Sacrifice (2 page)

I stumbled back a step before planting my feet. Hale’s training kicked in; even as panic raged through my head, my muscles moved, performing motions as exact as a clock’s.

I felt the Lilitu connect, but before her claws could slice through my skin, time seemed to slow. I’d managed this once before—the night the Seal was opened. Memories flooded through my head—

Crashing through the stained glass. Racing toward the stone floor 30 feet below. And then time slowed, as though I—and everything around me—was caught in molasses. With effort, I had shifted my weight, managed to turn in the air and land with my feet on the ground before everything slipped back into normal time.

Like that night, I felt the air pressing in on me. I focused all my attention on shifting my wrist, redirecting the Lilitu’s force away from vital organs and arteries. While our bodies were twisting in achingly slow motion, I marked the placement of the other Guardsmen in the room. Gretchen was turning toward the Lilitu; she’d just started to raise her blades in response to the attack.

The three soldiers hadn’t yet moved. Their expressions ranged from shock to fear. Less than a second had elapsed.

As the Lilitu’s expression started to shift, I concentrated on bringing my other hand around, dagger poised to slice across her ribs—noticing too late that she’d swept her foot behind my ankle to break my stance.

I lost my focus. Time slammed back into full-speed.

My wrist shot out, blocking the Lilitu’s claws from ripping through my skin. But her kick, already in motion, succeeded in sweeping my foot out from under me. A sharp, stabbing pain shot through my left wrist. One of my daggers slid across the floor, but I couldn’t spare the time to chase after it. I hit the ground hard, rolling away from the Lilitu, meaning to give Gretchen a clear shot at the demon.

But the Lilitu was focused on me. She ignored Gretchen, instead throwing herself after me. We tangled in a sprawling mass on the floor before I could kick free. I scrambled awkwardly backwards, still clutching one dagger in my good hand, until I collided with the sanctuary wall. My left wrist throbbed—best case scenario it was sprained. There was no way I’d be able to fight with it.

The Lilitu clawed her way toward me, her long brown hair gleaming in the mission’s candlelight.

I shifted the dagger in my good hand, but before I had a good grip on it, the Lilitu knocked my wrist aside, sending the blade skittering into the darkness behind a line of pews. She circled one clawed hand around my neck. A wash of terror flooded through me, almost instantly muted by the thought drifting across my mind;
she could rip out my throat. She could kill me right now
.

I looked into her eyes. The pure hatred I saw there stabbed straight into my heart. It felt—
personal
.

“I’ll admit, I expected… more.” Her beautiful mouth twisted in disgust.

“Who are you?” I searched her faces—both the perfect human mask and the deeper, demonic visage hidden beneath it. I wracked my brain for any memory—no matter how faint—of having seen her before. Her human face would be considered beautiful by any standard. Long brown hair swirled luxuriously around her shoulders. Her fair skin was marred by no visible imperfection. Her human eyes gleamed a startlingly vibrant blue. The demon beneath? As all corrupt Lilitu, her skin pulled tightly over angular bones, white save for where it melted to black at her lips and down toward her fingertips. But neither face called up even the smallest flicker of recognition. She was a perfect stranger.

Gretchen gestured to me wildly over the Lilitu’s shoulder. I shifted my gaze to her face. When our eyes connected, Gretchen held one of my dropped daggers up, then set it on the ground and kicked it over to me. The Lilitu turned as the dagger skated across the floor. I moved, slamming my fist into her throat. She dropped back, gagging. I lunged for the weapon, but just as my hands were about to close on the dagger’s hilt, the Lilitu grabbed my ankle and pulled me sharply back. The dagger overshot my reach. Almost lazily, the Lilitu stopped its wild slide and picked it up.

Gretchen and the soldiers raced forward.

“Braedyn!” Gretchen flung her hand out, gesturing for me to move. I didn’t need the prompt. I was already clawing my way forward, struggling to get to my feet.

The Lilitu tackled me from behind, slamming me chest-down onto the cold stone floor. She grabbed a fistful of my hair and wrenched my head up, exposing my neck. She placed the dagger tip against my carotid artery.

“Stop!” Gretchen threw a hand up and the soldiers froze in place.

For a moment, the only sound was the heavy breathing of the six of us. I was hyper conscious of the dagger at my throat, afraid of making any movement. Even small scratches from these daggers could do serious damage to a Lilitu; it wasn’t something I wanted to experience firsthand.

