SACRIFICIUM (THE UNDERGROUND Book 1)

by Allie Doherty

  She leaves on that note, getting to her feet and storming off, but not without nudging her leg into Theo’s shoulder.

  “She’ll get over it eventually,” Tavis says, hopefully.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” I tell him. “That bitch has got an attitude because she nearly died on a mission she signed up for. If she couldn’t take the heat, she shouldn’t have stepped foot in the kitchen! I know she’s dealing with shit, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let her talk to me and Theo that way.”

  “Don’t you think your anger has done enough for one week?” Knox comments.

  “Knox!” Theo scolds.

  “No, it’s okay, he’s right. I need to keep my chill.” I take a deep breath. “Still, I’m not wrong about Amalie. She’s talking about this plan biting us in the ass, but I think it’s her we should be watching. Pissed off people with issues can be more dangerous than any detective could ever be, trust me, I know…”

  “Yeah, she really hasn’t been the same since the knife-raid,” Penelope says.

  Kat doesn’t say anything, but she and Max share a knowing glimpse that tells me they’ve had a similar discussion about Amalie, and Zhavia nods her head.

  “We’ll discuss Amalie later,” Tavis declares. “For now, we need to make a decision on Mendez. All those in favor of keeping him around until we find out what he knows, raise your hand.”

  The vote is unanimous, and it’s decided; Mendez is sticking around. A thrill shoots through me, and I don’t quite understand it. Maybe it’s because he knows about my mom, or maybe it’s because he’s hot as all hell, though I doubt he’d look twice at the girl who nearly put him in a coma.

  Still, I’m a glutton for punishment as I say, “let me tell him, please…”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Theo.

  I watch from a distance as Maeve explains the decision to Mendez. He smirks as though he expected it, and by the grimace on her face, Maeve thinks so too.

  She waves me over, and it’s time for my job. It takes seconds to unbind him from the chair, but I find it hard to do the next part.

  “Tavis!” I yell, and he comes running – or fast-walking – into the room.

  “What’s up?”

  “I can’t do this alone,” I say. It’s weird for me to have to say. “It’s not the power, I have that down… it’s the question of how the hell do I bind him to a place and not a spot?”

  His mouth straightens into a pensive line. “I – uh – I’ve never heard of that being done, either.”

  A snort comes from behind us. “Move over amateurs…”

  It’s Katia, and she’s smiling, playfully. “I learned how to do this when my grandma’s dog used to take off all the time.” She shudders. “That little rat bit me five times when I caught him and brought him back.”

  She gets down on bended knee, and tells Mendez to do the same. He looks a little hesitant, but he does as she says.

  My eyebrows pull together, and I side glance Tavis who shrugs. Clearly, both of us are waiting for something ‘witchy’ to happen, but nothing does. She just stays kneeling, her hands joined with Mendez’, and her eyes closed.

  “It’s done,” she says, pushing herself to her feet.

  “It is?” I try not to sound shocked. “Are you sure?”

  She nods. “Yeah, I’m positive. It’s just something I can do… everybody has their thing, right? Mine is binding spells and medicine.”

  I smile a little. “I’m starting to see why they wanted you dead.” And I really am. To be able to bind someone that quickly, without words or any semblance of sign that she was using her power – she’s strong.

  “Don’t get any ideas,” she tells me. “… I mean, I’ll fight if I have to, and I’m training with Maeve and Z, the same as everyone else, but I’m way too valuable to the coven to be put at risk. Nobody here can do what I can do, and if someone is hanging on by a thread, and I’m not here to help, our numbers dwindle fast.”

  “A girl who knows her worth…” Mendez smiles at her.

  Maeve scoffs. “Don’t you get any ideas either, she’s practically married… and she’s seventeen.”

  “I’m not married,” Katia argues. “But she’s right, I’m off-limits.”

  “And way under age,” Mendez says. “ Besides, I have my eye on something a little… different.”

