Sacrifice (Scarlet Dawson Book 2)

by Nicola Chadwick

  Hell! This man is beyond boring and, luckily for me, he seems very chatty.

  “Bastian, my love, you promised me I’d get to meet Summer tonight,” I say, then turn my attention to Kevin. “I’ve always admired her, you know, as a strong female in power. It’s been a dream of mine to meet her for years.”

  Bastian nudges me, discreetly.

  “Oh, Summer declined the invite tonight, her aide dropped by to say she had a prior engagement.” Kevin really is helpful.

  “Well, there goes my night,” I say, trying my hardest to sound deflated. “Perhaps her aide’s still around, what does he look like.”

  “I believe she might still be around, she’s quite short for a Fae with extremely long, blonde hair. I can never remember her name though. If I see her, I’ll make sure to bring her along for an introduction.” His nasally voice grates on me as he drones on, the only reason I am still rooted to the spot is because the description he’s just given me could easily be Silas.

  “Well then, my love, don’t you think it’s time for a drink,” Bastian says, dragging me away from Kevin without a goodbye.

  As I fall in to step with him, he leans down slightly to say, “Laying it on a little thick there, weren’t you? I think I prefer it when you play hard to get.”

  I ignore his comment and say, “I take it you can’t stand these things from that little interaction?”

  “I can barely tolerate their petty disputes, let alone pretending to like them to further my position on the council. I hate politics,” he moans, loud enough for the few people we pass to gasp in shock at his blatant admission.

  My gaze drifts over the crowd, and I see a flash of blonde hair with an ear pointing through it.

  “I need you to go off and do your own thing for a while, because if Silas is here she won’t approach me while you’re herding me around. She always liked to get her verbal jibes in when we were alone, I can’t imagine she’s changed that much.”

  “You won’t be fully alone though; Jessica and Cain won’t be too far behind.”

  I let out an overly exaggerated sigh before walking off, so he knows I’m getting annoyed with him. I’ll admit, without him, I wouldn’t know Summer isn’t attending tonight but trying to investigate with an overprotective brute tailing you is a nightmare.

  I walk towards the flash of blonde hair, pushing through the crowd. I can see Jessica following me in my peripheral vision, but I concentrate on the blonde. As the blonde comes into view, I see she isn’t Silas, but standing directly behind her watching me with narrowed eyes is just the person I have been looking for.

  I offer her a sardonic smile and a wave masquerading as a slight twitch of the fingers. She pushes through the people in her way to come stand in front of me.

  “I didn’t think they allowed the lower-class half breeds to functions like this,” Silas says to me.

  “Then what are you doing here? As always, a pleasure, Silas,” I retort.

  I see Jessica and Cain move into position at the side of me, chatting with each other to make it look less suspicious.

  “It’s Silence!” Her eyes flash with anger, then scowl at me.

  “So, Silas, I didn’t realize you were an aide to the Fae Council representative?”

  An odd look twists her features before she lets a wide smile spread across her elfin face.

  “What can I say, I’ve gone up in the world, while you’ve stayed right where you started,” she sneers at me.

  If I didn’t need to question her right now, I’d have already walked away, this Fae infuriates me.

  I ignore her jibe and say, “As Summers aide you should be able to tell me where she is tonight?”

  “Why the sudden interest in Summer?”

  “Answering a question with a question usually means a person is avoiding a subject.”

  I smile at her as she makes it quite clear I’ve hit the nail on the head.

  She leans in close to me and whispers. “You know who she is, don’t you?”

  I see Jessica freeze slightly, so I know she just heard what Silas said.

  I whisper back. “Yes.”

  “Please don’t say anything else here.” She pulls away, simply turns and moves off.

  Cain starts to move through the crowd in the opposite direction, while Jessica falls into line at my side as I start to tail Silas through the crowd.

  “Where’s she going?” Jessica whispers as we push our way through the groups of chatting people.

  “Not a clue,” I murmur back.

  Silas reaches a set of double doors that leads to the bathrooms, but instead of taking the left to get to the ladies, she heads up a set of stairs slightly to the right of the door. We follow, careful to make sure no one is watching where we are going. As we reach the next floor I see her slip into another set of bathrooms.

  “Jessica, will you wait out here. She’s no danger to me, and you’ll be able to hear everything we say, anyway. Let’s at least give her the sense she’s only talking to me.”

  “Bastian won’t be happy.”

  I roll my eyes and she sighs. “I will only be in there. If you feel uncomfortable at any point, you can come in. If anyone approaches, come in and tell us.”

  I push open the door and step into the bathroom. It’s small and only has three stalls. It’s also quite plush, with fluffy towels on the counter top instead of paper, and those really expensive hand soaps you usually get in high-end places.

  Silas checks each stall before turning to me. Her dark brown eyes are wide and she’s breathing a little deeper than normal. Is she afraid?

  “You know who he is, don’t you?” she asks me.

  “Are we talking about Derren or Summer?” I reply, trying not to come off too eager for information. After all, I don’t exactly know how involved she is.

  “You always were rather astute,” she says, sounding a lot less malicious than she’s ever been before.

  “How long have you been working for him, Silas?” I ask.

