The Sacrifice (25 page)

His
entire body shook as rage fought for release. He needed to kill Vind in the
worst possible way. Even though he couldn
’
t hear what Vind said
to Riana, it was obvious he was threatening her with something. When the camera
captured her face it revealed the whole spectrum of emotions, and he felt each
one. From anger, fear, sorrow, to acceptance, it all played out on her
beautiful features.

Cy
didn
’
t think Riana
’
s emotions could hit
him any harder, until they switched to the last monitor. When she ran into
Lily, he gasped for air from the weight of her terror. His knees sagged.
Someone steadied him, and then lowered him into a chair.

After
it ended with Riana and Lily disappearing from the courtyard, Cy looked at Oz,
and a mirror image of his own fear and desperation stared back. Something he
hadn
’
t seen on the ancient warrior since the day Cy
’
s
father died. Fear of what Vind would do to Riana and Lily had shaken them both
to the core.

“I
’
m
going to rip that fucker limb from limb,” Cy said through clenched teeth.

“Not
if I get to him first,” Oz replied. “I should
’
ve let Miles kill him
after his capture.”

Cy
rose and paced in front of the monitors. If he didn
’
t
control this rage, he
’
d never clear his head enough to think. “We need a
plan and we need one fast. I want every Protector we have  working on
this. Even if they
’
re retired and unable to fight, they still have
years of experience dealing with Vind. They may remember something useful.”

Cy
’
s
gaze moved around the observation room. “Where
’
s Kyra? Does she know
about this?”

“She
was with me when I first viewed the video,” Oz replied. “She lost it. We had to
hold her down to keep her from destroying the equipment. Lily
’
s
the only family she has left. I sent her and Miles to the armory to finish
pulling weapons, make sure everything
’
s loaded and ready.”

“
I still don
’
t know how smart it
was to put loaded weapons in her hands right now,”
Kam said.

Oz
shook his head. “She
’
s tight. As long as someone
’
s
with her to keep her from going off halfcocked and getting herself killed.”

Cy
scrubbed his face with both hands and took a deep breath. “Where were the
guards who were supposed to be watching these monitors when this went down? And
why the
hell
didn
’
t they call for someone to investigate when an
unauthorized person entered the cells?”

Kam
looked at Cy as if he dreaded what he was about to say. “They didn
’
t
see anything because they were unconscious. Mr. Connors
’
nephew
had brought coffee, which evidently drugged them. Vind had this entire thing
planned.”

Since
the video ended, Elle had been transfixed to a screen paused on Riana
’
s
face. She shot to her feet as if someone turned on her switch. “What I want to
know is where that weasel Connors and his skanky nephew are now? I will beat
the truth from those heartless bastards.”

“I
have people searching for them.” Oz said. “They both signed out of the compound
moments after Riana and Lily disappeared. The nephew lived with Connors and his
wife, and there
’
s no one at their residence. The guards are
searching the house for possible leads.”

“Also,”
Elle continued.
“I
’
m sure he told Riana someone was sick or hurt to
get her to follow him to that cell. For her to walk out of here with Vind, he
must have threatened to harm someone. The only way he could
’
ve
done that from a cell, is through those two.”
Elle’
s voice dropped
an octave and tears glistened in her eyes. “As long as I can remember, Riana
’
s
been more than my friend. She
’
s my family. If there
’
s
one thing I know, it
’
s that she wouldn
’
t think twice about
sacrificing herself for someone else. We have to find her.”

Elle
straightened, her gaze bouncing between Cy to Oz. “Don
’
t
even
think you
’
re going to stop me from helping. I
’
m
one of the top investigators in the United States, and I know her better than
any of you.”

Cy gave Elle an arched stare. His gaze
shifted to Oz and found him doing the same. Cy shrugged. “We may as well let
her. She might actually help.”

“She
’
s
not a trained Protector, and we don
’
t have time to keep
an eye on her every second,” Oz added. “If she gets herself killed, Riana will
never forgive us.”

Elle threw her hands in the air. “Why
does everyone keep saying that?”

“Probably
because you
’
re an over-confident blow hard,”
Kam said.
“Just because you can beat up a human, doesn
’
t
mean you stand a chance against a feeder. And
that
, dear Blondie, will
get you killed.”

“Don
’
t
you worry your pretty little head about me, dimwit. Riana knows you
’
d
have to lock me up to keep me from searching for her.”

“Don
’
t
give me any ideas,” Oz said. “Now, you two zip it, and put as much effort into
finding our girls as you do in criticizing each other.”

Cy
put his hands on the desk and leaned over the frozen picture of Riana
’
s
face. With his heart in his throat, questions flooded his mind. Why hadn
’
t
he woken her this morning and told her goodbye, told her how much he loved her?
How could he lose her now? After a life-time alone, he
’
d
only had her for a few short weeks.
This was his fault. He
’
d
known claiming her as his life-mate would put her at risk. But he loved her
from the moment he
’
d laid eyes on her.

