Blood Sacrifice (Faith of the Fallen Book 2)

by West,Cassandra Sky

  How did he move so fast?

  With her good arm, she reached behind her for a handful of hair. Heaving, she pulled and tried to shrug him off. Her hand slipped forward and she fell to on knee. Panic gripped her. It wasn’t drinking her blood; it was trying to eat her! It ripped at her shoulder tearing away at her flesh. A tooth slid across bone and she screamed.

  Warm blood ran down her skin. Alexi closed her eyes to stave off a wave of dizziness. Coiling her midsection she braced her arms and legs against the pavement.

  “Get off me,” she yelled. He bit her again, this time, his teeth tore muscle. She screamed again from the agony that burned down her back.

  Alexi had enough, she heaved with both her legs up and back. They flew through the air as her strength carried them both six feet up. She twisted mid-air to land on top of him. They hit the ground with a crunch of tissue and pulverized bones.

  Alexi strained to stand and stumbled away from the thing. Her left arm was slow to respond but she managed to raise it in defense. Its face hung by broken tissue and meat. Its mouth worked up and down, closing on broken teeth and a ruined tongue.

  “What are you?” she whispered. Its eyes flashed at her, their whites abnormally large and hazy. The thing lunged at her, but its ruined legs no longer had any speed. She easily stepped aside while she cradled her arm in her hand.

  “Alexi!” Savanna yelled from down the street.

  “Over here!” she replied. At the sound of the new voice, the thing turned, its useless eyes scanning for the new voice.

  “Stay back, Savanna,” she warned.

  Savanna skidded around the corner, twenty feet away. Something shifted about the beast, he moved his head as if he sensed the witch. He shambled Savanna’s direction for a moment before stopping.

  “Alexi, what did you do?”

  “Me? Nothing, this thing was eating someone when I came out”

  It shifted back and forth at the sound of their voices when Alexi spoke it walked toward her when Savanna spoke it shifted back. It had to drag one leg and it reached out with its hands searching for prey. With its legs broken, it couldn’t move fast. The fact that it could move at all had Alexi’s heart pounding.

  Connor came around the corner behind Savanna with his large pistol drawn and held at the ready.

  “What the hell is that?”

  “Welcome to the discussion, that’s what we’re trying to figure out. The obvious thing is a zombie. I take it they’re another part of this crazy world?”

  Savanna shook her head. Connor too.

  “Not like this,” Savanna said.

  The thing didn’t know where to go, so it started walking toward Savanna. Alexi didn’t want to risk Savanna. She retrieved her sword and walked up behind the thing.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Ten seconds ago it was trying to eat me, not kill me—eat. I’m not going to take any chances.”

  It stumbled to the right, correcting its course to Savanna’s voice.

  “That’s enough of that,” Alexi swung her blade slicing the thing’s head clean off.

  TWO

  “Zombies don’t work like that, you’re mistaken,” Monique stated. The director hadn’t risen when they came in, she sat behind her large desk and stared at them with an expression akin to listening to a small child who told a fable.

  Alexi wasn’t happy with being here in the first place. She hadn’t wanted to rush here to report and she certainly hadn’t wanted to stay the day. Now the sun was up and streamed through the office, sending waves of dizziness through her. Or was that the wound? Connor had insisted they come and check in with the Arcanum.

  “Unless you have something else to put forward?” She nodded to Connor, “Escort them to the elevator please.”

  Alexi couldn’t let that stand.

  “I don’t work for you, and I don’t have to justify myself either. If it wasn’t a zombie, then it was something like a zombie. What do you have that’s like that,” she asked.

  Monique put down her coffee cup, she looked Alexi in the eyes, her scarred face brushing up against Alexi’s cool blue eyes.

  Alexi blinked first.

  “It’s not a menu, Ms. Creed, we’ve been doing this a long time. Research says there are no zombies. This isn’t a movie, the supernatural may be poorly understood, but there is nothing new under the sun. Would you care to explain, Ms. Grace?”

  Savanna cast her eyes down and shuffled closer to Connor, “No ma’am,” she whispered.

