Sacrifice

by Heather McCollum

  Drustan flipped through Kailin’s journal as he sat next to Anna against the boulder in the sun. The sound of the stream and the chirping of birds above mixed with the occasional whisper of a page turning as both Anna and he skimmed the many pages of Kailin’s slanted scrawl.

  15 June 1893

  Drakkina says there is a woman in the prophecies. She has shown up from time to time, but now almost every scenario shows her linked with Drustan. Has he found a mate? Does he love her? Is she being used to influence his decisions? The possibilities are endless and frightening.

  “Kailin is artistic like you,” Anna said and held up the book in her lap to show Drustan a pencil sketch of the Silver Witch. “She captured the strange way Drakkina looks both ancient and young at the same time,” Anna said as she returned the book to her lap, one fingertip sliding along the edge of the page.

  “You have seen her?” Drustan asked. “Drakkina?” His stomach gripped as Anna nodded. “When?”

  She looked back up to meet his gaze. “In the snow. She led me to the cave to save me from freezing.”

  He knew that, had seen several of Drakkina’s winged minions urging him forward to find Anna. There was no reason to suspect Anna was in league with the witch like Semiazaz insinuated.

  “I’m truly thankful she did,” he said and squeezed her hand before looking back at the journal in his lap. The last entry in it was short, but grabbed him by the throat.

  3 July 1892

  The woman will die. If it is by Drustan’s hand, his soul is unsalvageable. Drakkina senses Drustan living near Kylkern Castle in Scotland, although she isn’t sure where exactly. He must set powerful wards to hide from Drakkina.

  Drustan read the first sentence four times, each time his anger flared up, making him clench his teeth. He made certain that his leg lay up against Anna, so he wouldn’t accidentally fill the forest with fire. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes to focus on the soft gurgle of the water. Anna would not die. He wouldn’t allow it.

  Anna clicked her tongue.

  “Look at this,” she said, handing him another journal she’d just opened. She tapped at the top of the first entry.

  1 August 1893

  Drakkina says the woman is not yet with Drustan, but she is bound to show up soon. I’ve sent word through Drakkina to William Maclean, asking him to alert me upon her arrival. Jackson and I will travel there at once when called, although I’m not certain what to do once we arrive.

  I just want to talk to Drustan. He is my brother. He has our parents’ blood running through him, bending him toward truth and good. He must be made to see that cutting the temporal threads will lead to utter catastrophe. Somehow we must stop Semiazaz from controlling him, without seeking to control him ourselves.

  How easily Drustan can kill. We are fortunate that Semiazaz hasn’t bent Drustan’s will to kill people randomly or en masse. At least not yet. He will have to once Semiazaz brings back billions to our small planet. The demons will no doubt gorge on the bodies once they must feed again. Hopefully, they will only eat those already dead.

  “Isn’t that horrible?” Anna said and pulled the book back when his gaze lifted to hers. She waited, her eyes searching him for answers.

  “The way Kailin describes it, yes,” he said. “I will not allow it to happen that way.”

  “How will it happen then?” she asked, her lips tight. It was clear she despised the plan to rule the laws of time.

  Drustan stretched upward to stand and crossed his arms as he leaned against a boulder along the stream. “Perhaps there is a way to just bring back certain people from the past without everyone else, like your mother, my parents, my sisters, and their families. The innocents I did not wish to kill.”

  Anna sighed, drawing his gaze. Her hair was still in lovely disarray from when he’d plucked the band holding her braid. Her skin flushed gently from the warmth of the sun, and the sparkle from the rays glinting down on her head made her more beautiful than if she was adorned with gold and pearls. She stood to lean against him and searched his eyes. “Even then, Drustan, it would be unnatural. Even small changes in the fabric of time could unravel too much.” She shook her head slightly, her eyes begging him. “It could cause terrible chaos. It just isn’t meant to be that way. As much as I miss my mother, I don’t wish to be reunited with her until I die.”

  “I was raised to believe that following this plan will correct all the mistakes that were made. It will fix things,” he said.

