Sacrifice

by Jennifer Quintenz

  The brown-haired Lilitu glanced back, silencing her comrade with a look.

  “How?” I asked again. “We never leave the Seal unguarded. How did you escape?”

  Her beautiful lips curved up in a cruel smile. “Stand aside, and I’ll tell you.” Her eyes slid over my shoulder, fixing on Amber behind me.

  “Elyia,” one of the other Lilitu said, her voice sharp. The brown-haired Lilitu turned, irritated. “The spotter comes. Be quick.”

  “Elyia, is it?” I adjusted my stance, ready for a fight. “You and your friends might want to take off before Gretchen gets here. She’s having a bad night. She’s already missed her favorite TV show. If you’re still here when she arrives, she’s going to take it out on you.”

  Elyia’s eyes darkened. “I’ve got a job to do.”

  I saw her center of balance shift, so I was ready when she rocketed forward. I stabbed out with the first dagger, catching the edge of her shirt. She twisted aside, and the blade tore open a long gash along the side of her shirt, parting the simple cotton with no effort at all. Elyia kicked out, catching my thigh and shoving me back.

  I wheeled around, regaining my balance and facing Elyia—but she’d managed to slip behind me, placing me between her and the other two Lilitu.

  Amber pressed herself up against the alley wall, sliding back as far as she could from the fight. Her eyes whipped to the mouth of the alley behind me. I saw the urge to run in her face, but she’d never make it past the Lilitu.

  “Braedyn, behind you!” Gretchen’s voice rang through the alley, half a second before one of the Lilitu gave a horrible shriek. I risked a glance back. Gretchen had sliced a long gash across one Lilitu’s arm. The second Lilitu was just steps away from me, her claws extended. Gretchen whipped her arm and I saw something flash in the streetlights. The dull thud of impact stopped the Lilitu cold. She fell, face forward, one of Gretchen’s daggers buried to the hilt in the base of her neck.

  I spun back for Elyia. She stared at her fallen peer, and when she dragged her gaze up I saw hatred burning in her eyes.

  Before I could reach her, Elyia had sprung. She caught Amber by the hair, dragging her away from the wall.

  Amber gave a full-throated scream. Elyia backhanded her, sending Amber whimpering to her knees.

  “Enough!” I charged. Elyia spun to face me, her human aspect falling away. Dark eyes seemed to draw light in. Her sneer revealed a mouth full of pointed teeth, gleaming weirdly with an almost metallic sheen.

  We connected. Elyia’s clawed hands fastened around my wrists. I dropped one of my daggers, grabbing Elyia by the collar and trying to pull her closer, trying to leverage my other hand out of her grip.

  Another horrible shriek sounded behind us. Elyia’s eyes darted over my shoulder. Whatever she saw seemed to stop her cold.

  “Another time, sister,” she whispered into my ear. And then she kicked me off of her. As I slid into the alley wall, I saw Gretchen racing toward us. The last of the Lilitu had turned tail and fled.

  Behind me, Elyia grabbed Amber by the scruff of her jacket and shoved her at Gretchen. Gretchen reached out to catch Amber before she slammed into the alley wall. I rolled to my feet, scrambling to collect my daggers, but by the time I stood, Elyia was gone.

  Gretchen examined the shaking Amber quickly. “Are you hurt? Did she claw you anywhere?”

  “She’s fine,” I said, sheathing my daggers.

  Amber turned at the sound of my voice. “Why?” Her voice trembled. “You’re one of them. Why did they attack you?”

  I grimaced. “Because I’m their enemy, Amber.”

  Amber’s eyes were round pools of fear. “What’s the Guard?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

  I glanced at Gretchen, but any hope I’d had of Gretchen’s keeping the Guard’s secret faded when I saw her face. Gretchen was eyeing Amber with that same protective attention I’d seen her show Lucas when he was hurt or troubled.

  “Don’t worry.” Gretchen bent to retrieve her dagger from the back of the dead Lilitu’s neck. “You’re about to find out.”

  A small fire crackled in the fireplace of the Guard’s living room. I huddled next to it, perched glumly on the stone hearth, watching the Guard surround Amber. She sat on the couch, clutching her sweater around herself. Gretchen regarded her, excitement virtually bubbling out of her. Matt hadn’t been more than a step away from Gretchen since we’d returned. He watched her closely, smiling at her evident joy.

