Savannah Sacrifice Read online

“What?” the man said, a shocked look on his face. “We took a vote five years ago. We set them up to take a fall. Don’t you remember?”

  “I’m sure you remember, don’t you?” Jasper gripped her shoulder like she was a good friend … who had made a fatal mistake.

  “I’m such a moron sometimes. I just forgot!” Starling replied, her tone two octaves too high. She gave another nervous laugh. It was a good thing she never wanted to be a professional gambler; cool and collected would never be her strong suit.

  The man stared at her like he was trying to read her mind. “The sanctuary is that way,” he said, pointing vaguely down the hall.

  If the group had the power to take down a national bank, it was hard to think of a way she and Jasper could make it out of their headquarters. She could feel the possibility of survival slipping out of her grasp.

  Jasper stepped forward and put his hand on the doorknob. “Thanks for showing us the way to the sanctuary. Appreciate your help.”

  “Mmm hmm,” the man replied as he continued to stare. He glanced over at Jasper. “Why don’t I walk you in? Hate for you two to get lost again.”

  The way he talked made her skin prickle with nervousness. She slipped out of Jasper’s grasp.

  “We’ll be fine, really.” She stepped next to the man and put her hand over his. “We have everything under control.” The energy seeped out of her, the warmth reminding her of the way it felt to shift into her swan form, but different, more intense. “Why don’t you stay here, make sure no one comes or goes from the room?” She reached up with her other hand and ran her finger over the weak line of his jaw.

  His eyes widened as her spell took effect. “What’s your name?” he asked, his voice low and sultry.

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Just remember that you must protect me and my friend. No matter what you hear, do not enter the room. Just wait for us to return. Understand?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The man leaned in, taking in a long inhale. “You smell like magnolias. I love magnolias.”

  She sniffed but smelled nothing but the dank, earthy scent of the underground lair. “Watch the doors.”

  She glanced over at Jasper. His eyes had widened, but it wasn’t like the last time she’d used her gift with Devon. This time, Jasper’s mouth hadn’t grown slack. Perhaps he was more immune to her charms or, just maybe, she had gotten more control over her ability for seduction. She hoped for the latter.

  The man walked over to a keypad on the wall by the doors and entered a few numbers. The door buzzed. “Here, let me get that for you,” he said, stepping between Starling and Jasper as if he didn’t even realize there was another person in the hall.

  The door squeaked as he pulled it open, exposing a long, entrance hall that looked eerily similar to the one she had snuck into from the mausoleum. There was row after row of pictures of former presidents and vice presidents, but nothing else to give away the significance of the place.

  She walked through the entrance, Jasper close at her heels. On their left were three doors identical to the ones on their right. “What do you think is in here?”

  “I don’t know, but this place is a helluva lot bigger than what I thought. There could be thousands of Catharterians.”

  “At least we know Walter and his men have left.”

  “But there could be many more. I underestimated their power.”

  The ball in her stomach tightened as he voiced her fear. “Devon made it sound like it was only going to be Virginia and Harper. Let’s hope they are the only ones here.”

  “Sure, but the people in the dining hall hinted this was a huge meeting of superiors. Do you think Virginia was going to tell them about us?”

  “I have no idea, but we better get to Harper before they figure out she doesn’t have any more GX 149 to offer—otherwise there are going to be three of us who don’t make it out of here.”

  They moved down the hall as Starling listened for any sound. Nearing the middle door on their right, she was met by the quiet murmur of women talking. “There’s really no need,” Virginia’s rasping voice echoed out into the corridor. “Devon will be along any time. What harm can a barely legal nymph and her Neanderthal of a bodyguard do?”

  “You’re right, Ms. Virginia,” a man answered.

  “I’ve heard that voice,” Jasper whispered. “It’s the man who took me hostage. The old guy.”

  “Do you think we should go back and search for the president? Maybe the guy outside the doors could tell him where we could find him?”

  “Why would we do that?”

  “If Virginia is keeping secrets from him, maybe we can use her sedition to our advantage.”

  “I think we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. There’s no telling what the president will do to us if he finds out we are here—Virginia might be the weaker link, as hard as that is to believe. If we can just take her and her goon squad down, we might have a chance.”

  “That doesn’t move us any closer to finding the books, Jasper.”

  “Right … the damned books.”

  “They’re not just some damned books. Those books are the only chance I have not to lose my mind as soon as we get out of here. Without them I’ll never be able to get a handle on the spirits—and what happens if you or someone else I lo—” She stopped mid-word. “I mean, care about, is possessed? I can’t go through that again.”

  His eyes softened as he gazed at her. The oasis of blue had disappeared, leaving only a glimpse of light in the darkness of his eyes. “Starling, what if we don’t get those books?”

  “Then I’m as good as dead—either I will go crazy or one of the spirits will take me down. Asclepius made it more than clear that they wouldn’t leave me alone until I got the books—I think they need them as badly as I do. If I go above without them, it is hard to tell what they will do to me.”

  Jasper wrapped his arm around her and nuzzled her hair. He took in a long breath. Being that close to him made tears well in her eyes. So many things could go wrong. This could be the last time they would have the chance to be together. And even if they made it out of here, they could never be together, thanks to her curse. She sank into his arms, letting the heat of his touch melt into a memory.

