The Sacrifice (7 page)

“Go away, Oz. I have nothing to say to
you.”

“Oh,
but I think you
do
have something to say to me. Now get down here or I
’
ll
come up there and drag you down.” Oz sat her things on the counter.

After a few seconds footsteps crept
down the stairs. She stopped inside the door on the opposite side of the
kitchen.

“Is
she my daughter?” he blurted. This wasn
’
t going as smoothly
as he
’
d wanted. He attempted to soften the hard glare he
’
d
pinned her with.

Analae eased toward the counter, not
taking her eyes off him, as if he were a cobra ready to strike.

A
knot formed in Oz
’
s throat. Did she really think he was capable of
harming her? He stiffened his back; he had to be strong. Without a healthy dose
of fear, she may not tell him the truth.

She grabbed the coffee pot and ran
some water. “Is who your daughter?” she asked in an innocent, nonchalant voice.

“Riana.
You know very well who. Don
’
t mess with me, Analae. You need to choose your
words wisely. I
’
m very angry with you right now, so whatever comes
out of your mouth had better be the truth. You were either pregnant by someone
else when you left me, or she is mine. I suspect it
’
s
the latter, since I can plainly see my mother in her.”

Analae
didn
’
t respond until she finished scooping coffee into
the filter. She turned, keeping her gaze on the floor and quietly answered,
“Yes, Oz. Riana is your daughter.”

Oz struggled to tap down his emotions,
which warred between anger and betrayal. “Why would you do this? Why would you
keep her from me?”

Analae
looked up at him, tears magnifying her eyes. “I didn
’
t
do this to hurt you, Oz. I did it to protect
her
.”

“Why? Do you think I would harm my own
child?”

“
I don’
t think you
’
d harm her
intentionally
.” Analae
’
s
voice rose an octave and held a hint of defiance. “I wanted a child, and you
had no qualms letting me know how you felt about having a family.”

“You have
never
heard me say I did not want a child, Analae.
Never!”
Oz took a deep
breath. His voice had risen just below a shout.

Analae
swiped tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. “How many times did you
say nothing meant more to you than being a Protector, and the promise you made
the king before he died. You promised to take care of
his
family. You never
wanted one of your own. So,
do
not
come here and judge me
for the hardest decision I
’
ve ever made.”

Her
voice quivered.
“My…my heart
broke every time I looked into our daughter
’
s eyes and told her
another lie about how her father lived and died. But, I had to. I would rather
my heart break than hers. Her longing for a father she had never known was only
a fraction of the pain she would feel when she lost the father she loved more
than life itself.”

Oz
’
s
breath caught in his throat. The day Analae left, she said she could never be
happy mated to a Protector. It was the only reason he had never looked for her.
Now, after all these years, he finally understood the real reason she
’
d
left. It was her fear that Riana would lose her father, the same way Analae had
lost her own. It wasn
’
t because she was unhappy with him.

When Analae was young, feeders had
killed her father. Oz had known how deeply she loved and admired him. It was
the reason Analae had become a doctor for the race, because her father had been
one.

His
resolve weakened as tears flowed down her beautiful face. “Analae,” he said
quietly. “Look at me. There are a few problems with this picture. First, you
have blurred the lines between me dying and leaving my daughter, and your
father dying and leaving you. I know what his death did to you, and for that I
’
m
sorry. If I could change any of it to prevent your pain, I would. But as far as
I know, I
’
m not dead, nor am I dying.”

“Well
that
’
s only a matter of time,” she blurted.

Oz
shook his head. “Secondly, as for my promise to the king when he died…well…that
was my fault. If I had guarded him as I should, he would still be alive. I
’
ll
never forgive myself for that mistake.”

“It
wasn
’
t your fault,” she whispered. “No one could have
saved him.”

“In
my mind it was. So yes, I
will
spend the rest of my life trying to honor
the dying wish of my best friend and king. As for being a Protector, that has
been for his honor also. I had known him my whole life. He was the most
compassionate man I
’
d ever met, and it would kill him to know what his
son has done to our people and the humans on this planet.”

Oz
moved across the room, placed his hands on her shoulders, and looked into her
eyes. “None of that had anything to do with my ability to be a father
or
my right to know my daughter. I should have told you long ago I wanted a child.
That
’
s the reason you
’
re coming back to the
compound with me, and together, we will tell Riana the truth. The reason I
’
ve
never been a part of her life.”

Oz
’
s
heart wrenched in his chest as she released a sob. He pulled her into his arms
and held her close. Then he remembered how right it felt, and why the pain of
losing her had never stopped.

“This
doesn
’
t mean I forgive you,” he whispered into the
softness of her hair.

