“And what if I don’t?”
“How about we put a timer on things? You’ve got a year to do it. If you can’t manage it, your soulmate,” he paused and crouched down to brush the back of his hand against Scout’s soft cheek. I swatted it away, and he looked surprised at the offense I took. “Will return to never knowing of the love you feel for her.”
I stared down at her unmoving form. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth was partially open. She looked almost peaceful. I sighed, trying to make sure I did this fucking right this time.
“Do I have to be the one to kill them? What if I find them already dead, or they die by accident before I can physically touch them?”
“Do you mean, what if she tries to do it for you?” he smirked. I rolled my eyes but nodded. He knew both of us too well. “I’ll allow it. Just make sure they are all dead before the next year, and you can pretend your dealings with me are done forever.”
“Fuck you, man.”
“Indeed. Deal?” He offered me his hand. I stared at it for a long moment before steeling myself and shaking his hand.
“Deal.”
The world around us exploded. The drums boomed, the loud laughter hurt my ears, and I could almost feel the ground vibrating with the dancing. Scout opened her eyes, and I stared down at her, praying that I hadn’t fucked up.
“Do you remember me?”
The first thing she saw was my face. She scrunched up her nose. “What is going on? Desi?” She blinked and began wiggling. I helped her sit up and watched as she looked all around. “Oh fuck.”
“Yeah, we need to get out of here. Come on,” I muttered low. The guard was standing near us, but he seemed to be talking to someone a distance away.
“How? Desi, I’m like— a priestess or some shit. They aren’t going to let me just—run.”
“I told you, I’ll lay my body down before I let them put you on that table. Come on.” I urged her up. We stood, and I reached for her hand. She took it and squeezed. I turned and immediately ran into a hard chest.
“You are to take the Young Blood Priestess’s place?” he asked.
I pressed my lips together tightly but nodded.
“The High Blood Priestess wants to talk to you.”
Scout and I exchanged looks, but we both knew we had little choice.
“Where is she?” Scout asked beside me. The brute motioned with his chin behind us. We glanced back and saw that he was motioning to the cave.
I licked my lips and tried to quickly work out an escape. Where the fuck was everyone? We were pushed and told to turn and walk with the guard, and we did as told. As I walked, I looked for my friends.
I had planned on going alone, but Elvie wanted to come, which made Tully get protective. If he went then Dante had to come. Arsenio, the biggest one of all of us couldn’t be shown up by the others so he agreed to come, and Corrine, well, she felt the need to be backup.
“Just in case. I’ll stay hidden,” she assured me. We spent all last night trying to formulate a plan based on absolutely no knowledge of what we’d be walking into.
Everyone was supposed to be spaced out and trying to blend in. While I hadn’t given a fuck what I’d be wearing since I’d be risking everythinganyway, the rest of them had made sure to wear clothes they had seen humans wear. I had chosen my jeans and one of my faded band shirts. I stuck out, but I had wanted to. Scout and I both didn’t belong here. Magdalena needed to know that when I took Scout away. If I was able to.
“You saw Samson. Did you make another deal with him?”Scout’s voice filled my brain.
I looked down at her. She didn’t look at me; her gaze focused on the walk.
“I did. I had no choice.”I replied silently.
“How is he going to save us from being sacrificed?”
Crickets.
“Desi?”
“I didn’t.”
