Savannah Sacrifice Read online

  “Oh my God.” Starling gasped. “What did they do to you, Jasper?”

  “I’m fine,” he said with a stuttering exhale. He tried to laugh, but it ended in a wince. “Some guy roughed me up and brought me here. And then Devon decided I was still too good looking.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  He had never been so happy to see a friendly face, and not just any friendly face, but Starling’s. She was absolutely radiant in her fury. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were filled with fire.

  “These goddamn birds. I will kill every last one of them for this,” she growled as she started to untie the rope from his aching wrist. “What happened to you?”

  “Some old guy brought me here. He got the drop on me when Edward was in control.” He paused for a moment as he drew in a long painful breath. “After they brought me here, they let Devon have a go.”

  “I’m so sorry, Jasper. I shouldn’t have had anything to do with him.” Starling released his right hand. With his free hand, he reached over to untie the other while Starling moved to his ankle.

  “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know he was in league with the vultures.”

  “True, but I knew he was an asshole. Maybe if I hadn’t gone to the piano bar with him, or maybe if I hadn’t introduced you to him, then he wouldn’t have gone after you so badly.” She untied the last bit of rope from his ankle and then reached up for his face. Her thumb brushed over his cheek. The warmth of her touch drew sparks of desire to the front of his mind. She’d never touched him like that before. Never with such tenderness.

  No. Everything was so screwed up. Maybe she cared for him, but she couldn’t feel anything more. Then again, he couldn’t say the same. For the last few months, every minute of his life had been spent thinking about ways to protect her and keep her safe. She was the first thought on his mind when woke and the last thought before he fell asleep. But damn it, that didn’t mean he loved her, did it? Not to mention her curse—the nymph’s curse. If he fell in love with her, he was fated to die.

  She reached up with her other hand and placed it on his cheek. “I’m so sorry, Jasper. I just can’t say it enough. This is all my fault.” Tears welled in her eyes, and seeing her hurt for him made his pain suddenly worsen.

  He reached up and put his hands over hers. “It’s okay, Starling. This was my choice. I knew what I was getting into when I took on the job of guarding you. I’m sorry I failed. I really fucked up. Look at us now in the enemy’s headquarters. I’m hurt. We’re trapped. And … wait … ” He gripped her fingers. “Are you here because of me?”

  She looked away from his gaze.

  “You are.” He ran his thumbs over the back of her hands. “I can’t believe you put yourself in danger.”

  “We’re a team, remember? You tried to help me, now it’s my turn to help you.”

  He ran his hands up her arm until the warmth of her neck called to him, making him want to lean in and kiss her soft skin. “How did you get in here?”

  “Through the mausoleum. There was an entrance in the table in the backroom.”

  “Do they know you’re here?”

  She shook her head. “If we hurry maybe we can go back the way I came.”

  He moved toward her, focusing on the soft, pink line of her lips. He pressed his lips against hers. Her lips were sweet as they moved against his then opened slightly, inviting his kiss to deepen, awakening his body to more carnal needs. He went hard. He pulled her up and into his lap. She moaned into his mouth as her body pressed against his.

  He broke away from their kiss. It had to stop. He couldn’t feel this—this need, this want, or this insatiable hunger for her touch.

  “You shouldn’t have come to help me, Starling.” He sighed, trying to gain control over his body.

  “I didn’t come down here just for you.” Her gaze met his, her beautiful blue eyes sparkling—was it anger? Or something else? “The books are down here, too.” She stood up and away from his lap; the heat of where she rested turned cold.

  So he hadn’t been the reason she’d broken into the headquarters. He should have been relieved, but disappointment drifted through him.

  “Do you know where?” he asked, trying to concentrate on something other than his feelings.

  “No idea, but if we’re together I’m sure we can find them and then get out of here.”

  The door to the room opened. “In such a rush to go already?” A woman stood in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest. She reached down, pulled a satellite phone from her back pocket, and dialed.