  Maeve shifts on the spot, but her face stays neutral, and only I seem to notice her cheeks flame.

  “Maeve, your hair is going back to normal again, do you want to redo the spell?” I ask.

  “No… I kind of miss being red.” She shrugs. “But I’ll let you know next time I feel like looking like a pixie.”

  “I like red hair,” Mendez tells her and she blushes again.

  “God, why don’t you two just make out right here?” Katia snorts and then she walks away, leaving us all to feel the tension she created.

  Maeve gives an awkward cough. “So, I better go get ready to teach my class…”

  “Yeah, and I’m gonna… take a second to get used to my new, um, home.” He scratches the back of his head. “Where am I sleeping?”

  “You can bunk with me,” Tavis tells him and he nods, taking off in the wrong direction.

  “Well,” I snort. “This should be interesting…”

  ***

  Two Months Later.

  The past two months have been the best of my entire life.

  Knox and I have been all over each other enough to have earned the official boyfriend-girlfriend title and I’ve got to say, for a first and hopefully long-term boyfriend? Knox is a pretty impressive catch.

  He is the sweetest guy when his guard is down. He talks to me about things that are real, deep and important like his family, and I in-turn tell him about mine; how strong my mom was… and how I watched my sister die. Of course, the number one question he had was about my last name… It’s the same question I’ve been asked all of my life, and so I gave him the same answer: I’ve never known my dad, or even who he is, but I carry the weight of his last name because that’s the decision my mother made for me when I was born. I don’t know why my mom decided to break a centuries old tradition by naming me Blackthorn, and it’s the one thing I wish she had told me in the letter she wrote me before she died. But unlike the rest of the people who’ve asked, I wanted to tell him more… Like how I was always made to feel like an outcast in my own academy, and how I was never considered a true Raven-Hill – not like Anna was.

  One of the things that I really love about Knox is his ability to listen… but most of all, I love how giddy he makes me feel – and in a place where the world could come crashing down around us at any moment, giddy is a really nice feeling to have.

  I’m not quite as head over heels as Katia is about Max, but my feelings for Knox are way past butterflies. I can feel the beginning of what it must feel like to be in love… It’s like I’m free-falling through the air and I don’t want to stop.

  Aside from Knox being the world’s best boyfriend, the most amazing thing of my day-to-day life over the past eight weeks was watching my tough-as-nails best friend freak out and act like a twelve-year-old girl with a school-yard crush.

  Endless mutterings of words like: ‘do you think he likes me’ and ‘I wonder what he’s thinking’ don’t sound right coming from a girl like Maeve, but that’s all I heard for nearly four weeks until, finally, I walked in on them making-out.

  It was like birds chirping and angels singing. I no longer had to act as a go-between to figure out where their relationship was going for them! Hurrah!

  But now, the time has come… After eight weeks with us, Detective Mendez – or Leo, as he’s come to be known – is officially ready to leave the coven. He’s told us everything he knows about the hunters, the witches, me, and whoever else in the place that he had dirt on or was suspicious of… including Amalie.

  “What do you mean unstable?” I ask him.

  “I don’t know…” He sighs. “Look, befo
re I became a detective, I went to college for psychology and there’s just something off about Amalie. She’s on edge constantly, her obsession with Tavis is stalker-level, her cutesy personality makes me think she’s mentally immature, and she holds a grudge with such intensity that it’s scary.”

  He’s not wrong. In the past couple of months, Amalie’s death-glares at me and Maeve have become so hate-filled that it’s hard to meet her eyes at all. She won’t let what happened to her – or rather, what almost happened – go.

  I watch on as he packs his new clothes into a duffel bag.

  “All I’m saying is, you should be careful and watch out for her. You guys have enough enemies on your tails, you don’t need them inside the walls of your sanctuary too.”

  I nod that I will.

  “So, are you ready to be back out in the normal world?”

  He laughs. “I don’t even understand what normal is anymore…” His mouth is upturned, but there’s sadness in his eyes.