  “It’s not what you think. I don’t have a choice. If he finds out you know about him and I’ve been talking to you, he’ll kill me.” She drops her head when I see tears glistening in her eyes.

  “You need to tell me everything, I can help you.”

  “No, you can’t. Don’t you see, he’s everywhere, everyone. There’s no escaping him. For twenty years I’ve done everything he said, no matter how immoral. For all I know, you’re him and this is my final test.”

  “I’m not him and without you I can’t stop him.”

  “You actually want to stop him? This nightmare could finally end?” she asks, searching my eyes to see if I’m telling the truth.

  “I’ve been told I’m his pet project and that, at some point, he’s going to come for me. If I can stop that happening, I will. I just need more information,” I tell her.

  “When I was eight, he came into my home, masquerading as my father. I didn’t know at first he’d killed him. I didn’t find out until I was ten. The man I thought was my father transferred me to a Human school and told me to watch the girl that shifts her skins. He made it into a game at first, I was to be seen but never heard. I shouldn’t make friends with you, just watch what you did, and who you did it with. I did everything he said, when he said it.

  “Then I found out he had murdered my father and took his form. I told one of the teachers at school and he murdered her in front of me. I blamed you then. He was obsessed with you, so I decided to make your life as miserable as mine was. You had no family and he held mine hostage, in my mind, it was your fault, and you needed to pay.”

  So that’s why she’d always been mean towards me. I still wasn’t happy that she’d turned the whole school against me. She had made my life hell.

  “He still has your sisters, doesn’t he?”

  “I can only see them if I do as I’m told. I don’t know where he keeps them. I’ve tried for fourteen years to find them, so we can disappear together.”

  “W
hat do you do for him now?”

  “I masquerade as Summer’s aide while spying on various people on the council. I’ve also been watching you for a long time, following your career. He has me running around planting information, so every person he has an interest in, jumps into line without them even knowing they’re doing it.

  Take you for example, he’s been manipulating your life for a very long time, you’ve even met him a few times. In his various guises.”

  “How good are you at spying? Could you turn the tables on him, become a double agent, so to speak?” I ask. This could definitely work. If we had an inside man we would know who he is, where he goes, and what face he’s wearing.

  “I’m good enough that I’ve been sneaking around behind his back for years trying to compile information against him to take to The Guild. I don’t have enough to get him arrested, I can’t pin any of the murders on him, but I do have a file hidden away with photos—”

  Suddenly, the room descends into darkness. There are no windows, so none of the street lights shine in. I turn to look at the door and see no light filtering in from under it, which means, either the lights are off on the entire floor, or they are off in the whole building.

  I take a step forward and grab Silas’s arm. “You better not be up to anything,” I tell her.

  “Scarlet, how do you know Summer is Derren?” she asks me.

  “A Demon told me that silence is the key?”

  “It’s a trap,” we both say at the same time, moving towards the door.

  I let go of Silas’s arms to open the door, and she grabs onto my shoulder. I can hear a commotion coming from downstairs, raised voices, and the sound of an animal growling. As we step outside, I stumble over something soft and crash to the floor. Silas goes down after me.

  “Silas?” I whisper.

  “Over here.” I hear her slightly shaken voice.

  I don’t know where she landed but as I feel around in the darkness, my fingers reach fabric enclosed over skin.

  “Jessica?” I whisper, shaking the prone form.

  A soft glow begins to emanate from downstairs, casting the corridor in a very faint light. I see Silas crawling over to me and turn to see Jessica lying in a pool of her own blood. As I turn back around to shout for help, I hear a loud roar silence the high-pitched chattering downstairs. I watch as Silas slumps into view then pain blooms from the back of my head. My vision darkens until I black out.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  I blink awake, the bright light blinding me. I feel the motion of a vehicle rocking me from side to side and the sound of gravel crunching under pressure. I groan from the pain blooming in my head until I feel a sharp sting in my arm and my vision fades away again.

  When I come to again, my back is pressed to a cold hard floor and I hear the shuffling of footsteps echoing in a large room. I open my eyes to the light, a soft yellow glow. I twist my head to the side and see Silas is laid out on the floor at my side, unmoving.

  I reach out and shake her arm until she starts to groan then blink herself awake. As she acclimates, I shift my head and look to the right. We are in a stone room, the large bricks cemented together could easily be lime stone.

  I sit up and clutch my skull as dizziness threatens to take me back under. My brain rotates in wave after wave of sickening turning until I put a hand out to the floor, then it suddenly stops and restarts. Once I feel like the spinning has subsided, I open my eyes again.

  The room we are in is really large, it has nothing in except an opening to one side with two torches burning in wall sconces either side. We have been placed on a set of wide steps leading up to the opening.

  I can still hear the shuffling of footsteps from behind, so I swivel to the side facing Silas as she sits up grabbing her own head. She opens her mouth to say something, but I silence her with a finger to my lip as I watch the back of a vaguely familiar form, move about the expanse behind us.

  The room is filled with shelves and jars like that of a witch’s kitchen, but the jars are dusty and they numbered in the thousands, lining the side of both walls. Wooden benches are littered with implements and notebooks, some look like they have been used recently, while others look like they have sat for a number of years undisturbed.