  Alexi suppressed her anger. Anger at being ignored, and condescended too, and anger in defense of her friend. The Arcanum hadn’t been friendly with her since they first met, but they also, supposedly, were interested in protecting humans. Connor and Sing’s boss did nothing to make Alexi think otherwise, but she sure didn’t make her feel welcome.

  “Savanna,” Alexi said, still looking at Monique, “We’re leaving.” She turned without waiting for her friend's acknowledgment.

  “I would suggest you steer clear of Arcanum business, Ms. Creed, the world you’re in is no place for well-intentioned amateurs.”

  Alexi bristled. Savanna put a cool, comforting hand on Alexi’s arm. She let out a breath. She turned on her heel and brushed past Connor and Sing. She didn’t quite slam the door out of frustration.

  “Connor, Sing, remain please,” Alexi heard Monique say as she shut the door. The Arcanum moved their office since the last time she visited—well, broke in. The new office sat in the center of town in a high rise. Windows looked out onto the city. Alexi paused for a moment and pretended to admire the view. She could see the bay and the stadiums, all of the western part of Seattle.

  She was more interested in what they were talking about in the office they just left. Savanna stayed close and followed Alexi’s lead. Alexi closed her eyes to better focus. Pain stabbed at her from her shoulder but she pushed that down to hear Connor’s voice.

  “…She saved the entire world. A little appreciation of that wouldn’t hurt.” Connor said.

  “So she says. The only two people who have first-hand knowledge of this are in the next room. I’m sorry Connor, the council doesn’t put a lot of faith in the word of a vampire…”

  “Ma’am, what about the Demon she helped us banish, surely that…”

  “You mean the one that was summoned by Miss Grace’s mother? No, until we know more, you two keep an eye on them. The jury’s still out, and if it comes back guilty… we need to find a way to terminate them.”

  “Alexi,” Savanna’s voice broke her concentration. Alexi purposely closed her mouth without clicking her teeth.

  “Sorry, let’s go,” she said nothing else as they made their way to the elevator bank. The office looked like any other. Business suits and computer cubicles. It was a ways up from the four-man office they had before the demon attacked. With Seattle’s activity shooting up, their office got a boost. Two guards in suits, a man, and women stood opposite the elevator. They looked like the same former military that almost everyone else who worked for the Arcanum did.

  She reached for the button, but her arm faltered. Burning pins and needles rolled down her shoulder. She grunted from the sudden pain.

  “You okay?” Savanna whispered to her.

  “Fine,” Alexi said between clenched teeth.

  She leaned against the frame while she waited. Each second stretched out as she heard the words in her head again, terminate. The pain in her shoulder flared up, numbing her arm and fingers. Alexi picked a spot on the wall and focused hard on it. Her shoulder itched and burned. The doors closed and she let out a breath followed by a low moan of pain.

  “Alexi, what’s wrong?”

  “My shoulder,” her voice wavered, “it didn’t heal. I thought maybe I was hungry, but...”

  Savanna pulled on Alexi’s jacket, the smell of rotting flesh permeated the air forcing her to cover her mouth to stop herself from vomiting. Alexi tasted blood in her mouth, and not in a good way.

  �
��I don’t think you’re okay,” Savanna said quietly.

  ***

  “It isn’t exactly rocket science,” Savanna explained to Alexi’s semi-conscious form. She didn’t really know why she was saying anything to her. Alexi had been delirious all the way back from Seattle. Now in their Tacoma house, Savanna prepared her healing ritual. It was dangerous with only one source of blood. That nervousness she felt was probably why she narrated everything she did to Alexi.

  “But there are things we do, and there are things we don’t do. My mother was always very clear on that,” she said as she finished the last circle. Thirteen circles of protection were painted on the hardwood floor. She sniffed the paint, it still smelled fresh, which was important. It wasn’t easy to find mountain goat bones and grind them into a paste. The local magic shop was more than happy to accommodate her. The clerk behind the counter smiled and flirted with her every time she went in.