  “She’s a spotter.” Gretchen’s words sent another wave of dread through me. “Can you believe it? Another spotter right here in town and we didn’t even know it.” Matt gave her shoulder a squeeze. She beamed at him.

  Hale and Dad eyed Amber with interest. Recognition flickered across Dad’s face. “You go to Coronado Prep.”

  Amber looked up at him, still shell-shocked from our encounter with the Lilitu. “What?”

  “Give her some space, Murphy. We had a rough night.” Gretchen sat on the couch beside Amber.

  “What happened at the meeting?” Hale lowered himself into one of the armchairs on either side of the couch.

  “We might have a bigger problem than we—” but Gretchen stopped as the back door opened.

  Lucas and Cassie entered, carrying armfuls of freshly chopped wood for the fire. Lucas froze when he saw Amber, then his eyes sought me out.

  “You told them?”

  “What?” Gretchen turned to face Lucas, but an instant later she spun on me. Spots of rosy anger colored her cheeks. “You knew? You knew she was a spotter and you didn’t tell us?”

  “She tried to have Lucas killed,” I said.

  Gretchen’s anger cooled. She turned on Amber, her eyes sharpening. “The car accident?”

  Amber’s eyes found mine.

  “She was trying to send me a message.” I kept my voice level, afraid of letting my anger through.

  The Guard froze, studying Amber. A sudden chill descended over the room. Matt, still standing beside the couch, eyed Gretchen warily. But Gretchen didn’t strike, as I might have anticipated. Instead, she clenched her fists in her lap and took a deep breath.

  “You sent those boys after my little brother?” Gretchen stared Amber down, waiting for a response. I felt a surge of jealousy. Gretchen hadn’t known anything about me when we’d met, but she’d assumed I was evil because I had a Lilitu for a mother. Now, faced with the truth of Amber’s sociopathic nature, she was still willing to hear Amber’s side of the story?

  “She’s a demon,” was all Amber said. “And he was helping her.”

  Gretchen sat back, troubled.

  “Wait, hold on.” Lucas dropped the wood he was carrying next to the fireplace. “She as good as admitted to attempted murder, and you’re going to let it slide?”

  Gretchen met Lucas’s anger calmly. “She didn’t know you were Guard. She didn’t know Braedyn was on our side. If I’d been in her shoes—” She let the thought trail off. Lucas and I exchanged a stunned look.

  “Spotters,” Matt offered, seeing our dismay. “They share more than the ability to see cloaked demons.”

  His words sent a shock through my system. Of course. Gretchen would know that Amber had lost someone to a demon—it was how spotters gained their abilities in the first place. How could she turn on another who’d experienced the same kind of agony she had when she’d lost Eric to that Lilitu? As painful as it was for me to admit it, spotters shared a bond that wouldn’t be easily broken.

  Cassie glanced at me, clearly uneasy. I knew she hated conflict; she must be wishing she could melt through the walls right about now. I gestured for her to join me at the hearth. She sat beside me gratefully, stacking her logs next to the fireplace.

  “Still,” Thane said, glancing toward Lucas and me. “You should have told us what she was as soon as you learned of her abilities.”

  “You don’t want her help,” Lucas growled. “Trust me. She’s a scorpion.”

  “Alright. Let’s table
this for now.” Gretchen stood abruptly. She glanced at Amber, clearly conflicted. “Like I said, we had a rough night—”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone entering the living room from the foyer. Karayan, wearing a light grey hoodie for warmth against the cool evening air, eyed Amber with suspicious curiosity.

  “Demon!” Amber sprang off the couch, pointing straight at Karayan.

  Amber’s panic flashed through the room like wildfire. The Guard sprang into action, instinct and adrenaline driving them before they had time to think. Karayan’s hoodie covered her distinctive honey-blond hair—in the panic of the moment, all the Guard saw was an intruder. Gretchen pulled Amber behind her and drew her daggers in one fluid motion. Hale leapt to his feet, spinning to face the threat with a dagger in each hand—

  “Stop!” I was on my feet, but too far away to reach Hale as he stabbed his daggers forward.