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I will get the books for you. No matter what it takes. But first we need to find out if Harper is in there or if Devon was only bluffing.”

  The voices on the other side of the door grew louder and the door handle shifted. Starling started to move toward the door, but Jasper held on, stopping her from advancing. “This way,” he said, pointing in the opposite direction down the hall.

  She took a step toward Jasper as the door opened. He pushed her behind him, shielding her from whatever or whoever was behind the door.

  “Just keep Kitchings away from here. Got it?” Virginia’s shrill voice pitched into the hall.

  “No prob—” the man paused. “What in the holy hell?”

  Starling stepped out from behind Jasper to see a bald old man, his eyes squinted and his nostrils flared with rage.

  “What is it, Jim?”

  “Our guests are here, without their keeper.”

  “What?” Virginia stepped out into the hallway and she stared at them. “Where’s Devon?”

  The man’s lips pulled back into a sneering smile. “Y’all didn’t touch our boy, did ya?”

  “Not at all. I think he was just getting tired of your company,” Starling said.

  “Shut up. Where’s Devon?” Virginia repeated the man’s question.

  “I have no idea,” Jasper answered.

  “I told you we couldn’t trust him. He only wanted in that lil tramp’s pants. He never really believed in the cause,” Jim grumbled.

  “Shut up, Jim. Devon would never turn against us.”

  “Walter did. What if he’s with Kitchings now? What if he’s tellin’ him all about our plan?”

  “I said shut up, Jim.” Virginia turned toward him, her lips turned u
p like a growling dog. “Walter is gone. He told me he was leaving.”

  “Is Harper here?” Starling asked, trying not to let the rising tide of fear crash over into her voice.

  Virginia’s eyes narrowed into tight slits. “She will be arriving any minute. There was a slight hiccup in her arrival.”

  “Is she okay?” Starling pressed.

  “If I were you,” Virginia said, her tone low and menacing, “I would be more worried about myself.”

  “Well, that is the difference between you and me, Virginia,” she said, summoning every ounce of her courage. “I care more about others than about myself.”

  “That’s fine, but that stupidity is very close to getting you killed.”

  A wiggle of hope stole through Starling. Maybe Harper had done the right thing and not allowed herself to be put in danger with the Catharterians—or better yet, maybe she had started taking them down. Starling smiled as she thought of Harper breaking into headquarters, guns ablaze.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Inadequate wasn’t just a state of being. No, for Jasper it was all encompassing. He had never felt so helpless, but then again he’d never been held hostage in an underground headquarters. At least he could take a small amount of comfort in the fact that Virginia had chosen not to tie him to a chair as Jim had done.

  Yet, there was little comfort in the cardboard box-sized room. He, Virginia, and Starling could barely squeeze around the desk without each of them touching elbows.

  “This is one hell of a sanctuary,” he grumbled.

  “This isn’t the sanctuary,” Virginia said. “This is my office.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. They have one empty room after another, but they find the smallest of all of them and give it to you? Either you are a college professor or someone out there hates you.”

  Virginia answered him with a glare. Opening a drawer, she pulled out a black cloak that matched his and Starling’s. “As soon as Jim gets back with Devon, I will join the rest of the council—they are already having their meeting. If everything goes according to plan, they will see the value in my proposal. From there, we will swing the vote my way and then begin the fertility treatments.”

  “Does that mean you will let us go?” Starling asked.

  “I told you,” Virginia closed the desk’s drawer. “I need proof that it works. Until then, you will have to stay with us. If the drugs you give us fail, then we will have to take other, more invasive measures to study what in your chemistry allows the drugs to work.”

  “That won’t happen.” Jasper slammed his fist down on Virginia’s desk. “Once you get the drugs from Harper you have to let us go.”

  “I don’t have to do anything. Did you forget that you are a prisoner here? You have no rights … not even to live. In fact, you’re lucky that I have allowed you to live this long, Jasper.”

  Some of his anger seeped out. She was right. Why had they let him live so long?

  “You need me,” he countered.

  Virginia laughed. “Why would we need some worthless bodyguard?”

  “He’s not worthless,” Starling said with a jerk.

  “Really? He’s failed to save you every time you needed him. In fact, even now, he’s done nothing to help you.” Virginia dropped the cloak into her lap. “If we had bodyguards as bad as yours, we’d all be dead.”

  His laughter exploded deep from his core. “No matter how good your bodyguards are, they won’t be able keep you alive. After we get out of here, I will make sure that you die.”

  “Then I have nothing to worry about.”

  The door to the office flew open. “What in the hell are you doing, Virginia?” A man burst in, his black cloak pulled tightly over his stout belly. His face was long and round and pulled into an angry pucker. “I told you to stay the hell out of this mess.”

  The man stopped and stared at Jasper and Starling. “You have got to be kidding me. I thought Devon had just gone off his rocker.”

  “What happened to Devon?” Virginia blanched.

  “Our guards found him walking down the dorm hall. He was acting crazy; talking nonsense about a nymph and her bodyguard being inside the walls of headquarters. He even hit one of the guards when they tried to restrain him. Kept repeating how he was looking for his nymph.”