  “Thinking about your girl?”

  He lets out a long, worried breath. “I’m going out there to find out what I can to help you guys, but every day that passes is one day closer to something happening, and I don’t want to not be here when it does. If anything happens to Maeve, I –”

  “Oh relax, Mendez,” comes a sarcastic voice from the vault door. Maeve is standing there, arms crossed, and leaning against the cold steel. “You would think you were in love with me or something.”

  “Maybe I am…” He smirks, gliding toward her and wrapping her body in his arms. “Deeply so…”

  “I promise I’ll be here when you get back,” she tells him. “You are coming back, right?”

  It’s the question on everyone’s mind. Is letting Mendez go with his memories a mistake?

  I’ve pondered it aloud with both Tavis and Knox, but ultimately, the decision came down to Maeve… and she decided that she trusted him enough to try. I’m a little more sceptical because she’s in love, and people in love are blind.

  But watching them hold back their tears and hug goodbye, I wonder if I’m the one who’s blind.

  The whole group collects together to wave him off, and Katia undoes his binding with a snap of her fingers. In the past two months, her powers have gotten wildly impressive. She puts it down to being out of a toxic learning environment, but I happen to think it’s the power of her family magic, and she’s gaining control over it.

  In terms of power, she’s still weaker I am, but in skills? Not quite. There are things she can do that I can’t and things I can do that she can’t, but together, we can do everything. Still she refuses to fight hand-to-hand in battle unless absolutely necessary and I don’t blame her. She was right when she told Mendez how valuable she is.

  With new recruits turning up every week, there’s less time to prepare, which means the battle practice is getting rougher each session in an attempt to get the newbies up to the coven’s standards, and a few of the advanced students have donated their time to teaching extra training sessions.

  We’re up to over ninety members – mostly kids that have ‘dropped out’ of the academies for fear their lives were in danger. The rumours are out there now, and kids are paying special attention to the high council showing them special attention.

  But a few potential members have been lost, too.

  The team has been hesitant to go into a raid since the hunter’s house, and so I add the lives of the lost to my own personal kill list.

  Mendez is gone maybe an hour before Maeve throws herself deep into her work.

  “Ok guys, my class starts in ten minutes!”

  “Actually, Maeve, I thought the whole place could take the day off from training,” Knox shouts across the room.

  “A day off?” Tavis almost chokes. “Why would we do that?”

  “It’s Fourth of July, dude, live a little.” He playfully punches Tavis in the arm.

  “It is?” I ask. I’ve barely been keeping track of the days since I left the academy. I didn’t even know we weren’t in June anymore.

  “Yeah-p,” Knox says, with a clap of his hands. “I have the guys out buying – or rather, stealing – beer. I say we party! And I plan to spend the night, looking up at fireworks, with my girl. Perfect!”

  Tavis’ face twists and I can tell he’s not a fan of the idea, which makes me want it more. I want to be on Knox’s side because he’s my boyfriend, and also, the pettiness in me wants nothing more than to piss off Tavis; even though I’ve never been to a party before and probably won’t like it… It’s worth it!

  Tavis has been on all of our asses extra tough, lately. Dates have been limited, meaning the only time that Knox and I have managed to spend together is through the night. Still, it’s been the most romantic months of my life.

  “Yes, I am in!” I say with false enthusiasm. “Great idea, boyfriend. We could all use a night off, right, Tav?”

  He all but growls at me and his bottom lip sticks out, pouty. There’s a rejection on the tip of his tongue, but it’s too late. Knox has already yelled it to the others, and now, every member of the coven is getting in the party spirit. Tavis is overruled.

  I love when that happens.

  The guys and girls separate into two groups to get dressed.

  The boys try to look as dapper as they can in the clothes they have and the girls attack Zhavia’s make-up kit and line up as she offers to do their hairs.