Gretchen watched the Lilitu on my back with the same caution you’d show a rattlesnake. “Ball’s in your court, demon.”

“You fight to protect her, spotter?” I could hear the bemusement in the Lilitu’s voice.

“I won’t lie, it took a little getting used to.” Gretchen didn’t relax her grip on her dagger. Gretchen’s eyes dropped to mine. I willed her to keep talking. Somehow, Gretchen seemed to sense my plea. “And it hasn’t been smooth sailing the whole time. But she’s earned my trust.”

“She is Lilitu.”

“That hasn’t escaped my notice.” Gretchen’s even voice belied the tension visible in her slight frame.

“And you do not mind that she shares dreams with your ward?” The Lilitu’s voice was light, taunting.

I felt my breath catch. Clearly this Lilitu had been watching me for a while. But why? I eyed the doors. The rest of the Guardsmen should return at any minute.

Gretchen winced slightly but forced a smile. “My ward, wow. That’s so… Batman and Robin.”

“Dreams wherein they share intimate knowledge of each other’s—”

“I don’t need the details,” Gretchen snapped. I saw her cheeks flush with anger. “Look, that’s the deal. They can have their dreams. Just as long as they keep their hands to themselves in the waking world.”

“Do you honestly believe you can contain a Lilitu’s desire in a simple dream?”

Gretchen’s eyes shifted to my face once more. For a fraction of a second, I saw her doubt.

The mission’s main doors opened as the patrolling Guardsmen returned. I felt the Lilitu above me shift, giving a low hiss of frustration.

In one motion, I caught hold of the hand wielding the dagger and threw my head back into the Lilitu’s face. I heard a satisfying crunch at the contact, followed by an air-rending shriek. The Lilitu recoiled, releasing her grip on my hair and dropping the dagger.

I clutched the dagger tightly and rolled out from under her, kicking out. My feet connected. The Lilitu went skidding back into the sanctuary wall.

I was vaguely aware of the Guardsmen racing to join the fight, but I kept my eyes locked on the Lilitu facing me. Slowly, I stood and edged away from her. If she attacked again, I’d be ready for her.

The Lilitu clamped a hand over her nose. Dark blood seeped through her fingers, spotting a few oily-metallic drops on the ground at her feet. But then she straightened. She lowered her hand, staring me down haughtily, completely ignoring the fact that her nose was streaming blood.

“I had envisioned great power. Instead?” She shrugged. Again, I saw disgust flicker over her face. “I find a simpering fool, eagerly wearing the Guard’s collar. You are no Daughter of Lilith. You are weak. Pitiful. You will be destroyed.”

Anger swelled in my chest. “You’re one to talk. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but you’re kind of surrounded.”

“Them?” The Lilitu, glancing around at the half-dozen Guardsmen ringing her, looked like she might actually laugh. “They are like ants; they are no threat.” Two smoky, bat-like wings unfolded in the air behind her.

“She’s cloaking,” Gretchen shouted.

The smoky wings snapped closed around the Lilitu. She blew me a kiss, then barreled toward the closest Guardsman.

“Chris!” Gretchen raised her daggers. The Guardsmen ringed Chris, trusting their training to protect them against the demon they could no longer see. They moved through the ancient Mesopotamian fighting form at the root of all Guard training. Their blades, slicing through the air in perfect synchronicity, narrowly missed the Lilitu. She dropped to her knees and slid through an opening on the far side of the line of Guardsmen.

“Braedyn?!” Gretchen, trapped on the other side of the fray, gave me a desperate look.

“I’m on it!” I raced forward, chasing the Lilitu back toward the Seal. She’d lost some time, scrambling to her feet. I closed the distance between us before she reached the Seal. As her foot crossed the edge of the Seal, I grabbed her arm, spinning her around.

“I don’t care how many of you try to convert me,” I hissed. “I’ve made my choice.”

The Lilitu smiled, but the effect was chilling. “You mistake my purpose. There is no place for you among our number, traitor.”

“Then—?” I glanced over my shoulder. The Guardsmen were edging closer, still uncomfortable with a cloaked Lilitu in the room. “Why come here? Why attack me?”

“I owe you no explanations.” The Lilitu took a step backwards, toward the heart of the Seal. I gripped her arm tighter, but she pulled me onto the Seal with her.