  “I don’t really need this stuff, I could do it with blood only, but then, I would need a donor, well other than me of course,” she crinkled her nose, something wasn’t quite right. Alexi lay on the hardwood floor covered in a blanket but otherwise naked. Three circles were painted around her, the last one connecting with the last three circles of Savanna’s.

  “Oh, right, the wound,” she muttered. Careful not to smudge the circles, Savanna removed the blanket. Sweat poured off Alexi in puddles. She shivered uncontrollably and her arm and shoulder were blackened and putrid.

  “Hang in there sweetie, almost there,” she said to comfort her friend. The last paint needed to go on the wound itself. The flesh around her shoulder was fragile, ashen, dying. Beyond that, it looked ashen and pale. Making sure she didn’t touch the infection itself, Savanna painted a small circle around it, then a line down to the floor.

  “There, this will ground you and connect you.”

  Savanna tip-toed back to her circle. Once there, she shrugged off the smock she wore, she wouldn’t need the pockets and ingredients she stored in it. She also didn’t want it covered in blood. She long ago learned to do these things with as little clothes as possible, blood stains were a bitch to get out.

  With one last deep breath to settle herself, she crossed her legs and opened her mouth to chant.

  Connor burst through the door. His face went from concern to embarrassment in a heartbeat. He lifted up his hands to hide from her.

  “Connor, what are you doing here?” she asked. There wasn’t anywhere for her to hide. Her boyshorts and sports bra were all the shield for her modesty she could have.

  “She’s sick, isn’t she?” he asked. He looked at her in the eyes for a moment lowering his hand enough to make eye contact. It was only then that he realized Alexi wasn’t dressed as well.

  “Oh gosh,” he stuttered.

  “Yes, very. It’s a good thing you came now and not once I started, these things are dangerous, Connor. Rituals cannot be interrupted without severe consequences on the caster.”

  “I just thought… well, I didn’t think, obviously. I knew you would try something like this if she was sick and I also know it’s dangerous for you to use your own blood,” he said as he rolled up his sleeve, “So use mine.”

  Savanna felt her mouth dry from her jaw hanging open. She had used his blood before when they fought the demon. The memory of being intoxicated on his power sent goosebumps down her arms and legs. The thought that she could kill him chilled her.

  “Connor, you don’t know what you're asking. I could kill you or leave you brain dead or without a spirit. I have no idea how much power it will take to cure her. I’m prepared to give all I have, are you?”

  She expected him to stutter, to say he didn’t know, and then leave. Instead, he unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it over his head, revealing his well-toned body. For a man who was closer to forty than thirty, his muscles were incredibly defined. Savanna felt her mouth tighten and a whole new round of goosebumps go through her as she couldn’t take her eyes off his toned chest. The few times she kissed him, or pressed herself up against him, she had felt the muscles but to see him. To see his chest and abs… her face flushed and she forced herself to turn away.

  She jumped up and kissed him on the cheek, “Thank you.”

  He smiled at her. Alexi moaned, her body wracked with sudden shudders sending her hands and feet twitching to bounce off the hardwood floor.

  “We’ve got to hurry, Connor, sit here,” she pointed at the circle. “Don’t break the lines!” She made sure he stepped carefully as she sat him down. There wasn’t a lot of room in the circle. As soon as Connor was seated she slid down to sit on his legs with his firm abs behind her. She folded her legs up so that no part of her touched the ground. Connor would act as her ground and link. She wiggled slightly for comfort and also luxuriating in the feel of Connor being so close to her. She could feel his appreciation for her as well. His heart thumped in his chest, among other things.

  “Blood magic first,” she reminded him.

  “I thought I might get my arms around you at some point, I have to admit this isn’t how I pictured it,” he said as he encircled her waist. Savanna shivered as his rough hand brushed against her stomach.

  “This is going to hurt,” she said.

  Savanna took his hand and ran her fingers over his knuckles to gently guide his hand over with the palm facing up. She liked touching him, she desperately wished that this wasn’t how she would spend more time with him. She guided his palm to the flat of her belly, and the other she held out in one hand.