“I know,” she whimpered into his
chest.

Riana
stood in the living room by the door and yelled, “Elle, come on. If we don
’
t
get to the lobby before our escort, we can
’
t go into town. After
the workout Kyra put us through today, I could use a cocktail.”

Elle
came out of her room with a shoe in each hand. “Okay, as soon as I slip these
on we
’
re out of here.”

Downstairs in the lobby, three girls
sat on a couch in their assigned waiting area.

“Where
’s our Protector?
” Elle asked the group.

“We
’
ve
been down here fifteen minutes, and haven
’
t seen him.” An
attractive brunette in a mini skirt, low-cut shirt and boots, looked at their
outfits.

Riana had worn her comfy jeans, T
shirt and sneakers, and Elle practically lived in the same. They both had
dressed for comfort, not to impress.

Elle
glanced at her watch. “
Well, he
’s five minutes late.
”

Riana snickered at her habitually late
friend.

Elle turned and stuck-out her tongue.

A man stepped through the door and
sauntered over to them. Tall and lean, his muscles rippled beneath a tight
black shirt and low-slung jeans. Sandy brown hair framed a face that would have
looked at home on a Calvin Klein billboard. His gait revealed he was as confident
in his ability to keep them safe as in his rugged good looks.

He
stopped in front of them, and flashed a heartbreaker smile. His warm, cinnamon
colored eyes danced with mischief. “
Hello, ladies. I
’
m Kam, and I
’
m your escort
tonight.”

Two girls shot off the couch and were
at his side like magnets thrown at a refrigerator. He held out his elbows, and
a girl wrapped herself around each arm.

“If
you
’
ll follow me,” he said as he and his arm magnets
moved toward the door.

Riana and Elle glanced at each other with
raised brows and fell in behind them.

The
girls
’
hips swung as if they weren
’
t
even connected to a torso.

Elle
snorted.
“
I don’
t think those two could
’
ve moved any faster
if their ass was on fire.”

The brunette turned her head and
smirked at Elle.

Since
childhood, Elle had never grasped the concept of using her inside voice. “I
suppose you don
’
t think he
’
s attractive?” Riana
whispered.

“You
can tell he needs no help with his ego, so I
’
d never let him hear
this, but he
’
s definitely a ‘Hottie of Mass Destruction.
’”

Riana
grinned at the term they
’
d given a guy so hot, one touch could leave you a
puddle on the floor.

“Besides,
guys who look like him bed every female they meet,”
Elle said.

They
stopped in front of a Hummer in the parking deck. The magnets scrambled to sit
up front next to him, and he flashed a devilish grin. “Ladies, ladies, no need
to fight. There
’
s enough of me to go around.”

Elle’
s lip curled. “I think I
’
m
going to be sick.”

***

Cy
and Miles had stopped by Maggie
’
s Pub for a beer before starting their nightly
search for feeders. Kam came through the door with a girl on each arm, and
three close behind him. Cy
’
s eyes stayed on the last girl to enter—the
green-eyed beauty who
’
d haunted him since yesterday. Her dark auburn
hair cascaded in loose waves almost to her waist. A tight T-shirt and jeans
hugged every soft curve of her tall, lithe body. Even in jeans she looked like
she belonged on a Paris runway.

Her
head turned toward him, as if he were a homing beacon. Her eyes glittered like
fiery emeralds in the soft lights of the bar. His body reacted even stronger
than when he
’
d seen her earlier. Cy took a deep breath. Why did
it feel like the air had been sucked from the room? The music and noise faded
to a distant roar. His pulse raced as her gaze moved over his body. He wanted
to sit up and flex his muscles—along with a geographically lower part of his
anatomy already standing to be noticed. With her so close, the need to be near
her increased at a frightening rate. Miles’ voice interrupted his thoughts, and
he attempted to snap back to reality.

“Did you say something?”

Miles
motioned toward the table of females. “I said look at that goofy grin on Kam
’
s
face. The little twit is enjoying every minute of this assignment. What do you
want to bet he
’
ll have all five of them bedded before dawn?”

A
flash of possessiveness welled deep within Cy, but he pushed the feeling aside.
“We need to go over there. I met the girl with auburn hair yesterday but didn
’
t get
her name.
” He did, but he wasn
’
t
about to tell Miles that.

Miles tilted his head to the side and
laughed. “You might want to put your eyes back in their sockets and wipe the
drool off your face first.”

“Just come on,” Cy mumbled as he walked
away.

Riana sat at the end of the table with
Kam on one side and her blonde friend on the other. Cy squatted between her and
Kam.

“Kam,
why don
’
t you introduce us to your friends?”