  I’m first, then Katia, then Maeve and so on. By the end, Z’s hand is so cramped that she can’t do her own.

  “I’ll help,” comes a girly voice. It belongs to River, and she’s holding up a curling iron. She did her own hair and looks like a rock star. It’s curled loosely and longer than usual, as though she added a few inches for the night.

  Z nods with a smile and River looks happy. She’s had a hard time convincing the girls that she’s not a stone cold bitch, but this is a step in the right direction.

  Once we’re all ready, we head up to the roof. It’s dark out and the stars are brighter than I’ve ever seen them. The first firework starts not long after and is followed by blasts every few seconds from all over Denver.

  All of the colours of the rainbow light up the sky in beautiful explosions and the couples are wrapped up in the romance of it all. River and Ben are huddled in a corner, Cleo and P are dancing to the music playing and when they think nobody is looking, they lean in for a ‘friendly’ kiss. Max and Katia roll their eyes, not into the PDA thing… but I see how they curl into each other.

  And as for me, I sigh happily as Knox wraps his hand around my waste and presses his body into my back. I’m so happy that I could cry. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve had a fully stress-free experience.

  I pull Knox in for a kiss. It starts off small and ends up passionate and long. My hands are in his hair and his are holding me in place. A tornado strength tremble through my stomach tells me how unbelievably excited I am to be here with him.

  There’s a heat in my belly made of food, drinks and romance. The atmosphere around me is playful and fun for the first time since I got here. Even Amalie is smiling. Nobody is worried that at any moment, the door could cave in and on the other end, hunters with guns or witches with power.

  We’re all just –

  “No!” Maeve screams, putting a hand to her mouth. “God, please, stop!”

  I run from Knox’s arm in time to see the screen of her phone. It’s a video call with Mendez, only, he’s not speaking… he’s tied, bloody and beaten, to a chair. There are hunters all around him, including Detective Jacobian, and the message on their smug, arrogant faces is clear:

  We’re screwed, and they’re coming.

  ***

  Tavis calls a meeting and the frontrunners huddle together, discussing our options. Mendez is probably dead and the hunters probably know where we are. Maeve is convinced that he didn’t give us up on purpose, but there are a few who’re sceptical – mainly Amalie.

  She believes
that Mendez was a spy from the jump, and it gives her another thing to add to the list of why she hates us. Her distrust of us is starting to spread through the lower ranks, too… because while Maeve and I spend our time devising plans and strategies with Tavis and Knox; Amalie has nothing better to do that gossip and plant seeds in people’s heads.

  Even now, as she barges her way into yet another meeting she wasn’t invited to, she sits with a scowl, whispering about how she should be in charge, and not me.

  Man, she’s lucky I have self-control.

  “What’re we gonna do?” Knox asks. “Should we pack up and go?”

  “We don’t know that Mendez told them where we are. It could be a scare tactic!” Maeve replies.

  “I’m sorry, Maeve, but we have to assume that he did.” Tavis sighs. “Nobody is saying he did it on purpose but –”

  “I am,” Amalie interjects. “He was a mole!”

  “No, he wasn’t!” Maeve yells.

  “Oh, please! You think he spent his time being partners with the hunter and didn’t pick up a thing or two? Then he just randomly stumbles upon us and lets us kidnap him. It was shady from the jump and the stupid mortal, who shouldn’t even be here, was dumb enough to fall for it.”

  “Call me dumb one more time, I dare you…” Maeve advances on her and I have to pull her back. “Let me go, T! This bitch needs her ass kicked!”

  “We don’t have time for this!” Zhavia yells.

  “I agree,” Katia says. “We don’t know if Mendez was a spy, we don’t know if they’re coming, and if they are, we don’t know when they’re coming. They could show up any minute now. I say we get gone before they get here.”

  “He wouldn’t tell them! I say we stay put until we know what’s what.” Maeve is so sure of herself, and I wish I could agree with her, but I think this is the first time since I’ve known her where she’s wrong.