SACRIFICIUM (THE UNDERGROUND Book 1)

by Allie Doherty

  As I watch the hordes descend on the pots of stew, the words: “eat fast or don’t eat…” land in my head. Maeve gets the hint before I do and practically elbows people out of the way to reach the food. The street kid in her rears its head and it’s fascinating to witness.

  I follow suit and dive in.

  It’s kind of fun being in a setting that is so out of control and without order. At the academy, everything was so timed out that the days became blurred. The routine I once found comforting now seems like a prison to me.

  If I was poetic or deep, I’d remark that it’s ironic that an attempt on my life freed me to live it.

  Amalie is the only one at the table not fighting for scraps. A whole bowl of vegan stew belongs to her because everybody else eats meat. Her face contorts in disgust as she watches us carnivores like we’re animals. There’s a silent judgement in her eyes that makes me want to scoff. I bite it back and instead engage in a conversation with her about her hair colour, which is bright yellow.

  “It’s like a school bus,” Maeve says and I cringe, not knowing how Amalie will take it.

  She laughs. “And yours is a badly decorated bedroom wall.”

  Maeve is stunned and her mouth hangs open but there’s a dangerous glint in her eye that tells me to move the conversation on and do it quickly.

  “So, how long have you been here?” I ask.

  “A few months, but not as long as Knox and Tavy…” Her stare looks past me to Tavis. He catches her and throws a small smile our way.

  ‘Tavy.’

  I can practically feel her heart pound in her chest as Tavis is smiling. Her crush couldn’t be more obvious. The girl has got it bad!

  She lets out a dreamy sigh and I bite my lip to stop from letting out a small laugh.

  He creases his eyebrows and I put a block on my mind. He’s trying to read my thoughts and the frustration comes at me in waves as he tries to get through.

  Amalie misreads his stares and lifts a hand in a wave with a wide smile. I again tighten my lips with great effort.

  My attention is divided between those two and River. She’s practically flicking her hair over her shoulder as she whispers something in a boy’s ear. They both laugh and look over. It’s not subtle, but then again, River never was. My skin bristles and I have to bite my tongue.

  Maeve notices too and flicks her eyebrow up at me. “Are you gonna say something or should I?”

  “She’s not worth it!” I say loud enough for her to hear.

  She scoffs and suddenly, my bowl of stew flies from the table and spills all of the way down me. I am in shock and disbelief. Maeve stands from the table ready to pounce but I hold my hand up and keep her still.

  “Let go of me!”

  “Calm down,” I tell her out loud and then put my voice in her head. “They’ll throw you out if you cause a scene. You’re a mortal! I need you here…”

  She nods and I let her go.

  As for River, Maeve may not be able to do anything but I can.

  I stare at her and let my anger fuel my power. Her hand makes its way to her hair and grabs a fist full. I can see her trying to fight it, but my power is stronger than hers. Her hand pulls harder forces her head down into the bowl.

  Finally, she stops fighting completely and is submersed in the gravy and meat, and mash potatoes. She starts to struggle, but I’m not done yet. While she’s there, I have her head move her head from side-to-side in a rubbing motion until her entire face is covered.

  “Theo, that’s enough!” Tavis yells and my attention breaks.

  River’s head shoots up and takes a big gulp of air and then another and another. My stomach sinks with the realization of what I was doing and how long I had her buried without breath. She begins to cry and I can’t handle it.

  I step from the bench and practically run from the dining hall. I round the stone wall and follow a path but I don’t know where it leads. I close my eyes to stop the tears from falling and run smack-bang into a brick wall.

  I open my eyes and gasp. Tall, muscular, a smile to die for, and impossibly dark green eyes…

  “Theo? Are you okay?”

  Knox.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Knox takes me to one of the undergrounds bedrooms. There are separate quarters for the girls and the boys, for modesty reasons, but the room we’re in is one of the two in the middle covered only by a thick, black curtain. It’s sterile looking; decorated in metal drawers and the bed is the only furnishing in the whole room besides a small mini-fridge at the side.

