SACRIFICIUM (THE UNDERGROUND Book 1)

by Allie Doherty

  But he doesn’t know me.

  I’ve been hurt more times than I can count and one or two punches in the face are nothing to me.

  I decide to make the first move and throw myself at him with my fist raised. My aim is terrible and my knuckles hit his chest, right above his pectoral muscle. It’s like smashing into a brick wall at full speed.

  “Ow!” wince and shake my hand off.

  “Wow,” he taunts. “That was… something.”

  “Shut up! At least I’m willing to try. Stop being such a gentleman and punch me! Or kick me!”

  Again he doesn’t move and his smile drops.

  “Oh, come on!” I roll my eyes. “Would you just hit me, already?”

  “I can’t, okay?”

  “Why not?” I ask, folding my arms across my chest. “Because I’m a girl?”

  “No! It’s not that it’s because I…” He takes a breath and lets it out, slowly. “I have a prosthetic leg.”

  “…Oh,” I say and despite myself, I automatically try to look at him to find out which one it is. One half of his sweatpants are more filled out than the other. “I see it.”

  “When I was a kid, I was in an accident and magic couldn’t fix it,” he explains. “It was too late, the thing was just completely gone… Theo, I’ve been a product of the academy for my entire life and we didn’t even have sports. It was all magic all of the time. I don’t know how well I can balance when I have to move quickly.”

  “I can’t imagine how hard that is…” I say and then my mouth lifts up into an enthusiastic smile. “But that’s why we practice, right?”

  A mischievous look crosses his features and he lunges out with warning, landing a blow on my arm.

  “Ow!” I wince and put my head down as though I’m really injured.

  “Oh God, Theo, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He feels guilty and he comes close to me to check that I’m okay.

  “Psych!” I holler and jab my arms out, punching him repeatedly in the upper body. I must lunge out too fast and lose my footing. Tavis catches me and pins me to the floor like Maeve did with Amalie. I land on my back with Tavis on-top of me and I laugh.

  He laughs too and I catch his eyes. They’re alight and amused. They’re beautiful and breath-taking. My mind takes me back to the night before with him, chest and abs bare in his pyjamas.

  My eyes flick to his lips and I wonder how they feel against mine. I bite my lip to stop from hyperventilating and Tavis smiles. Pulling his body away from mine, he extends a hand and helps me to my feet.

  He takes a step back and raises his fists with a smile in his eyes.

  “Ready?” He asks.

  “Bring it!”

  And then we’re at it again…

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  One Month Later.

  The weeks passed like hours, and the daily classes with Maeve and Zhavia are starting to pay off. We’re not pro’s yet, but every day the recruits get stronger and so do our chances of survival.

  Maeve’s classes are barbaric. They lack any training elements passed hitting one another and dodging attacks; no rules or regulations. It’s all very animalistic and leaves everyone bruised, bloodied and sore.

  Zhavia’s on the other hand; they’re rooted in ancient Japanese teachings handed down to her by her mother. In the first few weeks, she talked a lot and had us learn the fundamentals of martial arts, namely Jiu-Jitsu and Judo, starting with balance techniques and defence. But with every class she’d taught recently, she’d begun to progress us further into the arts, and before too long, we were practising using her teachings in combat. The magic gives us an advantage over Maeve, who has since demanded that the classes be held at separate times so that she could also learn from Zhavia, and she hasn’t stopped whining about how unfair it is.

  The ability to levitate a little makes some of the moves easier to master for me but I try not to use it in practice, because that would only work against the witches, and not the talisman toting hunters.

  Along with fighting classes, we have typical academy-esque lessons taught by higher grade students, and I’m learning a lot about magic in the underground, and from Tavis, especially.

  He’s an amazing teacher. In another life, I think he would have spent his days at the academy, coaching the next generation and dodging a lot of student crushes. He suggests breathing techniques and puts me through bi-weekly drills to test the control I have over my power.

  In every way imaginable, I’m advancing.

