Sacrifice

by Sadie Moss

  “I’m sorry,” I stammer, my stomach roiling. “I just—”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for, little soul.” Callum’s jaw is tight, but his voice is soft, almost tender. “I know the pull you feel. I know what it does to you.”

  He steps forward, just close enough to reach out and brush his fingers over my cheek. I lean into his touch, and he cradles the side of my face with his big hand. Then he steps aside, clearing my path to the door.

  “Go. Be with your family. Treasure this time you have with them. Hold them close while you can.”

  There’s an echo of sadness in his voice, and I gaze into his eyes, trying to solve the puzzle in their enigmatic depths.

  What caused that pain? Why does his voice resonate with regret even as he tells me to leave?

  But I know I won’t get any answers from him. Not until he’s ready to share them, and who knows when that might be?

  So I cast one last look over my shoulder at the other two men, then move toward the door.

  Their gazes follow me, and I swear I can feel their fingers twitch, feel the control it takes each of them not to stride after me and haul me back.

  27

  I leave the warmth of the hut behind, shivering in the early fall night. The imprints of the men’s fingers still burn against my skin everywhere they touched me, and it warms me against the gathering cold.

  The sun went down hours ago, and the air is growing sharp and cool. If we’re going to stay here for any length of time, I’ll need to get one of my old cloaks from my mother, assuming she still has them.

  Walking quickly, I make my way through the dark village, forcing my thoughts not to linger on what just transpired between the three men and me. Something has shifted between us whether we wanted it to or not, but I don’t know what it is or what it means.

  I do know that Callum is resisting it with everything inside him, and it occurs to me that maybe he’s the wisest of all of us. My insides are a tangled mess of emotions, and I can’t tell if I want to scream, cry, or march back inside the Daltons’ old hut and throw myself at the men again.

  But even then, would I kiss them or punch them? My feelings toward them are so contradictory sometimes it drives me mad.

  The streets around me are quiet. While the men were healing Nolan, my people dealt with the bodies of the raiders and cleaned up the streets, returning belongings to the huts they were stolen from. Now everyone is indoors, likely either lost in fitful sleep or huddling with their loved ones. The immediate danger has passed, but the problems they face haven’t gone away. Starvation still sits like a wolf outside their doors.

  I want to fix that. I want to make things better for them—and even for settlements like the ones the raiders came from. I can’t be sorry for any of those men’s deaths, knowing they would’ve stolen everything they could and left my people to die. But I despise the circumstances that brought them here, the desperation that makes even good men into villains.

  But right now, even though it’s late, I want to check on Nolan. I need to see him wake up, need to see his eyes clear and free of pain, so that I can convince myself he really is going to be all right.

  Then I can sleep in my old bed and reclaim a fraction of my old life, just for a few hours.

  I’m halfway across the village when a nearby door opens. I hesitate, glancing over at Jacob’s cabin, suddenly certain that he’s been watching and waiting for me. I fight to maintain a neutral expression as he steps out of the hut and jogs over, though I don’t stop walking.

  “I’m sorry I stood in the way earlier,” he says, lengthening his strides to keep up with me. “Word has spread that whatever you did, it healed Nolan.”

  “I didn’t do it,” I say sharply, cutting a glance toward him. I may be confused about my feelings for the messengers, but the one emotion I have no doubt about is my gratitude. “The three men you tried to fight earlier, the ones you were so rude to? They’re the ones who helped Nolan. The ones who fought off the raiders.”

  Jacob’s face hardens. “I don’t like those men, Sage. They’re strange. They don’t belong here. What are you doing with them? Why did you bring them here?”

  “They saved my life.”

  “Saved your life?” Jacob grabs my bicep hard, his fingers digging into my skin. “You’re dead, Sage. We carried your bloody body off the sacred altar and buried you in the ground.”

  I shake off his hand and square my shoulders. “I am. I died. But my soul was found and saved by those three men. And I don’t care whether you like them or not. Your opinion holds no sway over me.”

  Anger glints in his green eyes, and I realize how pale and watery they are in comparison to Callum’s. Hell, how pale and watery his entire being is in comparison to any of my men. I can’t believe I once considered a union with this man.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see my brother.” I step around him and begin walking, hoping he won’t follow me. I can almost feel him considering it. He wants to press the issue because he has it in his head that I belong to him.

  But he’s never been more wrong. I never made him that promise. I can’t deny that I considered it once, but even before my sacrifice and my death, I knew it wasn’t right. I could never feel that way about him.

  And now? Now I know exactly who I belong to.

  “Hello?” I call softly as I push open the door to my mother’s hut.

  The front room is empty, though a fire is now lit in the hearth. My mother appears from the bedroom doorway, wiping her hands on her apron. She looks as if she isn’t sure whether to smile or cry as she hurries to greet me with a hug.

  “Oh, my beautiful girl,” she murmurs against my hair, rocking me ever so gently, as if she’s afraid I’ll dissipate into thin air if she hugs me too tightly. “I still can’t believe it’s you. I thought you were gone forever. But here you are, walking in the door as if you never left. It’s a miracle.”

