The Sacrifice (The Covenant)

by Azure Boone

  She nodded.

  After telling her exactly what she needed to say to him, Micah got the phone and dialed the FBI office where he worked. He paced the floor while she talked to him, his gut twisting when she gave the name of their hotel.

  She handed him the phone and Micah got on, his stomach in knots still. “I just need to hear this from you,” a deep voice said. “What the fuck have you gotten my cousin involved in and how do I know you’re for real?”

  Micah gave him enough dirty details about some of their unsolved crimes until her cousin was silent. “Good enough?”

  “I’m on my way. Make sure she stays alive. Don’t go out.”

  Micah hung up and sat heavily on the bed. He believed him. He knew because Micah heard the terror and dread in his final words. Good. That’s exactly what he needed him feeling.

  Micah called the pharmacy next.

  Chapter Eight

  Sarah woke to an unfamiliar face. She finally panicked when she remembered ugly details. “Shhh, it’s me, Shawn, your cousin.”

  “I’m here.” Sarah grasped at Micah’s soft words with her mind and reached for him. Shawn moved out of his way and Micah knelt next to her and kissed her hand.

  “Here’s the medicine.” Shawn handed him the antibiotic.

  “Get the pain medicine. It’s on the counter. Ibuprofen and Tylenol. Get both. And grab that can of topical wound spray.”

  Micah gave Sarah the antibiotic then the pain medicine. He soaked her wound with the numbing spray then settled next to her and took her hand between his. He’d been feeding her soup out of cans and bottled vitamin water every fifteen minutes. He looked at Shawn who stared at him with a near enigmatic expression. Micah didn’t really blame him.

  “You look like shit,” Shawn muttered.

  The generic words took the edge off of the awkward satanic situation. “Thanks.”

  “How about you go take a shower. I’ll sit with Sarah. Catch up.”

  There was something in the man’s tone that didn’t sit right with Micah. Distrust. There was nothing he could do about it. Shawn needed to hear it from Sarah. “You need to warn the family. They need to hide.”

  “I have. They’re safe.”

  Micah lowered his head, sure there was no such thing with the coven.

  “Don’t worry. This isn’t the movies where stupid cops don’t take shit serious. You gave me enough information to set the entire FBI on guard. They’re as safe as they can be, given who and what we’re dealing with.”

  Micah’s gut loosened a bit at seeing at least he’d taken it as serious as it was.

  “Go shower sweetie.”

  Micah leveled his gaze on Sarah, his body wilting with the need to stay close to her. He hated her out of his sight. “Okay.”

  She blew him a kiss with her right hand and winced then turned her attention to her cousin. “Sorry it’s been so long.”

  He shrugged. “It beats a family reunion.”

  Micah listened at the bathroom door, smiling when she laughed softly. He finally climbed into the shower, willing himself to let the water do what it needed. Wash away everything. In his mind, on his body. In his dirty soul. The hot water was painfully orgasmic as it hit the million wounds covering him. He didn’t remember ever being that tired and exhausted.

  He stood in the stream with his head hanging, hands bracing the wall. He remained that way until the water became lukewarm and his legs could barely hold him up. He cleaned himself as quickly as he could and got out the shower.

  Micah wrapped a towel around his waist and paused at Sarah’s laughter. His gut tightened, torn between an odd jealousy and joy at the sound. Jealousy won over when he heard the words kissing cousins out of Shawn’s mouth. He listened closer.

  “You kissed all your cousins,” Sarah said.

  “Yes but I only wanted to kiss…”

  Micah didn’t make out the rest of the words but Sarah’s laughter following only made it worse.

  He opened the door and walked out, forgetting he only had a towel.

  “Feel better?” Shawn asked from the chair he’d moved next to her bed.

  Micah had eyes only for Sarah though, needing to see what she was thinking and feeling while talking about such things with another man. Whatever she’d been feeling was replaced with a raw heat in her blue eyes as she devoured him. “You certainly look amazing.”