  “You’ve lived with Semiazaz and his demons,” she said. “Do you think it is in their hearts to fix things?”

  Bechard certainly wasn’t the type to fix anything. The tempest demon only desired destruction. Same with Trill and several of the others. Bast was preoccupied with her own desires while the others thought of freedom and vengeance. But once Drakkina was dead, who would they slate their revenge against?

  “Semiazaz’s heart has always been sealed to me,” Drustan said. “I can’t trust him.”

  “Then you can’t trust his plan,” Anna said as if it was simple deduction. And it was. She was right. He couldn’t trust Semiazaz. Drustan had always felt that the wizard had an ulterior motive and that he might not live up to his promises. With Anna beside Drustan, he felt for the first time that perhaps he could just move forward in the world. The past was the past, and with her forgiveness he could stop living in it.

  His mouth relaxed into a grin. “Changing my mind about Semiazaz’s plan is simple. It is the actions afterward that become complicated.”

  Anna’s smile blossomed across her face. “Between your brilliant sister and me, we will help you figure that out.” She reached forward and kissed him. “We can start working on it as soon as we get back to Kylkern.”

  He gave her one long kiss and stepped away. “Loading the cart will be easier if I don’t touch you.” He grinned at the dazed look she wore.

  She touched her palms to her cheeks. “I’ll be right back,” she said. “Need a bit of privacy.” Anna disappeared behind the boulder to a spot he’d found earlier for her to use farther upstream surrounded by brambles and trees.

  When he turned back to the cart, a tendril of familiar thought touched his mind.

  Listen, son.

  Drustan whirled around in a tight circle but didn’t see the demons or Semiazaz. Had they purposely snuck up on them while he touched Anna and couldn’t sense them?

  Leave her alone, he yelled back through the mental connection.

  We will not harm her, Drustan. The voices came from them all, high and low pitches woven together with Semiazaz’s slightly louder than the rest. But you must listen. Anna Pemberlin has secrets which you cannot read.

  Secrets? He didn’t need to know anything that Anna didn’t wish to share with him. Did he? No.

  “Semiazaz,” he started, but an image touched his mind, stopping him. Drustan saw Drakkina appearing in the bramble clearing.

  Come closer and hear what your mate has to say to Drakkina, Semiazaz said. But it wasn’t Drakkina. Drustan could tell that the image presented was actually Semiazaz in the glamour of the Silver Witch. Could Anna smell the foulness in the air, or was she fooled?

  Say nothing, Semiazaz warned, the voices thinned until only his remained. It is hard enough to keep Bechard and Bast at bay before your mate. Do not cause a lethal catastrophe.

  Drustan made his way around the bramble, his body hidden by a large oak. He readied his magic, waiting. Even a twinge of threat against Anna and he’d let it shoot forth.

  Semiazaz, appearing as the aging witch, floated before Anna. “Have you enacted the plan, Anna?” he said.

  “What plan?” she asked.

  “The one I spoke with you about in the cave when I saved your life.”

  Anna glanced around as if looking for someone. Did she worry Drustan could hear her? Drustan’s stomach tightened. Anna lowered her voice so one could hardly hear it above the gurgling stream. “I do not call what occurred in the cave part of a pla
n, Drakkina.”

  You fornicated with her! Bechard’s bellow roared through Drustan’s mind with a cacophony of vicious babbling before he blocked it.

  Semiazaz as Drakkina stood statue-like before Anna. “I asked you to have sex with him.”

  Anna threw her hands on her hips. “And I have no idea how that was supposed to save the world.”

  Anna’s confirming words cut through Drustan. The Silver Witch had told Anna to surrender to him, let him touch her, allow herself to be taken…in order to stop him from cutting the temporal threads. Was that why she’d kissed him, allowed him to take her there in the cave?

  Pain reverberated through Drustan’s bones and muscle. His blood rushed so hard he had to focus in order to hear more of her words.

  “And what happens between Drustan and I is none of your business,” she said.

