick heavy armored arms wrapped around me from behind. I couldn’t help the panic as I fought against my captor, desperate not to be touched. The arms held firm as if created from stone, which is when I stopped moving enough to notice a black knight held me tightly.
All the fight inside me left as I stilled within its hold. Looking around the room, I noticed all of us were held tightly by an unknown knight. Off in the shadows, I heard the distinct click of high heels hitting the stone floor.
Light crystals turned on all around the room. My mother stood with her hands on her hips, wearing a thin line of disapproval as she looked at me.
“Jax. I thought you would have learned by now how much better you are than this joke the universe calls your mate,” my mother said with cruel disappointment in her tone.
“You’re Fachnan?” Mor said before laughing.
My mother’s eyes flicked to Mor. The black knight’s arms were wrapped tightly around her waist, but her arms were free to struggle against the hold. The clicking of Mother’s heels increased as she breezed past me towards Mor.
“Who are you to demand an answer from me,” my mother sneered. I had never seen her like this. She was fierce and protective of me, kind and gentle, but I never thought she would take things this far.
“Mother, what have you done?”
Her head snapped as she looked back at me, her eyes entirely black. “I’m doing what’s best for you,” she said softly before turning back to Mor with a hardened gaze.
“If you kill her, I die too,” I declared.
“Then you are already lost to me,” my mother said with a small sigh. “I hope your brother proves less of a disappointment.”
I struggled fruitlessly against the hold of the knight. I tried for any strand of power but found it entirely locked away from me. “Where’s my power, Mother?”
My mothertsked as she moved in front of me, a sadistic smile on her face watching me struggle. “I learned that spell from Justice. Weaving it into the metal rather than flesh was a stroke of genius on his part. Weaving a spell into the armor of the knights was all my idea. If they have their arms around you, you are powerless. It locks them out of their powers, but power was never their talent. Pure raw strength and easily manipulated minds make them the perfect company.”
She pulled a long skinny dagger from somewhere inside the heavy folds of her dress. The blade caught the crystals’ light; I would know that blade anywhere.
“Why do you have that?” I said my voice void of the horror it should have. The inflection was missing from my tone because ofthatdagger. It was the same one my father used against me night after night.
“Oh, this,” she said brightly as she turned the blade in her hand as if showing it off. “This happens to be my absolute favorite dagger. You should know well how special this dagger is. See, the cuts made by this blade cannot be healed with demon power. The demon body eventually quarantines the affected tissue and expels it from the body before the process of regrowth begins. I am curious, however, what it would do to a demon that is locked entirely out of their power.”
She raised the dagger, placing the tip against the skin of my neck. I swallowed hard at the familiar feeling as panic stretched through me, rooted in the spot. “It was always you, wasn’t it,” I muttered.
“It was your father’s hand. Not that he knew he was doing it,” she smiled like she had been waiting to divulge that little secret. “All he ever cared about was more and more power. He wanted to be surrounded by those most powerful to steal it all for himself. He’s always been a leech. That’s why he chose me for his wife. Not out of love, passion, or aspiration. But to have access to my power whenever he wanted.”
My head was reeling from the revelations as I took a closer look through my memories. My father had always been joyous around me, always looking to touch me. I had always thought it a sick twisted game he liked to play to make sure I could contain myself no matter the situation. Was it possible that he didn’t know what his hands did to me for all those years?
The tip of the blade pierced the skin of my neck. Pulling me from my thoughts and back into the wicked gaze of my mother. There was nothing in her eyes except sheer joy as she slowly started to drag the blade across my skin.
“Pretty weak of you to employ Lucifer’s lapdogs into holding demons down for you while you punch them,” I heard Mor yell, and the blade pulled the rest of the way across my throat quickly. The arc of the swing tapered the cut, so blood only started to ooze from half of my neck as the sting settled in.
“You say employ as if they had a choice,” my mother hissed as she moved towards Mor, dagger still in hand. “I forced them to bend to my will. I lured you all here and disabled you with a thought in my mind, you pathetic human. You may have power, but you wield it like a child. You don’t just get to walk in here and get everything you want without even lifting a finger.” Pure burning hatred shined in her eyes as she stabbed Mor ruthlessly in the stomach.
A scream sounded in my ears; it took me a minute to figure out the cry was mine. She pushed the spelled blade into Mor’s skin, twisting it as she went into the hilt. Her body pressed close to Mor as she whispered to my mate as her head hung limply.