  The bold words wiped away his fear and put him at ease. He suddenly felt like the patient in her office that first day when she’d openly lusted at him without realizing. “Thank you, doc.” He eyed Shawn. “So what’s the plan?”

  “Bring them down,” he said. “All of them. Finally.”

  “I don’t know how that’s possible.”

  He nodded and shrugged one shoulder. “We’ll get as many as we can then.”

  Micah begrudgingly appreciated the commonsensical quality of the man. Not an arrogant know it all gun waving lunatic getting people killed. “We need to move her out of here. We can’t stay in one place.” He eyed Shawn, hoping he had some ideas.

  “I have a place off the grid. One of our safe houses. About a six hour drive from here.”

  A realization dawned on Micah until his spirit wilted inside him. There would never be any place or any time that he’d feel safe with Sarah. As long as the devil was alive, they’d be in danger.

  ***

  Micah sat with Sarah on the couch at the safe house, gripping her hand.

  “What?” She looked to Shawn and Micah in disbelief. But really, how did she not know that?

  “Sweetheart…” Shawn leaned forward with both hands clasped, brow full of tenderness. “He’s done a lot of bad things.”

  As true as that was, Micah felt dirtier than ever, guiltier than ever, stupider than ever, while sitting there with her kissing cousin explaining how horrible he was. He knew he’d have to answer for his crimes. Sarah stared at him, a look of betrayal in her eyes.

  Micah stood, suddenly unable to breathe. “Prison is the last thing on my mind, Sarah. Forgive me.” He paced and rubbed the back of his neck. “Getting you out alive and keeping you that way is what’s important.”

  She gasped, a sound of offended incredulity and Micah spun to her. “There was never a get out of jail free card in this. Getting out of hell was priority number one. Living through that was priority number two. Remaining alive after that, is now priority number three.”

  Her face slowly morphed with the horror of that end reality. But to him, prison was paradise. What he worried about was how very impossible staying alive was likely going to be.

  “We’ll try and get his sentence as shortened as we can, sweetheart.” Shawn went to the couch and sat next to her, pulling her into an embrace then hit Micah with a glare. “The question is, does he deserve less for dragging you into this hell.”

  Micah stared at him, speechless with a guilt that left him furious. He hated that the bastard was right. Micah went back to pacing unable to stomach the constant verbal and physical affection Shawn lavished on Sarah. And Sarah’s naïve “it’s not his fault” earned him monster of the millennia award, delivered straight from the hate filled stare of her sweet kissing cousin.

  ***

  Seven days in hell it felt like. A noose tightening around them. Stuck at a safe house feeling about as safe as a rat in the devil’s laboratory. They were being watched. Baited. Fed. Fattened. For the slaughter.

  At least Sarah was healing. Thank God. But Micah wanted her in a vicious way. His body hurt, his mind and soul groaned in silent agony not being able to make love to her the way he wanted. He needed to obliterate her with passion and sear her sweet spirit to his. He slept wanting her, he woke wanting her, his entire existence was saturated with the dire need for her. He couldn’t look at her without seeing her thighs open wide before him, without smelling her secrets scarred into his psyche, hearing her moans, feeling her desperate cries against his lips.

  And then Shawn’s little evil confession happ
ened. Fury slithered into his body as he braced his palms on the bathroom shower wall, recalling her cousin’s blasphemous words. “Sarah and I were tight,” he’d said.

  Micah had managed a halfway civil chuckle. “Kissing cousins?”

  Shawn hit him with, “A lot more than that. But, it was a long time ago.”

  Those words ate through his core like an acid. No matter how he told himself she didn’t want him or love him and that it didn’t matter, Micah was burning. He planned on having sessions about it with Sarah when she was feeling better. Problem was, her kissing cousin clearly still had the hots for her. It brought out monsters in Micah straight from hell. The need to kill him grew with his need to claim Sarah in dominance like some animal. Not exactly something he should do to a woman in a fucking arm sling while running from Satan’s passé.