  “But it is if it is part of my plan,” Semiazaz said in Drakkina’s voice. “You are important to him. You are the only one he will listen to. You must convince him to defeat Semiazaz and abandon the plan to cut the temporal threads. Like you did in the cave, you must be willing to sacrifice yourself to save the world.”

  “Drustan is a good man, with an honorable heart and a highly intelligent mind. He will come to the right conclusion without your interference,” she said.

  “Very good, child,” Drakkina crooned. “Keep up the act of appreciating him, loving him even. Don’t let him realize that you think he is truly a monster.”

  Anna’s lips moved, her face tight with anger, but Semiazaz’s band of demons roared in the trees, their disapproval creating a crackle of thunder. Anna jumped, looking upward at the dark clouds moving in. Drustan warped space the smallest amount and took a step back next to the cart. Anna jogged through the woods her skirts gathered in hand.

  Her face was flushed. Drustan held onto the cart with clenched hands. “Anything amiss?” he asked, his voice calm, emotionless.

  “Did you hear that thunder?” Anna asked. “Of course you did. How could you not?” She glanced up to the open spot between the trees. “I think we better rush back or be drenched to the bone.”

  “I will keep us dry,” he said and turned to maneuver the cart around. His steps were automatic while his thoughts tumbled. Semiazaz had obviously maneuvered it to his liking. But the fact remained, from Anna’s own mouth. She had spoken to Drakkina. And Anna had slept with him after the witch told her to, a sacrifice to save the world. Would their night in the cave have happened without Anna’s desire to influence him away from the demons? Had her actions been solely based on her willingness to sacrifice herself for humanity?

  ****

  Anna watched the dark clouds skirting along the ridge of the mountains behind Kylkern. Were they concocted by Sarah, a band of demons, or just plain thunder clouds? Anna inhaled deeply and smelled the fresh rain in the air. The sweetness washed away the foulness she’d noticed earlier. She studied Drustan’s gathered brows as he walked beside her. “Are the clouds dangerous?” she asked.

  He glanced up as if he’d been lost in thought. “No.”

  “Good,” she said and almost reached for his hand. She laughed. “Sorry, wouldn’t want to drop the cart again.”

  He didn’t say anything, just walked on, tight fists touching against his trousers with each step. Without the simple contact of his palm, Anna felt chilled. She pulled her wrap tighter around her shoulders. Between the storm brewing and Drustan’s brooding, it was difficult to hold onto the joy she’d experienced in the afternoon sun, wrapped in Drustan’s strong arms.

  “You are very quiet,” she said. “What are you thinking about so intensely?”

  His gaze turned to her. “Do you love me?”

  Anna stumbled over a hill of peat, righting herself. “Do you love me?” she asked back.

  “I have had no experience in love. How would I know?”

  “Well, I’ve had no experience either,” she said, frowning at his tone.

  “You grew up in a household with loving parents and a sister.”

  “That is a different kind of love,” Anna said. “The love between a man and a woman is more sensual, obviously,” she said and felt her face warming. “And stronger I believe since you can’t choose your family, but you can choose your mate. Usually.” She gave a small chuckle at that since fate seemed to have chosen Drustan for her.

  “But there is respect and trust, correct?” he asked.

  “There must be,” she said. “Or love cannot grow.”

  He stopped, drawing her complete attention. “Do you trust me?” he asked. “Respect me?”

  “I believe you are a good person, that you will choose the right thing to do,” Anna said. “That is trust. You are intelligent, strong and kind. That is respect.” She swallowed. “Love also requires time to grow. Time is what we are missing.” Good Lord, she’d just talked him out of messing with time. “Not that we should rush that or skip forward in time or anything.”

  Drustan stared hard at her, then turned his face into the wind rolling in from Kylkern and began to walk. “We are running out of time,” he said, his words barely audible as Anna hastened to catch up with his long stride.

  The first fat drops spattered down as they neared the open gate leading into the bailey before Kylkern Castle. Drustan had seemed so distant on the way back. Was he deciding she wasn’t what he thought she would be, the girl from his dreams? The thought made her heart sink down into her stomach.