  It’s been a whole month since Maeve and I arrived, and in that time, I’ve recolored her hair three times; pink, blue and then back to purple, and only one new recruit has joined us. A seventeen-year-old male witch named Jonah.

  He’s cute, and I’m not the only one to have noticed. Amalie has been staring at his chiselled cheekbones and gorgeous rust-coloured eyes since he arrived, and Zhavia hasn’t left his side the entire time he’s been here. She claims it’s because he’s a fellow Asian and they can both speak Japanese, but her flirty smirk and the batting of her eyelashes say that she’s staking the first claim.

  The obviousness of the all-girls/all-boys school vibe is palpable in the air, and a new couple forming is becoming more common than the cold, now.

  River – who has since declared herself the resident mean girl – has achieved her mission of hooking up with Ben, a blond witch with blue eyes, and they’re walking around like the underground’s very own version of Barbie and Ken.

  Penelope is still dealing with Meghan’s death, but the more time that passes, the closer the advanced elements ‘teacher’ Cleo. Her excuse is that she wants to hone her skills and maybe she’s telling the truth… but there’s something about the way they smile at each other that makes their story a little hard to believe.

  It’s the same way Knox smiles at me, sometimes… and the way that I catch myself staring at Tavis.

  In the couple of weeks, I’ve become a sort of third in command around the underground because of my abilities and how fast I’m picking up the fighting skill. Tavis and Knox run a lot by me, and while I’m not exactly ‘leadership material,’ they make me feel like maybe one day, I could be…

  Maeve and I have become closer too, and while she’s nothing like Anna, she somehow fills a small part of the void inside of me that screams for a sister. It’s nice to have a girl around that I can trust and confide in.

  Classes have just ended and it’s time for the regular Tuesday meeting. Tavis and Knox take centre stage – which in the underground is at the top of a large, swirling staircase – and silence covers the bank.

  “Gather round, everyone!” Tavis’ voice echoes across the room. “We’ve received word from one of our connections inside of the council that five young witches are to be sacrificed on the night of the full moon, three weeks from now.”

  Whispers break out around us, and my eyes slide over to Maeve. She looks excited and ready to battle her way through hordes of witches to save the recruits.

  A thrill shoots through me, and while it’s not an ideal situation, I am excited to try out my new fighting skills.

  A grin spreads across my face and my blood boils with adrenaline as Tavis amps up the crowds.

  “ This is it, guys… It’s time to stop practicing and start planning!” He takes a breath and continues. “We’re going on a raid…”

  ***

  “We should go over the blueprints one more time,” I suggest, laying them out on the floor of Tavis’ bedroom. “I’ve been to this academy for a mixer or two, and once you’re in, it’s like being in a large maze. If you get lost, you’re not being found in time.”

  Huxtable Academy for Witches is one of only three unisex academies in America, and it’s huge – bigger than Raven-Hill times three! Add to that the fact that it’s the occasional home to some of the most powerful council members in the covens; especially around this time of year with the spring equinox and the full moon happening at the same time, and that makes this mission very d
angerous.

  The spring equinox alone is a powerful convergence in the life of a witch, but when combined with a full moon, it’s lends an extra power boost – making it the perfect time for a sacrifice… or five.

  “I agree,” Tavis says. “There’s no such thing as being over-prepared this time. Our lives and the lives of five witches depend on us!”

  “Okay, we should split into two teams, just the specialists. Jonah and the less advanced witches stay here,” I proclaim, forcing as much certainty as I can into my voice. “They’re not ready.”

  “None of us are ready,” Amalie interjects, appearing in the doorway. “Maeve and Zhavia are the best fighters. Tavis and Theo are the most powerful. Barbie and Ken are useless. Knox is hit or miss, and odds are that somebody is dying during that raid.”

  “Not if we can help it,” Tavis tells her.

  “And what if we can’t?” She asks. “What if the sneak approach botches and the council members fight? Y’all will be obliterated in seconds.”

