by Sarra Cannon
I squeezed his hand.
“Please tell me I'm not dreaming,” I whispered.
He shook his head and smiled. “I was about to say the same thing.”
He moved to my side on the bed and ran the back of his hand across my cheek.
“I was so afraid you'd never wake up,” he said.
“How long have I been sleeping?” I asked.
“Weeks,” he said. “Sixteen days to be exact.”
I forced myself to sit up, my head swimming. “Katie, she—”
“Katie's fine,” he said. He moved to place a few extra pillows behind me to help prop me up. “I sent Marco to check on her and give her some excuse as to why you weren't home. Of course, she raised hell and demanded to know the truth. I distinctly remember telling you not to give Katie the details of what was going on at the club.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I've never really been a rule follower.”
He laughed. “Really? I didn't know that about you.”
I smiled. “So she's okay? She's not completely freaking out?”
“Oh, she freaked out big time. She demanded to see proof that I hadn't gone all vampire on you and sucked your blood,” he said. “Her words, not mine.”
I laughed and my ribs protested. I sucked a breath through my teeth and raised my hand to my side.
Rend furrowed his brow. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't make you laugh right now. How are you feeling?”
“Like I almost got murdered in a sacrificial ritual performed by the Devil and the woman formerly known as my mother.”
Rend bit his lower lip to suppress a smile. “It's good to know they didn't destroy your sense of humor in the process.”
I sighed. “I'm just glad to know they didn't destroy me, period.”
“Me, too,” he said softly, trailing a fingertip down my arm.
“What happened that night?” I asked. “How did you guys even get inside the castle?”
“We brought a bad-ass army,” he said. “Harper and most of the Peachville crew came, some of the staff from the club, and ten members of the Brotherhood.”
“Is everyone okay?” I asked, my heart tightening in my chest. I wasn't sure I was ready to hear bad news if someone else had died trying to save my life.
“We all made it out alive,” he said. “A few nicks and bruises here and there, but nothing that won't heal.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Even Lyla and the others?”
“Yes,” he said. “A lot of them have been by to see you, but I told them you needed your rest. When you're ready for visitors, I'm sure you'll have all the company you could ever want while you're recovering.”
A child's face flashed into my memory.
“There were others,” I said. “Witches locked in the dungeons of the castle. Rend, some of them were only children. Babies.”
He nodded and stroked my hair. “We got everyone out of there,” he said. “One girl in particular has been asking about you nonstop. Annabelle, I think her name is.”
I held back tears of relief. “She was in the cell across from mine,” I said. “Her mother was killed while she was in there. I can't even imagine the horror some of those witches have been through.”
“Most of them returned to their families, but Annabelle had no one left,” he said. “She's been staying at Harper's.”
“I really owe her one for helping us. I owe all of them, really,” I said.
Someone knocked on the door, and I looked up to see Jackson standing in the doorway. “We were just glad we could help,” he said. He stepped into the room. “I came to check on my patient, but I see you're doing better.”
“Patient?” The memory of him kneeling at my side flashed into my mind. “You're a healer?”
“It's one of my gifts,” he said. “I'm not as strong as some, like Harper's sister, but I can heal some basic wounds. You didn't get a chance to meet her, but she came here to Rend's as soon as he brought you back here. She's been busy with some things in the Shadow World, but it was really her power that healed the worst of the wounds from the dagger. How are you feeling?”
“I wonder how many times I'm going to be asked that over the next few weeks,” I said with a laugh. “I'm sore and weak, but I'm glad to be alive. And please, if you speak to Harper's sister, tell her thank you.”
“I will. You're one of the strongest witches I've ever seen,” he said, his lips curling into a half-smile. “I think you and Harper will be good friends. You two seem to have a lot in common.”
I could tell just from the way he said her name that he loved her very much. From all I knew of her, I felt honored to even be mentioned in the same sentence as her.
He did a quick check of my wounds, changing a bandage on my back and laying his hands on the spot where the dagger had cut deepest. A cold chill spread through the wound like ice, relieving some of the pain.
“Better?” he asked.
“Wow.” I took a deep breath, feeling an immediate improvement. “Yes, thank you.”
“Good,” he said. “I'll come back every day to check on you for the next few days. I'm going to let the others know you're awake. I'm sure Mary Anne is dying to come visit.”
Over the weeks that followed, Rend's once-quiet and secluded house became a social hub. We had visitors from Venom and Peachville nearly every day. Azure even came to sit with me from time to time. I could tell something had changed between her and Rend. She still ribbed me and joked, but some of the mean-spiritedness I'd felt from her when we first met was gone now. As if she'd come to accept our relationship, even if she didn't like it.