  And dear God, that bitch Tabitha that came along like a spider, aka Shawn’s partner. The whore slowly gnawed away his threadbare control. Why was she even there? What was the point? She made him want Sarah more than anything. Walking around hanging out of everything she wore and openly flirting with him. It made Sarah so insecure, which made Micah need to love her harder. Sarah thought her insecurity wasn’t showing but Micah saw the decadent candy in her pretty eyes. Every time the woman brought him something, which was every five fucking minutes, it was there in Sarah’s face. Even though he refused the woman’s everything, Sarah was threatened.

  A sick little subconscious game quickly developed. Sarah trying to meet his every need in advance. And the little intimacy he granted Sarah had become a huge rejection session. It didn’t matter how many ways he assured her it was so her body could fucking heal, she grew desperate, trying to out-do him in their foreplay games he allowed, sucking his cock with a frantic hunger. And knowing what she really hungered for had Micah wound up so fucking tight with the need to give it. She needed his dominance. She craved it like a life line. It meant everything to see him come undone all over her, to see Hell bow before her perfect tiny feet.

  And that bastard Shawn. He thought his “cousin status” gave him touching rights with Sarah. From flirty innocent tickling to hugging for any and every goddamn reason. Oh you look tired, let me touch you. Oh you look depressed, let me touch you. Oh you look sad, you look great, oh look I’m horny, let me touch you.

  Micah craved to fucking touch him.

  And then when Micah finally expressed to Sarah how much he hated him touching her? She fucking defended the prick. “And how would you like it if Tabitha touched me like that?” he’d asked.

  Oh, her fury. “Don’t even say her name in the same sentence with you and the word touch,” had been her sweet response. And really it was so fucking sweet. The illogical jealousy turned Micah on so much he had to go jack off.

  But if Micah wasn’t mistaken, Dick Head and Twat Face were plotting to divide them. As far as he was concerned, everybody was a suspect in the Devil’s Domain. And both of them had their foot in door of his lair, whether knowingly or not didn’t matter. The devil didn’t need willing participants in his schemes, he was quite fine with manipulating the human nature in abject oblivion.

  Micah got out of the shower and cursed when he couldn’t find his underwear. He wrapped a towel around his waist and opened the door a crack. He heard Sarah in their room and made a dash for it.

  Their door opened and out walked Tabitha. God. Damn. “What the fuck are you doing in our room?”

  She scanned his body, an appreciative smile curving her lips. “I was delivering something for your girlfriend.” Wearing only half a tank-top, she pouted her bottom lip and jutted her braless tits at him.

  The second bathroom door opened across from them and of course out walked Sarah. Without her arm sling. “Where’s your arm sling?” Micah asked.

  “It feels fine.” The words gritted through hard lips.

  “We got ourselves a group huddle here, or what?” Shawn cock-strutted around the corner then looked at Sarah. “Good, you decided to take it off.” He stroked her arm, looking at it and nodding before chucking her chin with his thumb. “I’m ready for you to taste test the guacamole. I think I did a pretty good job. You feel better?” Micah couldn’t get his eyes off of the bastard’s hands still rubbing on Sarah. And the way she let him.

  Maybe that’s because Sarah was too furious to notice. She eyed Micah and the anger in her blue gaze was so intense it actually made him feel guilty. Amazing since it should be him pissed with her letting that kissing cousin grope her every second of the day.

  Sarah shoved her way through and Micah caught her arm. “I need your help with something.”

  “I don’t want dinner to burn.” She jerked out of his grip and walked off.

  Shawn raised his brows and hands before turning and following her.

  “I can help you.”

  Micah smirked in open disgust at Tabitha’s sultry offer. “No thanks.”

  In the bedroom, he quickly dressed, ready to confront this bullshit. With their lives at stake, he was living a soap opera. Fucking insane. He was ready to leave and go to another country. Yes. That’s what he needed to talk to her about, that’s what he needed her help with.

  Micah followed Sarah’s laughter to the kitchen and got pissed at how it disappeared the second he entered.

  Tabitha slutted in almost on cue. “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing.” Sarah’s tone was cold and the feeling that her cuz was definitely trying to cause them problems increased exponentially.