  “I won’t let that happen,” I promise.

  “What’re you going to do? Kill every council member in the place?”

  “If necessary!” My promotion from team member to commander among the ranks has become a part of my identity, and doing it in such a short time has been something that a few of the longer-residents – Amalie in particular – have had feelings about. I’ve mostly kept quiet about their whispers, but now, being called out in front of the higher-ups, I feel it’s time to defend my status.

  My power peaks and I count to ten, breathing the way Tavis taught me. The urge to use it dissipates as I let out one final breath. Tavis’ hand makes its way to mine, and he gives it a quick squeeze and lifts an eyebrow.

  I nod my head that I’m okay, and we get back to strategizing.

  Zhavia takes a seat on the floor with us and she starts talking offence as Amalie storms away. She picks her best three students to man the exits in case the people inside need assistance in getting out.

  There’re seven of us going in, and we all have a job to do: Barbie and Ken are given the easy task of taking all of the supplies they can find from as many of the empty classrooms they can, during lunch hour.

  Tavis is heading his own mission, with Zhavia as personal protection; they’re tasked with raiding the academy library and collecting all of the books on potions, spells and history of witchcraft that they can find.

  Maeve, Knox, Penelope and I – the best hand-to-hand fighters – have the most important job of all… we’re the ones in charge of finding the sacrifices and getting them out unharmed.

  And the eighth person on our team is Cleo. She’s driving the getaway car – which is more of a bus than a car – and reciting a protection spell to keep us as safe as possible.

  It’s a full-scale attack, but no way will it go off without a hitch.

  The best we can do is hope that our defence is up-to-scratch enough to get us through it in one piece...

  ***

  After planning, everyone is hanging out, watching a movie, in what is now called ‘the main room’ at the bottom of the spiral staircase; but Tavis takes the downtime as an opportunity to practise instead.

  “Theo,” he says, nudging my arm and signalling me to follow him. I do, and we stop at a pair of double doors. He grins at me, pushes them open, and introduces me to a whole new part of the underground.

  “Whoa…”

  The room is just as big as the main one, and the floors are a shiny, glazed over slate.

  “Impressed?” He asks, moving over to the corner and coming back with a blue training mat.

  “Very impressed!” I smile. “Are we working on my control again?”

  “No,’ he says, flopping the mat down on the floor with a slap. “This is actually a different kind of lesson…Where you teach me.”

  “I’m confused.”

  He lifts the leg of his sweats and reveals the prosthetic for the first time to me. “This makes it hard for me to keep up with Maeve, but you… you’re advancing so fast, and I was hoping you’d do extra sessions with me until I’m caught up?”

  There’s a silent beg in his eyes and a hint of something sad. I tap into it and force myself into his head.

  One word radiates from him above all others: Failure.

  “You’re not a failure, Tavis!” I insist.

  “Aren’t I?” He shrugs. “Growing up, I swore I’d never let my leg hold me back, but that’s exactly what’s happening. I can’t move as fast as the rest of you… Which means I’m failing to keep the promise that I made to myself.”

  “You’re not a failure,” I repeat. “Failures are people who stop trying, and you never will… That makes you a winner in my eyes. If you want to label yourself by an ‘F’ word, try fighter.”

  I don’t know why I’m acting like an Olympic level coach in the final moments of a qualifying round, but it must work because Tavis is up on his feet and ready to go.

  “You should really get a job as a motivational speaker if you don’t die tomorrow.”

  “Yeah…” I snort. “I can’t say the same to you.”

  He moves onto the mat, and I follow him. We face each other, and without warning, he attacks. I fend him off and dodge his leg as it flies out. He moves too quickly into the kick and lands backwards on the mat.

  “Get back up!” I tell him, holding my hand out.

  He takes it, and he’s on his feet. Again he lunges out, and then he waits. His eyes are on me, and I feel like I’m being tricked into making the first move. I stay still, but then I start questioning if he wants me to stay still, and I feel tricked again.