  I sit, perched on the end of his bed and lift my eyebrows up.

  “We’re in an abandoned bank,” he confirms my observations. “This is – or was – one of the old safety-deposit vaults.”

  I nod because I have nothing else to say. The scene of what just happened is on replay in my mind and I keep playing the ending out differently. What if Tavis hadn’t stopped me? Would I have killed River?

  The thought scares me and I pull my knees to my chin.

  “Are you okay?” He asks me for the second time and I don’t know how to answer him because besides the shock of my actions, I have no other feelings about it. My head tells me how messed up it was and I want to feel that in my bones, but I don’t. If River had died today, I wouldn’t be any different.

  Part of me even wanted to –

  I stop the thought in its track because it’s wrong.

  Swallowing the lump in my throat, I look up to find Knox holding out a bottle of water. I take it and guzzle greedily; my throat feeling dry and closed up.

  “I should apologize to River and to everyone else,” I say. “I think I scared a lot of them…”

  “Your power is scary,” he tells me. “But it’s not a bad thing. You killed a High Priestess… we could use more power like yours around here. The high councils and the hunters, they’re all coming for us and not one of those ‘recruits’ – including River – are prepared for when that door comes crashing down.”

  “They’re being trained…”

  “Not really,” he admits with a sigh. “They’re only trained as much as we can train them. Tavis is strong and I do okay, but we’re only two among the masses. There are so many people out there, depending on us to get them ready for war that we know nothing about.”

  I chew on my lip as I contemplate his words.

  “Maeve and I had an idea... or rather, I had an idea but Maeve would be the one to implement it.”

  “Go on…”

  “What if we taught hand-to-hand combat instead of relying solely on our powers? I know from first-hand experience with a hunter that feeling powerless sucks. I don’t want to feel that again and I think Maeve will train a select few of us to really fight – like the hunters can.”

  “And then that select few can train more of us?” He grins. “It’s brilliant!”

  Vindication replaces fear and now I’m smiling too.

  “We should go tell Tavis!” He says, taking me softly by the hand and pulling me to my feet. We’re walking fast, hands still clasped together, to find Tavis. It’s a strange sensation, holding hands with a boy for the first time. Electric pulses from my skin to his and warmth spreads through me.

  The halls are empty now and there’s chattering coming from the quarters. I hear my name mentioned and my stomach sinks. I ignore it and continue on with Knox until we reach another black curtain.

  “Tav,” Knox calls out to him.

  “Why don’t you just go in?” I ask.

  “Sweetheart, you should never walk in to a teenage boys bedroom unannounced unless you want him to die of embarrassment and leave yourself mentally scarred.”

  “Oh? Why is tha – Oh...Oh! Ew!”

  “Come in!” Tavis’ amused voice hollers back. “I’m decent, I swear!”

  We pull back the curtain to find him only half-decent. His bottom area is covered… but his top part? Holy moly! He’s scantily clad in an unbuttoned, flannel pyjama shirt.

  Every m
ovie I’ve ever seen has taught me to believe boys went to bed in either a loose T-shirt or a wife-beater and that’s what I was programmed into finding hot… until now.

  And if the flannel shirt isn’t enough, the added thick rimmed, black glasses almost take me off my feet.

  I don’t realize that I’m ogling him like a piece of prime rib until he gives a loud cough.

  My eyes land on his face and my mouth goes dry. “All-girls school… Sorry.”

  “I’ve got to start wearing more plaid,” Knox jokes.

  His mouth upturns and I stare at my feet.

  I look around and observe. Like Knox, Tavis has a mid-section; vault-like room except his is more decorated and looks almost comfortable. Like somebody actually lives in the room.

  Tavis’ room is cosier, and in comparison, Knox’s is too kempt.

  “What’s going on, man?” Tavis asks Knox, taking a seat at the edge of his bed. “You don’t usually knock on my curtain at this time.”

  “New girl had an idea,” Knox tells him and they both look to me.