  A man’s garbled voice answered.

  “We got her. They’re in the torture room. Meet me here. Bring Jim.”

  The man said something and Virginia’s face puckered.

  “Walter and his men won’t be joining us. Now, get on it.”

  Jasper stood up and started to move toward the woman.

  “Stop. Right. There.” The woman pulled a gun from her belt. “You aren’t going anywhere.” She slid the phone back into her pocket.

  He stopped. “Who the fuck are you?”

  “I’m Virginia, the vice president of the Catharterian Council.”

  “The vice president? I didn’t know that there was a vice president of shitheads,” he retorted.

  Virginia glanced over at Starling, ignoring his jibe. “I’m so glad you have decided to join us. Thanks for saving us the work of finding you.”

  “Screw you,” Starling snapped.

  “Wow, I was hoping we could get things started on a better footing. We have quite a bit we need to go over with you. If you choose to make this difficult, then it could be quite disastrous to your health.”

  “You aren’t going to do shit,” he said, stepping protectively in front of Starling. “You won’t touch her.”

  “You’re right there, Jasper. I have no interest in touching your little friend, but I do want what she carries. Do you have the GX 149 with you?” she demanded of Starling.

  Starling glanced at him, her eyes wide with fear. “I’m not giving you the drugs. You and your kind don’t deserve to breed after what you did to my mother and then tried to do to Harper.”

  “What gives you the right to say what we do and don’t deserve, girl?” Virginia’s stoicism crumbled. “You’re too young to know the value of children. The joy they bring to a parent’s life.”

  “You are manipulative, uncaring, and power-hungry. You don’t have a motherly bone in your body. There has to be something more.” Starling paused. “Why do you really want to have children?”

  “You barely know me. I don’t know what gives you the impression I wouldn’t be a good mother,” Virginia said, the lines in her face pulled tightly.

  “I heard you and Devon in the mausoleum. I know who you really are.”

  “You don’t know the half of it, Starling. Virginia is so full of shit,” he said. “You don’t want children because you love them, or you want to become a mother. You want children so you can build an army.”

  “How do you know?” Starling asked.

  “Devon was more than happy to supplement my beating with tales of how a new generation of vultures would help earn them impressive military titles in the future,” he said.

  “Come now, you two little lovebirds,” Virginia said dismissively, but there was a flash of shock in her eyes that confirmed his little jab was, indeed, her secret. “Why would we want an army?”

  “I don’t know,” Jasper said. “But I will find out.”

  “Is that right?” Virginia smiled wickedly.

  The door to the room opened. Devon sauntered in and passed Jasper a smug grin. “Can’t say I’m happy to see you again, man.”

  The hairs on the back of Jasper’s neck rose. “Don’t worry. We won’t be staying long.”

  “That’s not what I heard,” Devon said. His gaze strayed over Starling, landed on her chest, and moved down to the intersection of her thighs.

  They needed to get out of here and Virginia
was clearly the one with the power, and therefore the most important to outsmart. “Look, if we agree to give you Starling’s drugs, then you let us go. Deal?”

  Virginia laughed. “So now you are ready to make deals, when you are our prisoner and you have no way to escape? You have no leg to stand on. No deal. We will just take what we want.”

  “No, you won’t,” Starling said, gripping her purse tighter to her body.

  “You want me to get them, Ms. Virginia?” Devon motioned toward Starling’s bag.

  Virginia nodded. Devon reached for Starling’s bag, pulling it from her shoulder. Starling grabbed the straps, trying in vain to keep her property from falling into the hands of the Catharterians. It reminded Jasper of when he’d picked her up in Savannah. Unfortunately, this time he wouldn’t be able to rescue her or her bag.

  “Just give him the bag, honey,” Jasper said, touching her hand.

  Starling let go, but there was hurt in her eyes as he forced her to give up. “I need my medication.”