  “I was wondering the same thing.” Micah leaned a hip on the island getting only the flick of her angry gaze.

  “Private joke?” Tabitha purred.

  “Seems like it.” Micah’s heart slammed his chest in the wake of his fury. “I need to talk to you in private.”

  Sarah finally saw that he was prepared to make a huge scene if she didn’t comply.

  “Hey,” Shawn sauntered toward him, “Don’t fucking take that tone with her.”

  The urge to murder in cold blood had never been so strong. Micah stood rigid as adrenalin licked at every pore for ten eternal seconds. Sarah pulled him out of the kitchen while Micah mentally murdered him five different ways.

  Chapter Nine

  Once in the bedroom, he shut and locked the door slowly, taking careful breaths. He turned and faced her.

  She stood in the center of the room with her arms crossed over her chest but there was a lot going on in her face that betrayed her cocky stance. He slowly walked to the right of her, watching her, trying to name what it was he was seeing in the shadows beneath that façade. She was acting almost… guilty.

  He paused. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” There were no other words he cared to say. When she didn’t answer him, his suspicion grew. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

  “Me?” Her eyes went narrow. “I wasn’t the one standing naked in the hall talking to that bitch!”

  “I was going in our room and she was there.”

  “She was in our room?” Her tone rose with accusation.

  “She said she was delivering something for you.”

  “Oh reeeeeeally!” She gestured to his body. “And you just had to stop and talk about it in only a towel!?”

  “She was blocking the door to our room,” Micah hissed. “And what about you?”

  Her mouth dropped open. “What about me!”

  “Letting that cousin of yours touch you all the fucking time!” Micah pointed at her. “One more time and I swear, I’ll kill him. And don’t give me that fucking incredulous shocked expression like he’s innocent.”

  “He’s my cousin!”

  Micah stared at her, his heart slamming his chest now, now that it had come to that. “Kissing cousin?”

  Various emotions filled her face. Shock, confusion, fear, guilt. Then the winning emotion, pissed. “I was young. We just kissed.”

  Micah slowly closed the distance between them until she had to look up at him. The close proximity and angl
e made it hard for her to glare, but she managed pretty well. “You just… kissed?” Micah’s gut tightened at the look in her gaze. Guilt. He slowly closed his own eyes, not wanting to see it. He turned around and grabbed his head. “What… exactly did you do?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she whispered.

  Micah spun to her. “It fucking matters to me!”

  Tears filled her eyes and she put her hand over her mouth and covered a sob. She shook her head barely. “I’m sorry. I should have told you.”

  He looked up, amazed with how much it hurt that she’d lied to him about that. “You acted like you were a virgin, like I was your first.”

  She gasped. “And you acted like you fucked my friend and loved me and weren’t a Satanist!”

  He stared at her, pain gripping his chest at the ugly truth of that. The voice of reason said she was right. He of all people had no room for self-righteousness. She’d confessed in the circle during sentencing that she wasn’t a virgin, but he’d thought she meant because of him, because he’d made love to her. It was his job to do the homework right, to find a fucking virgin. He’d done everything wrong with Sarah. Everything but one thing, and it burned a hole in his chest now, until he couldn’t’ breathe. “I did love you.” He took her face in his hands and kissed the edges of her mouth softly. “God. I love you more now.” Hunger took him and he pushed her lips open with his, tasting her like he’d never had her before. “I’m drowning in you, Sarah. Drowning out of you.” Micah fisted his hand in her hair and clenched his eyes tight. “I need you so bad.”

  She raked her nails up his neck and into his scalp. “Then why don’t you take me!”

  His lips slid to her jaw, then neck. “I wanted you to fucking heal.” The words were thick with ache as he skimmed his hands over her breasts, groaning at encountering her erect nipples.

  “I need you goddammit,” she whispered. “Need you to…”

  “I know baby.” He slowly knelt before her then looked up. “I know… exactly what you need.” His cock hurt with the fragile and vulnerable look on her face.