  I pull away but keep her at arm’s length so I can take a moment to memorize her face. It feels like a miracle that I’m here now, but I don’t know how long it will last.

  “I know it’s late. Is he awake?” I ask and hold my breath for her answer.

  She smiles. “Yes! Go see him.” Then a shadow passes over her face. “But, sweet Sage, he doesn’t know about… you. He’s been out of his mind with fever since that night. He never learned of your death.”

  Her voice hitches on the last word, and even though happiness still shines in her eyes, I can see the strain in her too. Like most humans, she fears the unnatural and the unknown. And that’s what I am now. Unnatural. Strange. She loves me still, but that doesn’t lessen the fear.

  I nod in acknowledgment of her words. She squeezes my hand and brings it to her lips before nudging me gently in the direction of the bedroom.

  Nolan is sitting up in bed, his back resting against the wall as he picks at a crust of bread on the tray before him. His eyes light up when I enter the room. “Sage! Can you believe it? I thought I was a goner.”

  “I can believe it,” I tell him teasingly, joy and relief infusing me. “It’s my friends who saved you.”

  “I know. Mother said it was the most amazing thing she’d ever seen.” He shoves another bite into his mouth and speaks around it. “Since when do you have friends?”

  I sit on the chair beside the bed and shove him playfully, careful to put little weight behind it since he’s still recovering. “Since now. I’m so glad you’re better.”

  Nolan lifts a hammered copper mug to his lips and takes a long drink, then picks at his bread without meeting my gaze. “Sage? I remember something strange from before the fever took me into that deep sleep.”

  I grow still in my seat. “Oh?”

  “I might have dreamed it,” he says slowly. “But I thought you were saying some strange things about seeing sprites in the fairy clearing and about fixing things for our village. You took your dagger and left.”

  For a moment, I consider coming cle
an about what happened that night. What reason do I have to lie to him? But I’m so, so thankful he’s alive, and the very idea of seeing devastation in his eyes over my failed sacrifice leaves me feeling hollow.

  So I simply smile and say, “I just went out for firewood. After seeing you almost get killed by a hungry bear, I wasn’t taking any chances.”

  Nolan’s boyish face breaks into a grin. “I knew it was just the dreams making me feel strange. At least you didn’t get eaten by a bear.”

  “And you didn’t die,” I say, tousling his blond hair. “All is well.”

  But for how long?

  I sleep like the dead—literally, I suppose—in my old bed in my mother’s hut. Nolan snores softly from lying on his back, but even that sound is a comforting white noise in the small space.

  It’s a reminder that he’s still here, still alive. That in one thing, at least, I haven’t failed.

  In the morning, I leave my mother making a poultice for some of the wounded men, promising to return later, and step out of the hut into the quiet street.

  As if they somehow felt it the moment I woke up, Callum, Paris, and Echo are coming up the dirt road just as I leave my mother’s hut. They’re all armed, but their bearing is more relaxed than it was last night. Echo and Paris are bantering with one another, and Callum barks at them, something about “if you children can’t behave.” The words travel to me on the breeze, and I can’t help but chuckle.

  Everything is back to normal. For my afterlife and my old life.

  I just wish “normal” for my old life was something other than a constant struggle for survival.

  It won’t always be. I’ll find a way to make it better.

  I meet my messengers in the road, and Paris waves a hand around us, indicating the huts with smoking chimneys, the mountains in the distance, and the woods surrounding the village.

  “So…” he says, drawing out the word with a teasing grin. “This is where our little Sage grew up.”

  I can’t help the answering smile that tilts my lips. I want to show them around, to point out every nook and cranny of this place I know so well. To take them to the woods and show them the fairy circle and the little stream we use for bathing and washing. To share this piece of myself with them.

  In comparison to the pieces of my soul that they each hold, sharing memories from my childhood is probably nothing. But it doesn’t feel like nothing.

  It feels like everything.

  “It is,” I answer Paris as the four of us walk slowly down the street. “Over there is the town hall where the events of our village are held. My mother says the townspeople would like to hold a feast in our honor there tonight.”

  “There’s really no need for a feast,” Echo says gently. “We know this village has little to spare.”

  “It won’t be the kind of feasting you’re used to,” I assure him with a grimace. “But… please, let them do this. They may not have as much reason to be proud as messengers of the gods do, but in times like these, sometimes pride and tradition is all we have.”

  “Very well.” Callum is the one to answer, and Echo nods in agreement.

  “What else is here?” Paris asks. He seems the most curious about my prior life, which amuses me.

  “Well, our sacred altar is on that mountain,” I say, pointing to the southern foothills. “That’s where I died, of course. The village’s shared well is behind the Noonans’ hut just there. Oh, and over there is the path through the woods where the fairy clearing sits.”