  “No, Starling, you don’t. We will find something else. I promise,” Jasper hinted. “Besides, there aren’t very many pills in your purse, are there?”

  Some of the hurt was replaced with a flicker of excitement as she must have realized they still had a maneuver left in their arsenal.

  “You’re right. I only brought enough GX 149 for a few days.”

  That was his girl. He shouldn’t have doubted that she would catch his clues and run with it.

  “I don’t think that would be long enough for it to really affect fertility. Maybe we could make some kind of deal for inventory back in Vegas? You can have the rest of my drugs if you let Jasper and I go and promise to never bother another nymph again.”

  He couldn’t help but feel proud of Starling as she stood there—strong, confident, and powerful, defying her enemies.

  “We don’t want just the drugs. We want the formula as well,” Virginia said. “More than that, we need proof the drugs will work. Until we have a pregnancy in our population, you will have to stay here.” The words dripped from her lips like putrid waste.

  “No,” Jasper interrupted. “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you keep her here.”

  “Virginia,” Starling interrupted, “even if I wanted to help, I don’t have the formula. That is in the hands of Harper and her team of pharmacologists.”

  “Devon, get Harper on the phone. Tell her that we will kill her stepdaughter if she doesn’t get her ass here in the next twenty-four hours. Then take Starling and Jasper to their rooms.”

  “To our rooms?” Starling echoed.

  “Would you rather stay in our dungeon?” Virginia asked. “We aren’t complete animals. You’ve shown that you are willing to help us. However, if things change, or if you attempt to escape, our little bit of hospitality will no longer be an option. Do we have an understanding?”

  Starling nodded.

  “Good night. Spend it praying that Harper will come to your rescue. Otherwise, we will have to kill her to send not only you, but your Sisterhood a message.”

  They wouldn’t kill Harper. They couldn’t. She was well protected within her and Chance’s new apartment in the Bellagio. Jasper had made sure of it over the last few months. Yet, Harper loved Starling. He had to assume that she would put herself at risk again.

  “Let’s go,” Devon said, grabbing Starling by the arm and shoving her toward the open door.

  “Don’t touch her like that,” Jasper growled. “If you do that again, I will personally cut off your hands and stick them where the sun doesn’t shine.”

  “How you gonna do that, man? I don’t see you packing a lot of heat.” Devon laughed. “One helluva Sisterhood you must have there, darlin’, to send in a bodyguard who can’t even protect you. It’s almost like they were hoping you would get killed. What did you do to piss them off?”

  Starling shot him a pleading look, but there was nothing he could do—at least not now.

  “Jasper, let’s go,” Virginia said, motioning for him to follow. She led him out of the room, through the main hall and into a maze of concrete-walled rooms and white halls. Right and then right again, finally a left. With each turn, Jasper’s suspicion grew. Where were they really taking him? He had to find a weapon. Anything to take the vultures down and get the hell out of there, but every room they passed through was empty or nearly so, with a few only holding folded tables or large recliners. He realized how alone they were; they hadn’t passed or seen even another vulture. Something was very, very wrong.

  They made their way to a large atrium where the ceiling was painted to look like a morning sky, the mural reminding him of the Venetian in Las Vegas. The room had three long rows of rectangular tables, as if it was used for a meeting hall or cafeteria. He drew in a long breath. His sense of smell was weak, but he picked up hints of barbeque mixed with heady aroma of beer. The vultures must have fed on something more than death to sustain their bodies.

  Sitting at the far end of the room was a small group of women. One of them looked up at the sound of the door closing behind the foursome.

  “Ms. Virginia, I’m sorry,” the woman said, standing up. The other women followed her lead. “We didn’t know she had arrived.” She motioned toward Starling. “Does the president know she is here?”

  “Shut up,” Virginia ordered. “Leave now and tell no one who or what you have seen.”

  Suddenly it made sense. Virginia hadn’t been trying to get him lost in the maze of hallways and rooms. She was hiding them. But why was Virginia trying to sneak them through headquarters without the president’s knowledge?

