SACRIFICIUM (THE UNDERGROUND Book 1)

by Allie Doherty

  Her eyes flick to the rear-view mirror and collide with mine. She focuses hard on them, and there’s something in hers that unnerves me.

  “What?”

  “Nothing…” She answers too quickly which is a dead-giveaway that she’s lying to me. My eyebrow flicks up and she sighs. “Just let me get us to the manor and then I’ll tell you, okay? Until then, get some rest…”

  I nod, my eyes becoming heavier, and fall back into a deep sleep.

  ***

  When I wake again, I’m tucked into bed. The room around me is as familiar as the back of my hand. It’s my mom’s old room.

  I push the comforter off me and move to examine my cuts. I don’t know how long I’ve been knocked out, but I hope they’re not still gaping because I might vomit. I lift my T-shirt and move to peel the bandages from me… but they’re not there anymore.

  My eyes are still tired, and I might be hallucinating, but it doesn’t feel like I have any wounds at all…

  I jump from the bed, nearly tripping over my shoes as I go, and rush for the full-length mirror.

  My hand covers my mouth and I gasp. There are no stab wounds, no bruises, not even as much as a slight scratch or a scraped knee. The skin of my stomach is flawless and smooth in all areas. I chase my tail to get a look at my back, but the skin there is just as untouched.

  It’s impossible … I felt the blades rip me apart from the inside. I can still feel how they felt sliding in and out of me.

  Any human – witch or mortal – should be dead after sustaining the injuries that I have! The knives had to have hit major organs…

  Unless, Katia… but, no, I would still have the scars; just like Maeve, Amalie and River have scars. Katia’s healing only goes so far and she doesn’t include the vanity package in her ‘life-saver’ offer.

  As I look closer in the mirror, my smooth skin becomes a second thought. My face is still coated in golden marks, and my left eye is beautiful and breathtakingly unique…

  But it’s my right eye that I focus in on.

  You unleashed it… Now, you can’t take it back.

  My hand lifts to cover my mouth and again, I gasp. The whole eye – the pupil, the iris, all of it – it’s all black.

  I unleashed it, and now I can’t take it back...

  It makes sense to me now, why the prickly black side of my power was so enticing. It’s why everyone at the academy was scared of me, why Anna always treated me as less than a Raven-Hill, and why I was able to rip apart a High Priestess like she was a bug on my shoe…

  You should have died, the voice in my head tells me. And it’s right, I should have…

  I probably would have, too… If I was all human.

  THE END.

  DAEMONIUM

  SNEAK PEEK.

  One year later.

  The music is pumping hard around us and alcohol flows freely. The boy that I just met, Jay – I think – and I are dancing like crazy on the floor of the club, the flashing lights illuminating our skin.

  I move, slowly; swinging my hips in my skull-decorated pirate dress and thigh high boots. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and it gives me a reason to wear a patch over my right eye.

  Jay moves in closer and his lips look oh so inviting. I give in to the temptation and brush mine against them. I’m a wild woman, taken by the night and enjoying every bad decision. I wrap my arms around his neck and let him devour me. His teeth nibble at my bottom lip and I shiver. When I pull back, he spins me around like we’re waltzing and I laugh. My eyes connect with Tavis’ across the room and he winks to me for a split second before returning his lips to River’s.

  In the other corner, Penelope and Clara are making out like teenagers in love - because that’s what they are – and they barely come up for air. Cleo is with the new girl, Misoa, at the bar and Katia is dancing beside me with Max.

  Jonah keeps his eyes on Amalie in the corner and she’s staring back at him just as intently while Zhavia dances up on him.

  All in all, the atmosphere is amazing and I don’t want the night to end; a terrifying thought considering the reason we’re in the club to begin with. Jay’s lips move to my neck and I grab a fist full of his jet black hair, desperate to keep him there. I let out a soft moan, feeling the pinch of his sharpened incisors on my skin.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he whispers to me and I am so ready to oblige. The next part of the night will determine the outcome of my mission and I plan on succeeding in every way.

  We stumble from the club, hand-in-hand, each of us as intoxicated as the other and I have only one singular interest in mind.

  He pushes me against a wall and our lips entwine once more. His hands grab at my body and I hate how good it feels, but it is a great distraction.

  He doesn’t see me raise my fist, giving me the edge as I pull it back and clock him in the jaw.

  “What the hell?” He hisses and lunges for me. I hold out a hand and watch as he flies backwards, hitting the ground with such force that his shoulder cracks. I hold him there, using my power to suppress him.

  “Witch!” He says it like cuss word, his fangs protruding his gum line and his eyes turning red.

  “Demon…” I smirk. “You’re not so hot to me now.”

  The rest of the team emerge from the club, and Tavis and River part like the red sea looking as though the last hour was the worst of their lives.

  “Remind me to never partner with Tavis again,” River complains. “He has zero acting skills!”

  “I thought I did pretty well!” Tavis defends himself. “You’re not the easiest girl to pretend to date, you know? You were constantly –”

  “Guys! We don’t have time for this! Remember why we’re here!” I tell them and their faces turn serious. “Pick him up!”

  Tavis takes one arm and Zhavia takes the other, dragging him to his feet. He’s angry, spitting and chomping at the bit to kill us all.

  I punch him in the face, pull back, and punch him again.

  “Where is she?” I yell. He doesn’t say anything and so I pull back once more and throw my hand as hard as I can, hoping to fracture a bone. “Tell me where she is!”

  “You’re Theodora Blackthorn. I should have known…” He laughs, blood pouring from his lip.

  “Where is she?” I ask again.

  “She’s dead… and if she’s not, she will be soon. He’s not very fond of her… My guess is that he’s torturing her to death as we speak.”

  My blood boils and my fist balls. His bones crack under his skin and I make them break one-by-one… It won’t kill him, but the screams he emits tell me how badly it hurts.

  “One more time,” I get closer to him, grabbing him by the throat and throwing his head back against the wall. “Where is Maeve Jessop?”