  Karayan recoiled back into the wall, her wings half-extended in fear. But the look on her face—it was a sort of recognition, like she’d been expecting this for a long time.

  Hale recognized her just in time. He adjusted, stabbing his daggers harmlessly into the wall on either side of her—there was no way he could have stopped his own momentum. He stood there, face to face with the breathless Karayan for a long moment, then strained to pull the daggers out of the wall.

  “Karayan.” Hale lowered his daggers, breathing hard. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you.”

  Karayan, struggling to recover, didn’t move for a moment. Her eyes sought me out, and I felt a stab of empathy for her. In that instant, I understood. For one agonizing second, she believed the Guard had turned on her again. After she’d helped me fight Seth, she’d as good as declared her allegiance to the Guard. The Lilitu would never welcome her back. For Karayan, the Guard was her last option. I glanced around the room. No one else seemed to understand her predicament.

  Karayan straightened. She forced a smile, shifting her gaze back to Hale. “‘Cause all us demons look alike, right?”

  Hale gave her a half-smile in return. “I really am sorry.”

  Karayan shrugged. “If it happens again, don’t be surprised if I kick you in the tender bits.”

  Hale sheathed his daggers with a rueful chuckle. “Fair enough.”

  “She’s one of you, too?” Amber’s voice was strained. She eyed the Guardsmen with disdain. “How many demons are you keeping around here?”

  “Just these two,” Hale said, trying to hide an amused smile.

  “That’s funny to you?” Amber’s eyes narrowed. “One of those things killed my boyfriend. And she—” Amber stabbed her finger at me, “she tried to get my friend to kill himself.”

  Thane stepped forward, raising a hand in a calming gesture. “No one thinks this is funny, child.”

  “Why are you hanging out with them? You should be fighting them.” Amber glanced at Gretchen, looking for an ally. “You saw. There were Lilitu all over that meeting tonight. What are you doing to stop them?”

  “Lilitu?” Hale glanced at Gretchen sharply. “Lilitu at the meeting?”

  “Three of them,” I said. The Guard turned toward me. “One was the Lilitu who attacked me at the mission.”

  “What?!” Dad stared, stricken. “How did she get past the spotters?” He glanced at Gretchen, who blushed hotly.

  “We’re spread thin as it is, and with the increased shifts—” Gretchen threw her hands up in the air. “I don’t know. Someone must have lost focus.”

  “Or, we have a bigger problem on our hands,” Thane said quietly. “A traitor in our midst.” The group turned to look at Thane, unsettled. “Someone who’d choose to look the other way, should a Lilitu attempt to slip out of the mission undetected.”

  “A spotter?” Gretchen stiffened, pissed. “You’re saying you think a spotter—?”

  “Or two,” Thane said, shrugging. “Spotters aren’t supposed to leave their posts. So unless both spotters fell asleep, logic dictates that one or both of the spotters on duty when this Lilitu escaped allowed her to pass without alerting the Guard.”

  “Logic?” Gretchen’s fists balled tightly at her sides. “You can take that logic and shove it up your—”

  “We have to consider all scenarios,” Hale said, moving toward Gretchen with a conciliatory gesture. “But I agree with you, Gretchen. It’s extremely unlikely that a spotter would knowingly allow a Lilitu to escape.”

  “I find the prospect of an accidental lapse in attention equally troubling,” Thane said. “It means that we are vulnerable in ways we have not planned for.”

  “No,” growled Gretchen. “Like I said, it means we are spread too thin.” She turned to Amber. “Which is why we need more spotters on the team.”

  Amber glanced up. “What?”

  “You’ve got a very special talent—” Gretchen started.

  “No. No way.” Amber’s eyes narrowed.

  “Sorry?” Gretchen studied Amber’s face, confused.

  “No way am I joining your little circus. I’ve got more extracurricular activities than I can handle as it is.” Amber pulled a cell phone out of her pocket. “I should be getting home.”

  “Extracurricular—?” Gretchen’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve seen what kind of damage they can do, and you’re willing to just turn a blind eye?”

  “I’m seventeen years old,” Amber sniffed. “What exactly do you think I can do?”

  “You can see them!”

  Amber took a step back, startled by the power behind Gretchen’s outburst.