  He smirks, seeing the indecision in my eyes. He might not have speed going for him, but his stoic poker face is very unsettling and can be used in his favor.

  I need a diversion. I kick out one leg, and as his eyes follow, I attack from the other side. He’s not ready, and again, he falls backwards. This time, I take no mercy on him and run full speed ahead, ready to pounce. Maeve said to never let out a battle-cry, but the opportunity is too good to pass up. I am Xena, hollering my triumphant roar.

  He’s quick, throwing out his legs, and that’s when I know that I’ve made a mistake. It’s too late to stop myself from jumping. I land on the balls of his feet and am propelled through the air, crashing to the ground – away from the mat – with a thud.

  The wind is knocked out of me, and I try desperately to take in some air. Tavis uses his training to thrust onto his feet like a ninja, and he almost makes it.

  Landing on his knees, he crawls over to me.

  “Are you okay?” He asks. “I’m so sorry! We need a bigger mat.”

  I snort because we could have extended ours if we had a brain cell between us that was focused on safety rather than progress.

  “I’m good,” I tell him, the air finally returning to my lungs. He gets to his feet and holds out his hand. I take it, and I fly through the air, landing on my feet. “You’re getting stronger…”

  He smiles. It’s full-toothed and appreciative. The wind leaves me once again, and my cheeks spread into a grin.

  “So, should we call it a day?” He asks.

  “No!” I exclaim, a little too eagerly. “I mean… why don’t we just extend the mat and keep going? Your reflexes are improving, and I’m probably going to be a walking bruise later, so it’s now or never, right?”

  He nods. “Okay. Let’s do it!”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Two hours later, and I officially have 'a thing' for Tavis. He’s sweet and vulnerable, and oh so hot and manly. He’s a conundrum that I want to solve. The levels to him are never-ending, and I’m starting to see where Amalie is coming from. He’s pretty awesome.

  We part ways after our training session, and he pulls me in for my first ever boy-girl hug; it’s friendly and short lasting, but my heart pounds in my chest the whole time.

  “Thank you, Theodora,” he whispers into my hair. “You’re a great friend.”

&
nbsp; My whole vibe sinks lower than the Titanic. I force a smile and walk away with a sigh. Leaving the bank for the hotel, I shower off the sweat of the workout and the excess pheromones. All I can think, as the water runs over my skin, is how it would be to get physical with Tavis in a way that doesn’t involve punching and kicking…

  After I dry off, I make my way down to the hotel lobby to hand in the key, and run into Knox.

  “Hey…” I smile. “Showering?”

  “Food, actually… I love the underground cooks, and they do an okay-ish job, but nobody in that place is a world-class chef. So, sometimes I come here and eat the free food that comes with being a ‘guest.”’

  I snort.

  “Do you want to join me?”

  The words ‘no, it’s okay’ are almost out of my mouth when his smile widens and my lips crash shut. I bet that smile has tempted a few girls into saying yes, and I’m ashamed to say, it has a little – or a lot – of an effect on me.

  “Come on, gorgeous, don’t let me dine by myself!”

  “Oh, you called me gorgeous… Now I have to say yes, right?” I roll my eyes and nudge his arm.

  “I was hoping it would butter you up a little, yeah…” He laughs, and that has more effect on me than his words. “So what do you say?”

  “Okay, fine! But we have work to do for the raid tomorrow so we can’t stay long, okay?”

  “Pinkie promise,” he says, holding out his hand.

  He’s like a big kid, and I shake my head with a giggle, entwining my finger with his.

  We take a seat at one of the empty tables at the back, and the waitress comes over. She’s pretty, auburn-haired, and her ice blue eyes barely acknowledge me. Instead, they land on Knox and don’t leave. I scoff, and Knox lifts an eyebrow in question.

  “What can I get you?” She asks him, flirtatiously, and leans over him. She acts as though it’s to put down some cutlery, but I think it’s to give him a good, long look at her boobs.