When my foot connected with ancient round stone, I felt a wash of power. It circled through the Seal like a vortex, drawn into the heart of the stone. Standing there, I felt it pulling on me—but it wasn’t until my foot actually slid forward that I realized the sensation wasn’t simply in my mind. There was something else—something drawing the power inwards. Something deep within the Seal.

Alarmed, I let the Lilitu go, stumbling off the Seal. As soon as I’d stepped off the ancient stone, the draw of the power released me. It was like someone had flipped a switch, turning off a powerful magnet. I stumbled, unbalanced.

“What the hell—?” I looked up, meeting the Lilitu’s gaze. Her cold smile deepened at my confusion. My eyes dropped back to the ancient stone at our feet. I’d never felt anything like that before. The Seal—somehow it was
changing
, almost as though it were taking on a life of its own. But that wasn’t possible, was it? I sought out the Lilitu’s face once more, but if she had answers, she wasn’t likely to share them with me. Her amusement shifted to disdain.

“As I said. Pitiful.” The Lilitu slipped back through the shimmering veil over the heart of the Seal, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

“Braedyn!” Gretchen rushed forward and steadied me. “What did she do to you?”

“It—it wasn’t her. It was the Seal. It tried to pull me in.”

Gretchen’s eyes slid from my face to the stone at our feet. I felt her hand tighten on my arm. “What?”

“Something’s happing to the Seal.” I shook my head, at a lost to put the feeling into words.

“Okay. Okay.” Gretchen bit the side of her lip, thinking. “Maybe we should get you out of here for the time being, just to be on the safe—”

“Gretchen.” I covered her hand with my own, as much for comfort as to draw her attention back to the Seal. “Do you see them?”

Gretchen’s breath came out in a hoarse curse. As one, we stumbled several paces back from the Seal.

“We have to tell Ian and Thane.” Gretchen’s eyes found my face. She looked haunted, sick. “You go. I’ll finish the shift.”

I turned and ran for the mission’s doors. But I couldn’t stop myself from steeling another look back. There, in the center of the Seal, the shimmering veil between our world and the Lilitu plane was crisp and clear now. And through the veil of shadow, Gretchen and I had seen dozens of gleaming eyes in the darkness. Watching. Waiting.

The question was, what were they waiting for?

Chapter 2

The Guard had no answers by the time the first day of spring semester rolled around.

Despite waking early, I felt sluggish that morning. There was something off about going back to school, knowing the door between our worlds was sitting ajar—that the stage was set for the final battle. All of a sudden I was expected to focus on things like uniforms and schoolbooks and grades. How? The world as we knew it could come crashing down around our ears at any time.

And yet, the routine was also a strange balm to my nerves. Going through the motions of normalcy, even if everything else was standing on its head, felt comforting. Absentmindedly, I pulled a fresh shirt out of my closet and donned it. The New Mexico winter was still bitterly cold, so I skipped the plaid skirt in favor of grey pants, topping the whole ensemble off with a cozy burgundy school sweater. I glanced at myself in the mirror. Sometimes it still surprised me—seeing the girl in the reflection. Growing up, I’d always felt like a bit of a wallflower, perfectly happy to go unnoticed in the background of high school life.

Until my Lilitu powers began to develop.

Now, even if I wanted to blend in, I couldn’t. I’d never need to wear eyeliner or mascara to highlight the drama of my eyes. No foundation could match the natural perfection of my skin. My brown hair, once so listless and mousey, shone like brushed silk. My lips—meant to draw attention like the vibrant flower draws in bees—curved in a perfectly enticing pout that no lipstick could amplify.

These were my weapons, whether or not I wanted them. This deadly beauty was my Lilitu heritage.

“Your dad’s almost done banging around in the kitchen.” Karayan stood at the door to my room. Her eyes strayed over my uniform almost wistfully. When she noticed me watching her, she glanced away. “He sent me to tell you, ‘breakfast is served in T-minus five minutes.’”

I picked up my brush and ran it through my hair. “Welcome to the ritual first-day-of-school pancake extravaganza.”

Karayan’s lips quirked up in a small smile. “You’re going back after three weeks off. You’re telling me that rates a first-day-of-school pancake extravaganza?”

“Oh yes.” I flashed Karayan a smile. “And be forewarned; Dad takes this stuff pretty seriously. There are also birthday pancake extravaganzas, holiday pancake extravaganzas, and hey-that-new-movie-I-want-to-see-comes-out-tonight pancake extravaganzas. The differences are subtle, but they are real.”