  “I know you’re awake,” the man says, his voice echoing in the large space.

  I know that voice, but it can’t be. He sounds just like Jared.

  He turns around and I see the similarities, short dark hair and the same blue eyes. It isn’t Jared, this man is older, not by much.

  “Dad?” I ask, unsure.

  “Don’t believe what he’s showing you, Scarlet, if that’s your dad that means he’s dead,” Silas whispers at my side.

  Logically, I know she is right, but my mind is reeling. Jared didn’t have pictures of him, only memories, making this the first time I’ve ever laid eyes on my father. Even if it isn’t real, it is nice to have the memory of his face. After all, the only pictures I have of my mother are the murder scene pictures, not exactly something you want to have imprinted on your brain.

  “What did you do to Jessica?” I ask, remembering the last thing I had seen was her motionless form lying in a pool of blood.

  I stand up, so the cold floor doesn’t seep into my bones anymore. He clocks the movement as he turns around.

  “No need to worry about the pretty Lycan. They’re quite resilient creatures.” He takes a few steps towards us. “Before you waste a lot of thought and effort, I will tell you there is no escape, this room is deep underground. The only access is by teleportation and even then, if that person hasn’t been here before they’d be taking their life into their own hands trying to find it. There is no way your Lycan friends will find you here.” His voice has the same Irish lilt to it that has become so familiar.

  “Neria,” I whisper under my breath.

  “That won’t work either, there’s a null spell built-in to the wards.”

  He continues his approach, stopping in front of Silas who is now sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring up at him with narrowed eyes.

  “Silence, I’m so disappointed in you, you broke at the first test. Did you really think I wouldn’t be watching? I’ve waited years for you to make your move against me and you haven’t until now. Imagine my surprise that you finally crack when confronted by someone you swore you would always hate.” He grabs her chin in his hand in what looks to be a bruising grip. “What will Serenity and Harmony say when they realize their very own big sister has failed them, again? I’m beginning to think you like it when I hurt them.”

  “Please don’t touch them, hurt me. I’ll do anything you want,” Silas pleads.

  He releases her chin. “Anything?” Silas nods her head, tears flowing down her cheeks. “You know when I found that file you were compiling on me, I was going to kill you, but watching you beg makes me realize you’re still useful. I’m sure a few days down here with the Wrath will bring you back into line.”

  Silas flinches and the color that was left in her face quickly drains.

  What the hell is a Wrath?

  He turns his attention to me. “Scarlet, my beautiful daughter. We finally meet.”

  “Derren,” I say simply.

  A part of me wants to believe this is my father, another part won’t accept he is inherently evil. I actually trust that Silas is telling me the truth.

  He laughs.

  “Derren isn’t my real name, just one of the many I have taken. You may call me Vex.” I watch as the face of my father morphs into another.

  He is tall and leanly built, his hair hangs in dark waves to his pointed Fae ears. While his face is more elfin than some Fae, it is still masculine. His eyes are white, trimmed with light grey, so you can just make out the edge of his irises. His eyes are even creepier than my Fae ones.

  Silas sucks in a breath at my side. He turns to her and smirks.

  “Whoops. I hadn’t meant to reveal myself to you yet, Silence, I hoped we could contin
ue our dalliance again one day. I did enjoy our time together as lovers.” The Irish lilt has also disappeared, and his voice has taken on the accent-less tone of an ancient Fae.

  She narrows her eyes, but the light inside them has dulled, she drops her shoulders. I can see she’s trying so hard not to let him win.

  “What do you want with me, Vex?” I ask, gaining back his attention

  “All in good time. For now, let’s get you settled in your new lodgings.”

  He grabs Silas’s arm and my wrist then teleports us to another room. This one is smaller, but not by much. It looks like a dungeon from the Dark Ages. Rough-hewn limestone bricks make up the walls. Off to one side iron bars are sunk into the ground creating cells, one of which is already occupied. Opposite the cells is a variety of metal implements that have a reddish-brown taint to them that I hope is rust and not dried blood. Three dark shadows float from the occupied cell to coalesce into a Human shape made of coiling smoke and darkness, with glowing red orbs where the eyes should be.

  Before I can register what is happening we are transported again to inside the cells, Silas in the end cell and me in the middle.

  Vex instantly teleports out and leaves us there alone with what I can only assume are the Wrath. I immediately pace the cell, checking the floors and bars, lifting the blankets that have been left on the floor in the corner.

  “It’s no use, Scarlet, there is no way out of this place. Trust me, I’ve been in many times,” Silas tells me, moving over to the bars that bisect our cells.

  I move over to stand with her. “What are the Wrath, Silas, what do they do?” I ask her, eyeing the shadow creatures that are approaching her cell.

  “They are a very rare form of Demon, they can penetrate your mind. What they make you see is different for everyone. I get to watch my family die over and over, sometimes I even escape, only to wake back here. They feed off the emotions they create when they weaken your mind.” A single tear tracks down her cheek.

  “I’m sorry, Silence,” I say, looking into her brown eyes. “If I’d have known you were suffering through this life because of m—”