  Virginia glanced over at Starling.

  “It wasn’t hard to connect the dots, Virginia.” The man seethed. “I told you not to do anything stupid. Yet, here we are. Once again.” He stared at Starling as he took deep, long breaths followed with even longer exhales as he tried to calm his temper. “Now, I can assume that as this woman isn’t one of us, she must be the nymph, Starling, that Devon was talking about.”

  Virginia jumped to her feet. “Steve, it’s not what you think. Really.”

  “How is this not what I think it is? I told you to stay the fuck away from the nymphs. I told you we would find another way. But no, you and your shoot-now-ask-questions-later attitude is the reason that I’m voting to have you removed from your role as vice president.”

  “Steve, you don’t understand … ”

  “Don’t call me Steve. I’m the president. You lost any right to call me Steve when I moved out of our marital bed. Did you really think you could get me back by going rogue? We had a strategy. The council voted on a strategy.”

  “Just give me a chance.”

  “Your chances disappeared when you went against us … Damn it, you went against me.”

  Virginia’s face turned from white to a pale green. “President Kitchings, I wanted to bring it up to the council at today’s meeting. I have a plan. You just need to listen.”

  “Shut your mouth. You are nothing but a pain in my ass. Put on your cloak. I will meet you and your friends,” he said, motioning toward Jasper and Starling, “in the sanctuary. You have two minutes. If you’re late, I will have you taken care of.”

  “You wouldn’t go against the council. You need a full vote to strip me of my position … or my life.”

  “You needed voter support, too, but no … you took action without it. Once the council knows what you’ve done, I don’t think they’ll have a problem with me hastening your end. Now get your ass to the sanctuary if you even want a chance to plead your case.”

  “You make it sound like I don’t have much of a case to plead.” Virginia eyed the door like a trapped animal looking for escape.

  “We all want the same thing—at least I thought we did,” President Kitchings answered.

  “We do,” Virginia supplicated.

  “Then you better be ready to prove it.” The president walked out.

  Jasper loved watching Virginia being stricken from her pedestal.

  Virginia glared at Starling. “What did you do to Devon?”

  “Nothing you wouldn’t have done,” Starling replied. Her shoulders had lightened and some of the color had returned to her face. The president’s words must have lifted some of her fear.

  “Such a bitch.” Virginia turned to Jasper. Her eyes had grown darker. “You will never make it out of here alive. Regardless of what happens to me.”

  “At least if I go down, I know you are going to go down with me.” Jasper stood up and moved toward the door, Starling close at his heels.

  “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Virginia growled.

  “We’re going to the sanctuary. You don’t have power over us now that the president knows we’re here.”

  Virginia slid open the top drawer of her desk and pulled out a 9mm. The black handgun fit in her hand like it was made for her and her murderous grip. “You will not go against me.”

  He pushed Starling behind him. “You are wrong about so many things.”

  “No, I’m not!” Virginia cried, dropping her finger from the side of the gun to the trigger. “You don’t know anything. I’m going to get my army. We are going to take down Zeus!”

  “You want to take down a god?” Starling peeked around from behind him. “That�
��s what this is all about? What in the hell does fertility have to do with taking down Zeus?”

  “You’re not the only set of supernaturals he cursed.” The gun trembled in her hand.

  “How did he curse you?” Starling rested her hand on his shoulder. She probably wanted him to move, but he refused to budge. Virginia held the gun. She could fire at any time. Starling wouldn’t die from a bullet, but he couldn’t let her be hurt like that. Not now. Not ever.

  “You may not be able to fall in love with a man, but our curse is so much worse. We can never have children. Our demigod line is coming to an end. Soon there will be none of us left. And that’s exactly what Zeus wants. He only wants a select few of his favored demigods to survive. He doesn’t want us, the scavengers of death, to have a place at the table. He hated our Titan grandmother, Gaea, and our mother, Alecto, a fury. Zeus believes we’re evil like others of our lineage. But we aren’t devoted to the wicked—only death. We need death to live.”

  “How is feeding off death not something wicked?”

  “How is seduction not wicked?” Virginia countered. “Look, we’re not killing anyone—usually.” She lowered the weapon slightly. “We just need the souls to power our bodies. That is why we live here,” she said motioning upward, “under the graveyard. We need the dead’s energy to live.”

  “And the drugs.”

  “Yes, if we get the GX 149 we can strengthen our numbers. Maybe one day we can grow large enough to mount a force against Zeus. Maybe we can get him to lift his curse.”

  “Why didn’t you and your council just go to the Sisterhood to gain access to the drugs?” Starling countered.

  “Really? You don’t think we’ve already done that?”

  “When?” Jasper stared at the gun in Virginia’s hand. Even though she had lowered the piece, they weren’t out of danger.

  “We met with Kat a few years back, when we first learned about the drugs. She made it abundantly clear that you and your kind would do nothing to help us. She treated us with nothing but hatred and derision—like we were trash just because of our penchant for death, like we were some kind of untouchables.”

  “Have you met with Ariadne?” Starling asked.