Some of Rend's friends from the Brotherhood stopped by to see how I was doing. Mostly, though, the vampires came to see Rend. They never spoke of their fear of the Brotherhood's punishment around me. I knew Rend didn't want me worrying about it, but it was always there between us.
The Brotherhood consisted of hundreds, if not thousands, of vampires across the world. Some had been there at the Devil's side that night, ready to watch me die. Eventually, the main council of the Brotherhood of Darkness would hold the eleven vampires who had fought against the Devil accountable for their actions.
They had killed many of their own kind, including one of the original founders.
When I asked Rend about Solomon's stone, he told me Silas had taken it from my mother's body and disappeared. No one had heard from him since, but he'd been given orders to destroy it. They were all still waiting for Silas to return and confirm that the stone had been either hidden or destroyed.
I was anxious for his return for an entirely different reason.
My whole life, I never dreamed I might have a sibling. The idea of a half-brother—even a vampire one—excited me. I had so many questions I wanted to ask him about our father and about their life in the Shadow World before they came to live here in mine.
I hoped he would come back before the Brotherhood made their decision about how to punish those who had stood with Rend.
And I hoped the Brotherhood would see the truth of what happened. The justice in it. I couldn't bear it if they sentenced Rend to death for what he'd done to protect me. Strangely, Rend didn't seem worried about it. He said, after all we'd survived so far together, he didn't plan on going anywhere anytime soon.
While Rend met with his fellow vampires, Mary Anne and I sat together for hours every day talking about what her life was like before she was sent to Shadowford. She told me stories about my real mother, Mary Kathryn. Mary Anne remembered her as a very sad, but beautiful woman who mostly kept to herself. She said Mary Kathryn had no children of her own, but that her eyes always lit up when a new baby was born and she'd offer to hold them for hours upon hours, rocking them in an old rocking chair in the Mother Crow's house.
I prayed she was still alive and that the invitation she'd sent to me had not gotten her in trouble. Was she still living with the other crows? Or had she broken free of them when the coven split up?
There were so many questions still left unanswe
red.
In the evenings, Rend never left my side. He held me close, my head resting against his strong chest. We kissed and talked late into the night, until I fell asleep in his arms, always waking up still wrapped in his warmth.
As my body healed, I yearned to make love to him again, but he refused, saying it was too dangerous. He'd tasted the power of blood again and until he'd learned to control the thirst again, he didn't want to put my life in danger.
Sometimes, when the nightmares got to be too much and I couldn't get back to sleep, I would sneak away and climb up the stairs to the hall of doorways.
I'd make my way down the long, narrow hallway until I found the door with the crow's wing etched deep into the wood. I would run my finger along its outline and wonder what secrets were hidden behind that door.
What evils.
Someday, I promised myself, when my strength had returned, I would go through that door. I would find my mother. I would find out more about who I really was and where I had come from.
And someday, I would face the Mother Crow herself and make her pay for all she'd stolen from me.
Someday soon.
This is the end of Season 1 of Sacrifice Me
But the story isn’t over!
Season 2 is coming later this year. Be sure to join my mailing list to get news on all my upcoming releases.
Mailing List
EMERALD DARKNESS, the first book in the new Demons series. Coming soon!
Haven’t read the original Peachville High Demons series? See where it all began. Purchase the Beautiful Demons box set, the first 3 full books in the PHD series for only 99 cents!
Beautiful Demons Box Set
A Note from Sarra
You made it! You’ve reached the end of Season 1 of Sacrifice Me! When I started this serial, I had no idea what to expect in terms of reader reaction, sales, and the process of putting out shorter releases really fast. You have overwhelmed me with your support of this serial, and I cannot express to you how much it means that you’ve followed me through this far. Every review, comment and share has meant the world to me!! Thank you so much!
I am looking forward to writing more of Franki and Rend’s story. There is SO MUCH more to tell. Make sure you’re signed up for my mailing list or following me on social media to get up-to-date news on Season Two.
I would really appreciate it if you would take the time to leave an honest review at the site where you bought this book. Reviews are so important, especially to indie authors, as they help other readers find the books they'll enjoy the most.
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Thanks again! My books would mean nothing without amazing readers like you.
With all my heart,
Complete Book List
Peachville High Demons Beautiful Demons Box Set, Books 1-3
Beautiful Demons
Inner Demons
Bitter Demons
Shadow Demons
Rival Demons
Demons Forever
A Demon's Wrath: Part I
A Demon's Wrath: Part II
Sacrifice Me Season One Box Set
Episode 1: The Demon
Episode 2: The Dream
Episode 3: The Darkness
Episode 4: The Dying
Episode 5: The Devil
Episode 6: The Doorway
Eternal Sorrows Death's Awakening
Fairhope The Trouble With Goodbye
The Moment We Began
A Season For Hope