  Devon pushed Starling forward, hustling her out of the dining hall. “Let’s go.”

  “What’s going on?” Jasper asked as he followed Starling. “Why are you hiding us? What are you doing?”

  “If you don’t shut up, I will kill you, man,” Devon growled.

  “Devon, stop,” Virginia ordered. “I’m sure Jasper knows what is at risk—it’s not just his life at stake.”

  “Tell me what the hell is going on,” Jasper ordered. “Obviously you don’t want your president to know we’re here, but why?”

  “I have no idea what you are talking about,” Virginia said with a fake smile. “We simply want to get you into your rooms before we announce your arrival. After that, perhaps you will have a meeting with him.”

  He heard the words coming out of her mouth, but something about the way she spoke, or perhaps it was the way her body stiffened, made his suspicion rise.

  Devon stopped in front of a long row of doors. “This is our dormitory area. Thanks to Walter, there’s a suite that was recently vacated. You can put them in his old room. You’ll be staying here, Starling.” Taking a set of keys from his pocket, he unlocked the door.

  The door opened to a large bedroom. Pictures of circling vultures adorned the walls. In the center of the room was a white queen-sized bed with Starling’s luggage beside it. “We took the liberty of collecting your things from your hotel.”

  “You bastard. You had no right touching my things.” Starling rushed into the room and lifted her bag onto the bed.

  “We had a courier pick up your items. I was trying to make you more comfortable. It’s hard to say how long you may be staying with us.”

  Starling blanched. “If I have my way, it won’t be for more than one night.”

  Devon laughed. Virginia silenced him with a motion of her hand. “We shall see how cooperative you and Jasper are. In fact, if you play nicely, you may end up walking away from this experience.”

  He found that hard to believe. If they were hiding them, even if that meant putting them in the headquarters’ nicest bedrooms, there was only a slight chance Starling would make it out alive—and an even smaller chance of his survival. No matter how he played through the possible scenarios in his head, for the vultures, he was expendable—or worse, a liability. In fact, if he were separated from Starling now, there was little chance that he would
make it through the night.

  He had to stay alive for her.

  “She can’t stay here alone. I won’t allow it,” he said, as he stopped beside Starling. “I don’t trust you.”

  “That isn’t a choice you get to make, Jasper,” Virginia replied.

  “Don’t underestimate me,” he threatened. “We can continue being the perfect little hostages, or we can start fighting. Your call.”

  Devon glanced over at Virginia. “We’d only have to run one guard during the night. It would draw less attention.”

  “Fine,” Virginia conceded. “But if something goes wrong, Devon, I will personally take it out on you.”

  Jasper suddenly had an urge to make sure something went very wrong. He couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Something funny?” Devon grumbled.

  “Not at all. I just imagined your face uglier than it already is. I really think you would have to start wearing a bag over your head.”

  Devon took a threatening step toward him, but Virginia stopped him. “No, Devon,” she said, glancing down at her watch. “We only have a few hours before the council meets. We need to get our story together. There’s no way, after we were seen in the dining hall, that we won’t have a fight on our hands. We have to tie up a few loose ends before word spreads.”

  Devon nodded. “Got it, Ms. Virginia.”

  Virginia glared at Jasper. “As for you two, stay out of trouble. Your lives depend on your cooperation.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Starling rifled through her suitcase. She had all of her paperwork, her clothes, but the small, extra bottle of pills she had brought with her was missing. She had nothing left to trade for their freedom.

  Jasper’s face was tight and his brow furrowed. Even from across the room, she could hear him grind his teeth. He was a good bodyguard, but she couldn’t imagine how he could get them out of this mess.

  “You okay, Jasper?” she asked, pulling the zipper closed on her bag. She sat down on the edge of the bed, and as she stopped moving she realized exactly how exhausted she was. Even her eyes were tired.