  Her voice filled the air before it spilled out into the room. The words came, not from her memory but from another place entirely. Some of them were English, some Latin, others unintelligible. The magic drew from her what it needed to begin. It clashed together and built upon itself. Energy surged within her blood. Wind from another place blew her black hair wildly.

  The magic could only go so far on its own before it needed fuel. She reached out with her dagger, holding the point above Connor’s wrist. If she didn’t act quickly the magic would fade to nothing. Her hesitation came from worry. Alexi looked worse in the few minutes since she started the ritual. If she didn’t heal her entirely, then it would all be for not. The infection would come back and Alexi would die tomorrow instead of today.

  She shook her head, there was no choice. The dagger sliced through the air to land point first in his palm. He grunted from the sudden pain, his whole body tensed up from the wound.

  Her chant took on a feverish tone as the blood dripped down their intertwined hands onto the floor to pool. Savanna gathered the power from his blood, building the arcane energy until her skin vibrated from holding it. When she thought she couldn’t contain it anymore, she thrust it upon Alexi.

  The vampire convulsed as it poured into her. She screamed and lifted off the ground, the net of energy suspending her in the air. Savanna could feel the infection fighting her. The nature of it pushing back as she burned it out of Alexi’s body.

  “Savanna,” Connor mumbled behind her. Only seconds passed to her, but she looked down, his blood pooled in copious amounts. Spreading out around his legs like a silky red blanket. She reached out with her mind. The infection was still there. She let her eyes slip into her other sight.

  The world vanished, replaced with an explosion of colors. She flinched as the transition happened. It took some of the power from Connor to see this way, and more to defend herself while she did, but it allowed her to see magic, the way she could see the ley lines when she looked to the sky. Alexi’s body writhed and convulsed. The infection coiled around her like a serpent. Here, Savanna could see the truth of it. She raised her hand with her fingers tight together like a knife. The snake recoiled from her to sink its long fangs into Alexi. An inky blackness spread out from where it latched on.

  Savanna sliced her hand across the serpent. The energy she used from Connor manifested as a blue blade that burned through the snake.

  In the real world, she felt his weight col
lapse against her back. The power from him ebbed. She drove the dagger hard through his hand, pinning it against her own leg which was now bleeding. The pain lanced through her briefly before the flow of power resumed. Her blood mingled with his as it pooled under them. She didn’t have much time.

  Mustering her will, Savanna focused her mind on the serpent. She had to burn it out all at once. The head she cut off moments before had already grown back. The power she gathered built in her, threatening her. She coughed and wheezed as she pulled air into lungs that wanted nothing more than to stop working in the face of blood loss. In contrast, her skin tingled with the energy she gathered.

  When her eyes began to burn, and her skin lit with fire, she knew it was time. She let it out. All at once. Arcane energy exploded out of her in a column of magical fire. The snake reeled as Alexi was consumed by the magical blaze. The energy washed over her and when it was gone, so was the infection.

  Savanna fell out of her trance, back into the real world, the last remnants of power slipping through her fingers. With the tiny bit left, and her last breath, she closed the wound on Connors' hand. As his wound closed she put her hand over her leg, but sudden exhaustion rolled over her. She fell backward, thankful that something soft cushioned her fall.

  ***

  Alexi snapped open her eyes and sat bolt upright. The force of her movement lifted her off the couch to tumble onto the hardwood floor in a sweaty, jumbled mess. Her thoughts were sluggish and her body slow to respond and she had to wipe her matted hair out of her face.

  The last thing she had remembered was the elevator at the Arcanum. Now she was home… she tried to clear her head and focus her thoughts. She’d been sick, she could remember bits and pieces as Savanna drove her here.

  The smell of copper and iron assaulted her nostrils and sent hunger pains through her stomach followed by saliva flooding her mouth. The majority of the living room floor was covered in blood. Otherwise, the house was undisturbed. It was dark, but Alexi’s eyes adjusted in a moment. By the hallway, she could see bloody footprints heading back to the bedrooms.