  I swallow and it’s audible in the echoic vault. Clearing my throat, I speak. “I um – I had the um – well, what it is, is um –”

  “She wants her mundane friend to teach us how to fight hand-to-hand so that we have a better chance against the hunters’ weird necklace thingy’s.”

  “They’re called Talismans!” Tavis and I tell him, curtly.

  He holds his hands up in defence and laughs. “Whatever! But I think it’s a good idea.”

  “Yeah, I do too,” Tavis agrees and then his seriously serious eyes are on me and his lip curls into his mouth. “Knox, give me a minute with Theo, please.”

  Suddenly I feel like I’m back in the academy with the superior and my stomach drops. I’m in trouble and I deserve punishment. I wonder if his punishment will be anything like Darian’s. Memories of the dark, bitterly cold concrete hell threaten to arise and I push them back into the box that I keep them locked in.

  I squeeze my eyes shut and wait for his disapproving judgements.

  “River is really shook up, Theo.” He says. “You could have killed her…”

  “I know…” I sigh, pushing a hand through my hair. “God, I know! I don’t understand what happened. I just wanted to teach her a lesson and then… It was like I couldn’t stop…”

  “You have control issues.”

  I snort because it’s all I can do. ‘Control issues.’ How many times in my life has somebody told me that? The answer: too many.

  “I have control over my power!” I bite. “… It’s the stopping that I have an issue with.”

  “Then we’ll train you with that in mind because we have enough people trying to kill us, Theo. We don’t need the risk of a potential bomb, ready to blow up in our faces… ok?”

  ***

  Maeve is already asleep by the time I get to the girls side; it doesn’t surprise me considering how long she was driving, and I wish I could go out flat like that. Instead, I’m alone with my thoughts and the occasional whisper of my name coming from a group of girls in the back.

  River is the ring leader and I hear her talking about how I was in the academy.

  “She was like really strange after her sister up-and-died, and I thought she’d be different outside of that place, but apparently there is no cure for being a freak.”

  The other girls laugh and I roll my eyes. I turn over and will myself asleep.

  ***

  The morning light shines through the bars on the windows. The freeze is the first thing that I notice. The stone walls and concrete floors are magnets for cold and I feel my joints stiffen as I step from the makeshift camp-bed.

  The rest of the girls have cleared out and Maeve and I are the only two left.

  “God, don’t y’all have heating?” She complains and then focus’ her glare on me. “Can’t you magically make me warm, please?”

  “Probably, if I wasn’t so frozen myself.” I stretch out and head for the bathroom.

  Maeve follows behind me and we walk; clothes in hand, to find the showers.

  “This place is like a freakin’ maze,” I say.

  “Tell me about it! Clearly whoever came up with this whole plan wasn’t thinking straight.”

  I laugh, but she’s wrong; whoever decided on the bank was a genius. The vaults, the maze-like outline, the stone walls… everything about the bank make it the perfect temporary fortress, and if the witches attacked, we’d have a chance... but the hunters? I don’t think it’s enough.

  Tavis is already wide-awake and ready to take on the day. He stands with a clipboard in-hand, giving orders to everyone in charge.

  “Not-Knox,” I shout to get his attention. “Where are the showers?”

  He laughs. “This is a bank, girls. It’s not equipped to be lived in. There’s a hotel across the street that we use… But you’ll have to work some magic on Larry, the desk guy and make it snappy, Maeve has her first class to teach in an hour.”

  “I have my first what now?”

  “I’ll fill you in,” I tell her.

  It doesn’t take much effort to control the desk clerks mind. He’s been on his shift for more than twelve hours and he’s too exhausted to put up a fight. With a room key in hand, Maeve and I make our way upstairs. She showers first while I take in the warmth of the made up bed.

  Then it’s my turn and her eyes look sad as she stares at the bed, but with a head full of wet hair, she can’t crawl in.

  I snort, closing the door behind me. Stepping into the tub and letting the already running water wash over me, I moan. The heat of the shower is a welcome contrast to the morning temperatures of Denver and if I could, I would stay under the spraying lava all day.