  “I must return to my house,” Drustan said before the castle steps.

  Her breath hitched in her throat, and Anna felt the press of tears behind her eyes. She blinked them away and looked at him. “You are angry, and I don’t know why.”

  Drustan released a long breath, his hard eyes growing softer. He cupped her face in his warm hands and gently kissed her on the lips. Anna wanted to melt against him, run her hands over his chest and shoulders, but they stood in plain view. The kiss alone was scandalous. He gently released her. “We’ve covered a lot of information today. I need to think things through, talk to Semiazaz,” he said.

  “All right,” she said softly. “When will you return?”

  “Soon,” he answered, and she nodded. When he turned and walked out of the gates, Anna realized that he had not refuted her statement. Drustan was angry.

  “There you are,” Patricia said, relief evident in her gusty tone as Anna entered the great hall. She stood, leaving her embroidery. “You’ve been gone all day.” She plucked a bit of leaf from Anna’s hair. “Where is Drustan?”

  “He’s gone back to his house to study the journals and speak with the demons,” Anna said, ignoring the very personal questions shining in her sister’s eyes. “I hope he convinces them that their plan is—”

  “Evil?” Patricia finished. “Because I am fairly certain that evil is part of a demon’s nature.”

  Anna exhaled long as she slid into a chair facing the table.

  “You should have kept him here or gone with him,” Patricia said.

  “Perhaps,” Anna said. “He needed time to think.” She shook her head. “And he seemed angry about something.”

  “And you let him go?” Patricia’s voice rose. “The man is nearly as powerful as God, and you let him walk away angry? He could level all of Kylkern if the demons spur him on.” Patricia began to pace before her, visions of destruction probably playing through her beautifully coiffed head.

  “He wouldn’t do that,” Anna said.

  “Why not?”

  “Because he is good, Patricia. He has an honorable heart. He sees the problem now with the plan to cut the temporal threads.”

  “Around you he is good.” Kailin’s strong voice came from the stairwell alcove. She stepped out to join Patricia in front of her, the two of them like looming sentries. But Anna had spent much of her life being loomed over, first by her father and then by the male doctors who felt she was beneath them.

  Anna poured herself a cup of wine. “I’ve spent much more time with
him than you have, and he is a good man with a golden heart.” She took a sip and let the coolness steady her. Kailin stood silent, her lips tight.

  “You know Semiazaz once loved Drakkina,” Anna said.

  Kailin nodded, breathing deeply. “She’s told me that much. He hated her husband, killed his soul. They had been boyhood rivals.” She glanced around the hall. “Where is my brother anyway? He must know something more,” Kailin said.

  “She let him leave, go back to his house,” Patricia said. “And he was angry.”

  Good Lord, her sister was all grown up and married but still a tattle tale.

  “You let him go?” Kailin asked, her eyes growing wide. “With all that power and full of anger?”

  Anna huffed. “And now we are full circle,” she mumbled and took another sip. She met Kailin’s gaze. “I didn’t say he was full of anger. He just needs some time to sort through things and speak with Semiazaz.”

  “Who is speaking with Semiazaz?” William asked as he walked into the hall.

  “Drustan,” Anna said and stood, straightening her skirt. “Drustan, who is not here because I let him go home while he is angry at something, though what, I don’t know, and although he has been raised by demons and one very sly dark wizard, I am certain he has a good heart and therefore Kylkern is not in jeopardy of being leveled by magic.”

  No one said anything. Apparently she’d summed up the problems well enough. “So, I will be retiring to my chambers to freshen up before the evening meal. Perhaps Alicia would be good enough to levitate a few buckets of water to my room for me to warm for a bath.”

  Anna walked away from the quiet group and was almost free when Matilda strode into the great hall, towing Winston Murdock along with her. “Uncle,” she cried. “Ye need to see this.”

  “Really, Lady Matilda, there is nothing over which to fret so,” Winston said. “I am a doctor and so is Anna. I’m certain one of us can take care of the cut.”