  “We need spotters.” Gretchen grew quiet, but the intensity of her voice sent a shiver across my back. “We can train soldiers. We can teach people how to fight. But only a tiny fraction of humans ever develop the ability to see through a Lilitu’s disguise. And without the ability to see the Lilitu, our soldiers are helpless to fight them.” Gretchen’s voice grew hoarse with emotion. “We need you, Amber.”

  “I’m sorry.” Amber retreated toward the foyer. Hale blocked her path. She glared at him, but her fear was evident in her voice. “I want to go home.”

  After a moment, Hale moved aside. Amber fled, slamming the front door behind her.

  “You let her go?” Gretchen clenched her jaw.

  “You heard her, Gretchen. She doesn’t want to help.” Hale sighed. “And if I’m not mistaken, holding her here against her will is a felony. So until we can change her mind, we have to respect her wishes.”

  Gretchen let out a growl of frustration. “So this whole night was a disaster!” She threw herself onto the couch.

  “How do you figure?” Dad asked.

  “Well, our covert surveillance plan is blown,” Gretchen muttered. “I think it’s safe to say neither Braedyn nor I will be welcome at another one of their meetings.”

  “We’ll have to get another spotter to go,” I said.

  “Yeah.” Gretchen sighed. “Maybe Rhea and June?”

  “If we dedicate more spotters to the cult, we’ll have to increase shifts for the rest of you,” Hale said.

  Gretchen glowered at him. “This is just perfect.”

  “I could go.” Cassie stood slowly. “I mean, if most of the people at these meetings are girls anyway, no one would suspect me, right? It sounds like you need all the help you can get.”

  “No.” I caught Cassie’s hand. “It’s way too dangerous, Cassie. Leave this to the Guard.”

  “Sorry, kiddo,” Dad said, seeing Cassie’s disappointment, “but Braedyn’s right.”

  Cassie sat back down, blushing. I tried to catch her eye, but she kept her gaze fixed on her lap.

  “I wouldn’t turn down anything at this point,” Karayan said. “You’re going to have to figure out something, and fast. This Cult of Lilith isn’t some misguided girl-power fad. Lilitu are involved, and that makes it a serious threat. You still don’t know what they’re hoping to achieve, and if you can’t get a mole into those meetings, you’re never going to find out.”

  Cassie
looked up at Karayan with a small smile of gratitude.

  “Besides,” Karayan added. “Cassie’s right. You’re going to need all the help you can get.”

  Chapter 6

  What I wouldn’t give for a night of human dreams. To wander once more through the surreal landscapes of my subconscious mind, lost in some random narrative whose logic—upon waking—dissolves in the light of a new day. To be spared, even for a few hours, the anxiety of my waking life, the knowledge of this war.

  When I was a little girl, I used to dream of flying. Those dreams were gifts; even if they started out as nightmares where I’d be running from some unseen enemy, they ended up full of joy. Nothing matched the sensation of pure freedom those dreams of flying gave me.

  It had been over a year since my Lilitu powers had awakened. One of the side effects? I no longer had dreams, not in the way I used to. Now, I had conscious command of my dreams—whether or not I wanted it. Yes, I could fly in my mind, but it wasn’t the same. I knew it was a dream, and that alone killed most of the pleasure of the sensation. My mind couldn’t deceive me into believing I had discovered this amazing ability to glide through the skies. I was aware it was simply a trick of my imagination. If I chose not to dream, I could pass the night in empty darkness. Or I could slip into Lucas’s dreaming mind and give over control to him, riding the dream almost like a human dream. Almost. Because, again, I was aware of the nature of the dream, even if I wasn’t in the driver’s seat of my own experience.

  Those blissful dreams of flight were lost to me now, and might be forever. How much farther could I stray down the Lilitu path before I’d gone too far to turn back?

  I rolled over in bed and looked at my alarm clock. I let out a soft groan when I saw the gleaming green read out: 4:55 AM. Too early to get up for school. And yet I couldn’t stand to lay here any longer. I pushed my comforter back, shivering against the February chill in the air. Our automatic thermostat wouldn’t adjust the temperature of the house to 68 degrees for another hour. At night, it let the temperature drop to 50 to save energy, which was great—unless you needed to get up. I dressed quickly, pulling on a fleece jacket over my school sweater to battle the crisp morning air.