  Once Maeve and I are all cleaned up and ready to go, I fill her in on the class she’s teaching and we make our way back over the street.

  She’s amped up and ready to fight by the time we enter the underground. There’s a crowd of students waiting for their master. Maeve beams, proudly and walks to the front like a movie star.

  I follow her and stand at her side with Knox and Tavis on my other side. Next to Maeve is a girl we don’t know and she looks just as proud.

  Tavis steps forward. “Maeve, Theo… This is Zhavia. She’ll be teaching half of the group martial arts while, Maeve will be teaching –”

  “How to kick someone’s ass?” She offers with a smile.

  “Pretty much,” Knox says and addresses the crowds. “Okay, everyone listen up!”

  The crowds hush and all eyes are facing forward.

  “We were planning on having only some of you learn to fight but after some discussion, we decided it was more beneficial that you were all equipped. So, split yourselves down the middle and half of you go with Zhavia, the other half are with the mundane girl. You’ll train for two hours, have a half hour break and switch groups. Got it?”

  A collective groan sounds out in response to the hard work, but Tavis cuts it dead.

  “You knew what we were when you got here, anybody who doesn’t want to train can find a place to hide somewhere else!”

  Zhavia takes her group to another part of the bank and I’m left with Maeve’s half – which includes Tavis.

  He strikes me as the type of witch who was the perfect student at his academy. He finds a spot on the floor with a notebook and starts taking down every word Maeve says. First, she talks about not tucking our thumbs into our fingers when making a fist.

  “The second your hand connects with bone, that thumb will snap!” She balls her hand into a fist with her thumb lying over the top and demonstrates the right way to throw a punch before having us try it. “Okay, most of you guys are picking it up so great job! But I think there’s no better way to learn than to get physical with it. I learned to fight through getting my ass kicked.”

  She laughs. “A lot of you flinched when I said that, but honestly, if you can’t take a punch in the face from someone just as untrained as you are, how a
re you going to fight for your life against the hunters? They’ve been training for this since they were born!”

  It seems to rouse the crowd into getting up and finding a partner. Tavis is the closest to me and I pull him to my side for fear of not having a partner and having my ass handed to me by Maeve.

  In the end, it’s Amalie that partners with her and I see the terror in her eyes as she steps forward for the demonstration.

  “Hit me!” Maeve smiles and Amalie shrinks into herself. “Come on, just throw a punch the way I showed you.”

  Amalie still stands with her arms to her side, unmoving. Tavis snorts and plays it off as a cough which makes me laugh and Maeve’s eyes cut to me. I shut my mouth.

  “Just hit me, already!” Maeve is getting frustrated. “Oh, come on! Ama – “

  Amalie’s hand flies out and back so fast that anyone who blinked would have missed it. Maeve covers her already broken nose with her hands and when she removes them a trickle of blood makes its way down her face and she smiles.

  “Damn, you’re a lot stronger than you look!” She tells her. “Good aim, too… do it again!”

  Amalie is more confident this time, she lunges forward and Maeve steps back with a grin. Amalie tries a different approach and swings her fist from the side. Maeve sees it coming from a mile away and ducks her head. Amalie tries a kick out of nowhere and Maeve catches her foot, using the maneuverer to her advantage, she twists it and Amalie hits the floor with a bang and cries out. Maeve doesn’t let up and pins her down, holding a fist above her, ready to bring down a blow.

  “If she was the enemy, then I would take this opportunity to give a serious beat down, and if they have a weapon, this is the first and probably only chance for you to grab that weapon and use it against them.”

  “What would Amalie do in that position?” Tavis asks.

  Maeve smiles. “First, I’ll teach you offence and then how to defend yourself. Rule number one of offence, don’t turn your back! If you’re aiming to kill, make sure they’re dead before you turn your back. Start practicing!”

  We break off in our pairs and begin to imitate the demonstration. Grunts sound from everyone, already lunging out and trying to land blows on their partners. Tavis is standing still and I have a feeling he’s feeling weird about hitting me because he doesn’t want to hurt me.