 Kam
looked at him and frowned. “
Okay,
” he said drawing out the word.
“Everyone, this is Cy, second in command of the Protectors, and that
’
s
Miles standing behind him. Cy, this is Riana Martin and Elle Nichols and this
is…” Kam
’
s voice trailed off, or maybe Cy just tuned him
out. Even if he tried, he couldn
’
t take his eyes off Riana to acknowledge the other
girls.

 Cy
took Riana
’
s hand, raised it to his lips and gently placed a
kiss on her knuckles. Electricity arced between his lips and her skin. If the
slight jerk of her hand was any indication, she felt it too. Her skin was warm
and soft with an enticing scent of wild lavender. He
’
d
only had one beer, but he felt slightly intoxicated. Maybe all the blood had
left his brain as it rushed to that other organ, which now demanded even more
attention than before. He released her hand and remained squatted beside her.

He
looked into those amazing eyes. The sunburst of gold fanning around her irises
had been one of the first things he
’
d noticed yesterday.
It streaked through the green, and appeared as if she possessed her own
personal sun, lighting her from within. Warmth radiated on his face when she
looked directly at him. “A pleasure to meet you—again—my lady.”

***

A
smile tugged at Riana
’
s mouth. Cy had called her ‘
my lady
’
a term Sivadians
only used for highly respected females. The man possessed a sexual magnetism
like no one she
’
d ever met. Even with all that blood on him
yesterday, she had been drawn to him. Tall, dark, and handsome was only a
cliché when it came to him. If you tacked on dangerous, and changed handsome to
beautiful it
’
d be more accurate. Tall, dark, beautiful, and
dangerous. His presence filled the room with an aura of danger, alert and ready
to move at a moment
’
s notice. Her fingers itched to touch his thick, black
hair that shone like highly polished obsidian. However, his eyes were his
most
striking feature. They were the color of a cloudless blue sky, surrounded by
dark lashes so thick it looked as if he were wearing eyeliner. Although she
couldn
’
t imagine anyone brave enough to accuse him of
wearing it.

Cy pulled a chair over from another
table and sat between her and Kam. “Where are you from, Riana?”

As
he spoke, she couldn
’
t pull her eyes away from the movement of his full
lips. Every syllable they formed was sexy. Would they taste as sensuous as they
looked?

What
the crap?
She had never
reacted to anyone like this. Her skin tingled all over. She shivered and rubbed
the back of her arms. “I…I
’
m sorry. What did you say?”

“Where do you live?”

“Oh, originally Atlanta, but Elle and
I live in Rome now.”

His brows rose. “Georgia, right?
Several years back, Miles and I went there to scope the area for safety after
receiving a report that a couple of Sivadian females wanted to attend school
there.”

“That was probably when Elle and I
started college. No other Sivadians live in the area. We liked living there and
moved back after finishing grad school.”

“Where did you attend grad school?”

“The
Medical College of Georgia. I
’
m a doctor, and Elle works in law enforcement.”

“Are you medically trained for our
race?”

Man,
is he nosey.

Although
Riana didn
’
t want to admit it, she enjoyed his attention. The
warmth radiating from him enveloped her and filled her with an incredible sense
of comfort and safety. Her hormones pinged around her body like the ball inside
a pinball machine when she inhaled his spicy, masculine scent.

“My mother was a doctor for the race
before I was born, and has taught me Sivadian medicine. Although I feel I can
do more good helping humans.”

Mentioning her mother helped snap her
out of the trance that this incredibly sexy Protector had her in.

The
one thing I promised Mother I would stay away from. Although he
’
s pouring on the charm now, he lives for violence. Killing is part
of who he is
.

If her body insisted on betraying her
by getting all hot and bothered from just being near him, she needed some
distance.

Riana squirmed and scooted her chair
back a couple of inches. She decided to turn the questions back on him. “How long
have you been a Protector?” she asked rather pointedly.

“Oh, a very long time.” He kept his
gaze cast down.

Just as she figured. It was okay for
him to throw a million questions at her, but the first one she asked, he got
all aloof and uncomfortable.
Commitment-phobe.
With a face and body like his, women
probably fell at his feet.
Well not this
girl!

Riana gave herself a mental shake. She
needed to get away from the table for a minute. Go to the restroom, or
something to snap out of the…hunk-induced trance. Maybe some distance would
clear her head.

She
got Elle’
s attention and
motioned toward the restroom sign. “Excuse me.” She slid past Cy and dashed
toward the back of the pub.

“Snap out of it, you buffoon,” Riana
mumbled to herself.

Elle rushed up beside her. “Who are
you talking to?”