  “I can see how neglectful Zelus has been,” Callum speaks up again, his voice low and thoughtful. Hatred burns in his eyes, and I think fleetingly that if he didn’t already despise my old god, he certainly would now. “These people are struggling, and the land is faring even worse.”

  “It’s horrific,” Paris agrees, his hand settling at my lower back as we walk. I don’t even know if he’s aware of putting it there, but the warmth of his touch spreads pleasantly across my skin despite the seriousness of our conversation.

  Echo nods. “Zelus has done a grievous wrong in this land.”

  “Can you see now why I did what I did?” I ask, directing my question to Callum. I’m careful to keep emotion from my voice. I don’t want him to know that I value what he thinks about me. He already has so much power over me.

  Callum nods once, his steady gaze sweeping the village. “I do.”

  “Fairy clearing?” Echo asks, returning to the words I mentioned earlier.

  “Yes.” I smile, pleased beyond measure that they’re actually interested in my little tour. If I can convince them of the value of this place, and show them how neglectful Zelus has been, maybe they’ll agree to stay longer and help. To use their magic to heal this land just like they healed Nolan.

  “I’m surprised sprites would congregate this close to humans,” the dark-haired messenger muses. “They rarely have anything to do with the non-magical world.”

  “I only saw them there once in my life,” I say quietly. “The day I died. They’re actually what led me to make my offering to Zelus. What led me to you.”

  I’m telling the men the story of the dancing sprites who told me to sacrifice myself when movement ahead of us catches my attention. I break off, my mouth dropping open as the words die on my tongue.

  A shadowed rider races down the street, barreling toward us.

  My muscles tense, and my hand goes to the dagger at my hip, but none of the three men react as if it’s a threat. Instead, they all turn to face the shadowy figure as his horse canters to a stop in front of us. The soft, interested expressions they wore only moments ago fall away until only the stoic expressions of warriors remain.

  I glance back and forth between them and the newcomer, startled by the sudden change in their demeanor.

  That’s when I realize the rider before us isn’t solid. Both horse and rider are made of thick, swirling black smoke, and the horse’s hooves hover half a foot off the ground. The figure’s features are indistinguishable—if they even exist at all—and a voice speaks from within the faceless entity.

  “Your presence in these lands has sparked war between the gods.” The rider’s voice is as smoky and ethereal as his body. “You will return to your master’s side at once.”

  All three messengers speak simultaneously. “Yes, my liege.”

  Without another word, the smoky figure vanishes, dissipating into the bright morning as if he was never there at all.

  The messengers turn as one to face me, and a frigid wind cuts past us, whipping my blonde locks into my face. My heart thunders in my chest, and I shove my hair back as I take a few steps forward.

  “What was that?” I ask, the words shaky and small.

  Callum lifts his chin, a muscle in his jaw ticking. “We are messengers of Kaius.”

  “We intervened on Zelus’s land,” Echo adds in a hard voice.

  “Kaius and Zelus are sworn enemies.” Paris’s bright blue gaze locks on mine. “Zelus has found out about our actions, and he will not stand for this.”

  My skin grows even colder than the chill morning air as I realize what they’re telling me. We can’t stay and try to help my people. There will be no chance for us to use our magic to improve life for them. There may not even be time for me to say goodbye to my mother and brother.

  War is brewing, and we have to go back to the afterworld.

  Immediately.

  THANK YOU FOR READING!

  If you enjoyed Sacrifice, please take a second to leave a review on Amazon. Reviews are like hugs for authors.

  And don’t worry, there’s more coming! Defiance, the second book in the Her Soulkeepers series, will be here soon! Turn the page to see the cover and blurb…

  When the gods war, no one wins.

  My three messengers took a greater risk than I realized when they agreed to help me save my village. Now they must face the consequences, and so must I.

  If Kaius and Zelus go to war, it will devastate humanity... and
that's not the only danger that lurks on the horizon.

  But despite the threat to our existence, the bond between me and my soulkeepers continues to deepen into something far beyond what I ever expected.

  I promised myself I wouldn't fall in love with these three beautiful, mysterious men.

  I'm beginning to think it's too late for that.

  Pre-order on Amazon:

  HERE

  While you’re waiting, you can dive into my complete reverse harem urban fantasy series, Magic Awakened, starting with the free prequel novella, Kissed by Shadows.

  Click here to join my mailing list, and I’ll send you your FREE copy of Kissed by Shadows!

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  Also by Sadie Moss

  Magic Awakened

  Kissed by Shadows (prequel novella)

  Bound by Magic

  Game of Lies

  Consort of Rebels

  The Vampires’ Fae

  Saved by Blood

  Seduced by Blood

  Ruined by Blood

  The Last Shifter

  Wolf Hunted

  Wolf Called

  Wolf Claimed

  Wolf Freed

  Academy of Unpredictable Magic

  Spark

  Trials

  Thief

  Threat

  Hunt

  Clash

  Hidden World Academy

  Magic Swap

  Magic Chase

  Magic Gambit