I
’
m a selfish bastard.

His head drooped forward and his eyes
closed. Visions of what Vind would do to Riana played a constant loop in his
mind. Fear seized his chest until his breath felt tight, and he staggered from
the weight of it.

Oz
put his arm around Cy
’
s waist and steadied him. “You okay?”

Cy
raised his head and looked at Oz, unshed tears blurring his vision. “We have to
find her, Oz. I can
’
t lose her.
”

“I
know son, me either. We will, but we have to keep a level head. If we go in
guns a blazing, Vind won
’
t hesitate to kill them both.”

Riana nudged Lily and swept the hair
from her face.

She
sat up and threw her arms around Riana
’
s neck. “I thought
you were dying. You didn
’
t move for a really long time.”

“I
’
m
all right, Lily. Are you okay?”

She
nodded and held Riana tighter. “Where
’
s Kyra? I want to go
home.”

Tears
flowed down Lily
’
s pale cheeks, as Riana explained why they couldn
’
t
leave and go back to the compound. She rocked Lily in her arms. “I will find a
way to get you back home, Lily. I promise.”

Lily
wiped tears on her sleeve. “Kyra and Cy will come and get us. They love us.
They won
’
t let that stupid, old man keep us here.”

“Yes,
they will, baby, but you have to promise me something. We need to be careful.
You know how dangerous feeders are. Vind is their leader and he
’
s
extremely dangerous. If we don
’
t do as he says, or he catches us trying to
escape, he
’
ll be mad and punish us. We don
’
t
want that, do we? So we can
’
t do anything to upset him, okay?”

“I promise,” Lily whispered.

They
both jumped at a sudden knock on the door. Keys rattled and Ms. Rizzo came in
holding a garment bag. “These are Miss Lily
’
s clothes for dinner.
Would you like for me to lay them out for you?”

“No,
I
’
ll do it.
”

Ms. Rizzo stared at Lily. Her raven
black hair and eyes made her skin appear pallid.

If
she
’
s waiting for an introduction, it
’
s not happening.

“Will that be all?” Riana snapped.

“Yes, madam.” She lowered her head and
backed out of the room.

“Who was that?”

“She
’
s
no one, sweetie. Just someone who works here.”

Riana opened the bag, removed a pink
chiffon dress and held it up.

Lily
’
s
nose crinkled. “Yuck. I don
’
t wear pink, or dresses, especially ones with
ruffles.”

“
Honey, I don’
t think we have a choice. We don
’
t have our own clothes
and this is all you have.”

Riana
went to the closet. Her mouth fell open at the sheer number of dresses, evening
gowns, pants, tops, jeans and sweaters. She flipped through the wardrobe and
checked the sizes. Everything, even the shoes and boots were in her size. He
really did plan to keep her here. Her fingers curled around the choker. If she
couldn
’
t figure a way to get that thing off her neck,
there would be no escaping…at least for her. Until then, she
’
d
concentrate on getting Lily out of there.

 After
they dressed for dinner the butler came to escort them to the dining room. They
left her room and followed Alpheus down a long, wide hallway with walls made of
smooth stone. A never-ending battle scene was carved into the walls. At the
beginning of the mural, it depicted men fighting on foot and horseback. The
further they went the more advanced the fighting became. The scenes progressed
from men with swords, then guns, from ships to tanks and planes. Endless
battles depicted men slain in every way imaginable. By the time they reached
the end of the long hallway, Riana
’
s heart was heavy
from the weight of the violence. Who could stand to surround themselves with
all this violence?

Someone
as evil as Vind, that
’
s who.

The hall ended at a white marbled
staircase. They were eye level with an enormous chandelier hanging at least
twenty foot above the foyer. Alpheus led them down the elaborate stairs, which
widened at the end. To the right of the foyer they entered a large dining room.
In the center of the long rectangle shaped room sat a formal dining table that
looked as if it would seat at least a hundred people. Floor to ceiling stone
fireplaces covered each end of the room. A small table with three
place-settings sat in front of the fireplace at the far end.

Alpheus seated them at the small
table. “Master Vindius will be in momentarily.”

After
he left, Riana walked over to one of two large tapestries that covered the
walls on each side of the room. They depicted scenes of mountains, oceans with
silver sand on moonlit beaches, and sunsets. They resembled the pictures of
Sivadia she
’
d seen in class.

“This is my favorite room in the
castle,” Vind said.

Riana
’
s
nerves jumped beneath her skin at his sudden appearance.

He stood in the doorway watching her.
“Those were made from actual photographs taken on Sivadia. No one born on Earth
has ever seen anything as beautiful as the world we came from. It is rare to
find anything that can compare to its beauty.”

