Page 50 of Eternal Sacrifice
There was a list of ingredients next to an elaborately drawn symbol. Golden twisting vines of power hovered above, layering over the blood-soaked page. Its whispering voice seemed to come from the far end of a long tunnel. I strained to hear better.
“Morrigan!”
My body was pulled backward, and a wave of power rushed from me to push away everything within a two-foot radius. The desk screeched across the floor, while Jasper yelled out as he flew several feet through the air.
“What the fuck, Princess?” He pushed off the floor. The moment he landed, he rushed to me while glaring at the book. It sat innocently on the table, its pages unaffected by the movement.
“I was reading,” I answered, still confused about what had happened.
“It looked like a Hell of a lot more than reading, Mor.” His tone was clipped and tense. Worry streamed from his body like a mushroom cloud after a nuclear explosion. “You were chanting, and the magic was swirling all around you. You don’t even understand what you are fucking around with.”
I narrowed my eyes as he loomed above me, trying to dictate my life.
“It called to me. It wants to give usknowledge, Jasper.”
“Because it’s made from a God’s stolen tree!” Jasper yelled, and immediately regret shone in his eyes. “I don’t want you messing around with it. Not by yourself when something could happen.”
The feelings of anger melted into a toxic, churning bubble of fear. The hot flames inside my blood tempered, and I took a minute to calm myself as Jasper did the same.
“I agree we should use caution,” I said after choosing my words carefully. “But I don’t want us to take this book and lock it away because we fear it.”
Jasper took a deep breath; I watched as his lungs filled and filled. And then filled even more before he let all the air out in one giant huff.
“Can we agree to lock it up for now?”
“As in, for right this second? And we can discuss it with the others later. Then, sure,” I said with a smile.
Jasper closed his eyes and released another huff of air while his tail flicked back and forth like an irritated cat. “Fine.”
“See,” I reached up to put my hand on his arm while allowing soothing energy to pass from me directly into him, “compromise isn’t so bad.”
“You test more than just my strength, Princess,” he grumbled, but his tone returned to an average amount of surly.
I shut the book with my power and floated it into the hidden drawer on the side. As soon as it was tucked away safely, I slid the drawer shut, and the lock clicked into place. The room was immediately quieter, and it helped to break the tension. I got up from the chair, keeping my hand on Jasper’s arm while making sure to continue pushing calming energy into him. He needed an outlet for his war now that we weren’t hunting.
“Oh!” An idea emerged, and I tightened my grip around his forearm. “What if we give hunt points to arena winners, too? It will give the demons a place to earn points and practice their new powers.”
Jasper contemplated the idea, allowing it to fill his mind while allowing the topic of the book to fall to the sidelines.
My hand trailed down his arm until I found his hand and entwined my fingers with his. I pulled him, watching his arm move forward, but his feet did not.
“Jasper needs to let some war out. I’m thinking about heading to the arena to spar with him,”I said into the other’s minds. “Let’s get out of Pandemonium for a while. We could both use some time outside of the palace.”
Jasper gave in, step by step until he walked beside me out of the bedroom.
“The arena sounds perfect, Fox.”Justice was the only one to answer, and I thought that was odd since I had just announced I planned on picking a fight with Jasper. They were likely too distracted by organizing their surprise. They hadn’t realized what I had said.
Justicestoodjustoutsideone of the arched entrances to the arena. His hands were positioned behind his back like a soldier waiting for an order. His lean muscular chest and all the toxic green runes he held were on display for any demon passing by to see. He wore a black pair of pants; they hung off his hips with holsters and sheaths for his stabby toys. A wide smile stretched across his face.
Jasper’s hand squeezed, and I glanced up to see him looking at me cautiously. “He looks way too fucking excited.”
I laughed. Justice did look overly excited about what was about to happen, making Jasper understandably nervous. At least only Justice had come. He would be the easiest to convince that a sparring round with Jasper wouldn’t kill me.
“Come on, big guy,” I said with a slight pull to his hand as I stepped forward. “You need a little more excitement in your life.”
Jasper and I came to stand in front of Justice, his hands clasped together, still behind his back as if he needed help to resist the urge to touch something.
“Hello, Fox. We are almost ready,” Justice purred. He looked over his shoulder, and I noticed the throngs of demons hurrying around to witness the spectacle. “Go find your seat, Fox.”
