Page 79 of Hidden Sacrifice
“This time, we are catching them off guard. We should rush in and detain them before they know what hit them,” Jax said firmly, and I found myself nodding in agreement. No more hiding and waiting; I liked it. “Justice, run surveillance. I want to know exactly where they are in the building.”
Justice saluted at the request, veering off to run deeper into the woods. Off collecting birds, I guess. Jasper had insisted Mor keep the dragon in Hell. He wasn’t trained well enough to come with us to the mortal realm.
“Mor, go with him so you can communicate with the rest of us,” Jax said, rolling his eyes in the way Justice went, “fucking Justice.”
“Ryan, Springfield, and Jax should go in first. Try to incapacitate the demon. Zeb and I can be next in line with electricity and fire should it choose to fight,” Jasper said. He looked like he was pleased with the formation.
“And what about me?” I asked. Just because I was a vampire did not mean I couldn’t hold my own in a fight. Not to mention, it was an eight-on-one fight. How bad could it be?
“If you’re hurt, I’m hurt. I heal faster,” Jax said, slowing his run to a walk as we all matched his pace. The house was only a few hundred yards in front of us. He turned to look me dead in the eyes, “don’t let it get her.”
I nodded, understanding I was given an important job. If shit went sideways here, she would run in to help. If things went too bad, she would only risk her life. It was my job to get her out of here, no matter who else I had to leave behind.
The others were busy detailing a loose plan of attack based on powers and abilities. As I slipped on the necklace Justice gave me in the record hall, no one noticed. Now was not the time to feel each other’s pain. It felt heavy against my skin, pulling at me like a sucking black void. My connection to Mor was instantly cut off and replaced with an empty pit that sat silently inside me.
Mentally I cursed, acutely aware that I made Mor wear this when she was in the vampire kingdom. It killed me to think of the aching hollow pain she must have felt while there.
Jax and Ryan headed into the house first. As soon as Mor reported to us the demon was in the lowest level of the house. They both used spells to cloak themselves within shadows, but it was vastly different than a vampire. Vampires couldbecomeshadows, and demons could hideinsidethe shadows. Mor could do both, and one day, so would I.
“Found the entrance to the lower level,”Jax called out inside my head, updating us on what was going on.
Jasper and Zebediah moved into the house on command.
“Heading down the stairs now.”
I don’t think I breathed once as I sat and waited for his voice to come echoing through my head. The voice that I heard first came through my ears. A low roaring yell while flames exploded inside the house.
Panic gripped me tightly as I reached for the bonds inside me to make sure Jax was ok, finding it hollow and silent. Quickly, I tore the necklace off my neck, and my skin immediately felt like fire lapped at it. I put the chain back on as soon as possible, thankfully avoiding too much pain. Jax was somewhere in the middle of that blaze.
“Jasper. The fire is burning Jax too. It would help if you stopped,”I yelled out, and thankfully, the fire died down. Looking through the open doorway, I noticed the curtains were on fire and a few minor blazes scattered about.
“YOU,” Jasper yelled, turning toward me, but I only caught the last word of whatever he was trying to say.
“What?” I yelled back before something invisible plowed into me, knocking me off my feet as fingernails like claws hooked into the skin of my chest. I flew backward, trapped inside its vice-like grip. I couldn’t see anything in front of me, but I could feel its hot breath washing over my face as cold wind whipped across my back. It flew away from the house with me clutched tightly in its talons.
The next moment, I was sailing back. The creature released its claws from my chest, sending me hurtling through the air. My body kept moving until suddenly, it didn’t. Pain blossomed in my back and then to my front as a long wooden branch protruded from my chest, barely missing my heart.
I hung suspended by the branch. My feet dangled above the ground as my vampire body attempted to heal but was blocked by the piece of wood in my skin. I momentarily shifted into shadows and moved to the side before becoming corporeal once more. A scream ripped through my throat as I unceremoniously fell to the ground in a heap, while my body started attempting to fix a three-inch hole in my chest.
Breathing proved challenging as I heard a terrible empty sucking rattling noise as I attempted to take in a large drag of air. I was pretty sure one of my lungs was punctured. My eyes closed with my face half in the dirt as I let the darkness swallow me. I just needed a few more minutes to heal up, and then I would find the others.
* * *
“JACE!” Mor screamed.
Her voice pulled me through the murky dark depths of wherever I had just come from. Attempting to open my eyes felt like trying to walk on the bottom of the ocean floor. My eyes slowly opened, dragging myself from the depths, finding a worrying set of green eyes staring back at me.
“How do I help?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“Take the necklace off,” I said, coughing up blood. I couldn’t stand not feeling her anymore. If things were as bad as they looked in her eyes, I wouldn’t spend my last moments without her soul linked to mine.
Her hand shook as she circled my neck, grabbing ahold of the thin metal chain. She pulled it free and off my head. The rush of the bond flowed back into me and immediately chased away every dark shadow that had taken up residence inside me. It felt like a warm embrace. One I could happily sink into. I felt my eyelids droop as our bond’s calm; warm heat cradled me back into the void.
“Jace, wake up. I need you awake so that I can heal you, ok?” Mor’s voice tugged in opposition to the dark void that threatened to keep me under. “I need you to open your eyes and tell me the best way to heal you.”
“Too bad I’m not a demon yet, right Darling. I could have had my cock inside you by now in the name of healing.” I said with a smile as I opened my eyes. It was a little easier to breathe now, my body taking care of things and patching me up.
“How can I help?” she said with a slight smile that said she wasn’t as repulsed by my joke as maybe she should be.