Riana
hadn
’
t heard him move, but she turned and he stood only
inches away. He stared at her, not the tapestry. She cringed, curled her lip,
and trudged around him, and then returned to the table.

Alpheus came in with a serving dish.
He went around the table and ladled a pink liquid into each of their bowls.
Riana stiffened, wondering what they were about to be forced to eat. Before she
could say anything, Lily blurted. “What is that?”

“It is your appetizers, Miss Lily,”
the little man replied. “It is cold strawberry soup. I believe you will like
it.”

Lily
eased her spoon into the bowl and took a sip. Her face lit up. “Mmm, that
’
s
yummy. Can I have more?”

“We have other food coming,” Alpheus
said with a twinkle in his gray eyes.

Vind
smiled at the older man. Something Riana hadn
’
t known he was
capable of doing. And what was that emotion in his eyes? Respect? Love? No, she
was positive he didn
’
t possess that ability. But it was obvious he
thought highly of his butler.

“It
pleases Alpheus to have someone to cook for,” Vind said, as the older man left
the room. “I seldom eat at home. I
’
m usually busy
running my army.”

 Anger
shot through Riana at the mention of his army. Thousands of lives had been
sacrificed to feed his…so called army. He wanted this household to look normal,
and maybe it did to someone who didn
’
t know better.

But
I am not one of those people.
Her anger escalated as she remembered the times she and Cy
exchanged blood. She
’
d witnessed first-hand what kind of murdering
psychopaths Vind and his army were.

“You
mean you
’
re too busy running human slaughter houses to feed
your army, don
’
t you?” she snapped.

A
red fury swept across Vind
’
s face. “You would do well to remember that
I
am
the ruler here. You are going to be my mate, and you
will
show me
respect.”

Riana
’
s
skin prickled with warning as a wave of dark energy rippled through the room.
She ignored it, leaned toward Vind, and lowered her voice so Lily wouldn
’
t
overhear.
“I may be forced
into a marrying you, but I will
never
be your mate. My heart will always
belong to Cy. As far as respect goes, that
’
s
really
not
going to happen. You would do well to remember I
’
m
not afraid of you. I
’
ve been trained to defend myself against the likes
of you. When it comes to protecting that little girl over there, you will have
to kill me to stop me.”

Vind arched one dark brow. “Trust me,
that can be arranged.”

Although
she probably should have, Riana didn
’
t take his threat
serious. He wouldn
’
t kill her until he got bored with his game of revenge,
or got the heir he kept talking about. Bile rose in her throat, and she pushed
the soup away.

“Riana,”
Vind growled. “Do not make the mistake of trying to take me down. How many
times do you think I
’
ve been challenged throughout my life? And how many
times do you think I have lost those challenges?”

Her
lips thinned and she projected every ounce of disgust and hatred she had for
him. She didn
’
t need to voice it. Emotions were stronger than
words.

“I am a predator, Riana, much like the
shark, which is driven by need and hunger.”

She
released a derisive snort. “You don
’
t have to
kill
to stay alive. Every being on Earth has a will to live. They have the same
right to live as you. Especially humans. Earth is their planet, not ours. Ours
was taken by a species that thought the same as you. They were the stronger
species, forcing our people to leave or be fed upon. Because you
’
re
among the stronger species here, it does not make what you
’
re
doing to humanity right. If you can
’
t understand that,
then you are no better than the Haagons.”

Vind rose from his chair so fast it
flew into the wall. He grabbed Riana by the hair and jerked her head to the
side, revealing her neck. “I warned you not to push me.” His voice was low and
guttural. “I will drain you where you sit, right in front of the child.”

Her
stomach retched as heat from his breath hit her neck. She had pushed him to the
edge. If she uttered a word or moved a muscle, she wouldn
’
t
walk away from this table.

The swinging door from the kitchen
sounded in the room. It had to be the butler coming back in to serve their
entree. Maybe it would distract Vind enough not to kill her.

Vind
’
s
grip loosened in her hair and he straightened to his full height. He turned,
stalked over to pick up his chair and sat back down at the table.

Riana
breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Lily
’
s pale face. Her wide
eyes were filled with tears and her face was wet. Riana reached over and pulled
Lily into her lap. “Everything is okay, sweetheart.” As Riana rocked Lily in
her arms, a curtain of hair fell across her. Lily tunneled beneath its length.
As if her hair was a shield that could protect her.

“Can you finish your food, sweetie.”

Lily
wiped her face and sniffled. “I
’
m finished.”

Riana
’
s
body felt as if fifty pound weights were tied to each limb. Her head hurt and
she was angry this happened in front of Lily. She
’
d
asked Lily not to antagonize Vind. Then she did the opposite. If Vind had
killed her, Lily would have been next. She had to control her fear and
subsequent anger. At least until she found a way for Lily to escape.