Sacrifice Me: The Complete Season One (34 page)

“You guys seem really happy here,” I
said. “Are you guys alone here? What happened to the people
running the orphanage?”

Mary Anne laughed and scrunched her nose. “We
killed them,” she said. “Or Harper killed the main woman
in charge, Mrs. Shadowford. And the ones who set up the orphanage to
begin with. It's been just us ever since.”

An awkward silence stretched out between us. I had
so many questions I wanted to ask, but I didn't want to pry. I was
relieved when Mary Anne asked me a question instead.

“How did you get away?” she asked. “I
never knew of anyone who wasn’t part of the village. No one
ever talked about a family that got out.”

“My mother’s name was Mary Beth.
Growing up, she refused to tell me about her family or my father or
anything. I didn’t even know I had a family or that we were
witches,” I said. “To be honest, I just found out about
everything a few days ago. It feels like I’ve lived a lifetime
since then. And there’s still so much I don’t know.”

“Where's your mother now?”

Sadness flooded my heart, but I pushed it back,
refusing to let myself be upset about a woman who had kept everything
from me. Who had abandoned me when I needed her most.

“She left three years ago. Just disappeared
without a trace,” I said. “Someone told me recently that
she died.”

“I'm sorry. I don't know where my mother is,
either.” Mary Anne reached out for my hand again. “I hope
someday soon we’ll be able to sit down and really talk about
all of it,” she said. “We’ll do everything we can
to keep you safe.”

I shook my head. “It seems like no matter
where I go, the Devil finds me. What if no place is safe anymore?”

She stood and looked me in the eyes, her face
serious. “There’s one place I know is safe,” she
said. “As soon as Rend gets here, we’ll take you there.”

I brought in a quick breath, a lump forming in my
throat. “Rend’s coming here?”

Her face broke out in a smile. “Yes.”
She glanced at her watch. “In fact, he should be here soon. If
you want to clean up, I’ll go find you something in Harper’s
closet to wear.”

I touched my hair and the cut along my forehead. I
looked awful. I most definitely wanted to clean up and wash last
night’s blood off my hands. I didn't want Rend to see me like
this, but I also didn't want to miss it when he got here.

“Thanks,” I said. “I won't take
long.”

Mary Anne showed me where I could find everything
I needed in her bathroom, then left to give me some privacy.

As I climbed into the hot shower, I smiled and
repeated the same words over and over to myself.

Rend is coming.

I changed into some of Harper’s clothes and
made my way toward the stairs, planning to go down and see what
everyone else was up to. And to see if anyone had an idea when Rend
would be here.

It was probably close to dinner time and I hadn't
had anything to eat since before my shift last night at Venom. I was
starving.

I found the group in the kitchen sitting around a
scarred wooden table that looked like it had seen many similar
gatherings in the past. It looked to be the same people as before,
only the sad guy—the twin with the blue eyes—was missing.
A girl with very straight white-blonde hair and pale skin had taken
his place.

“Is this her?” the blonde girl asked.
Her voice was like tinkling bells, high-pitched and musical. She
stood and rushed over to hug me. “I'm so happy to meet you,
Franki. Welcome to our home.”

I smiled and hugged her back. There was nothing
but joyful energy coming from her, as if she were some kind of fairy.
And from what I'd learned the past few days, I wouldn't be surprised
to learn she actually was a fairy.

“Don't worry,” she whispered loudly.
“I won't hold it against you that you're related to Mary Anne.”

Mary Anne sighed and walked over. She pushed the
girl to the side with a playful nudge. “This is Zara,”
she said. “Our resident gardener.”

My eyes widened. “Did you plant all those
flowers in the garden by the fountain?” I asked. “They're
gorgeous.”

Zara smiled and her entire face shone with joy.
“Plant?” She giggled.

“She would never dare get her pristine
little hands dirty,” Mary Anne said. “She grew them with
magic.”

“Oh,” I said. “I didn't realize
you could—”

“Where is she? Is she okay?”

Rend's voice stopped me mid-sentence. I spun
around and saw him coming around the corner near the staircase. My
eyes filled with tears and I swallowed a thick lump in my throat. I
wanted to run to him and feel his strong arms around me, but I had no
idea how he felt about me right now. Was he angry at me for what
happened? Did he blame me?

His lips parted as our eyes met, and I was
relieved to see passion, not anger. Relief instead of rage.

He tightened his jaw, the muscles in his face
rippling with tension. “Franki.”

His voice was strained and I was dying to know
what was going on in his head. Was he feeling the same longing I was?

If I had doubted how I was feeling before this
moment, seeing him again made everything clear. I wanted him. There
was no denying it. I didn't even care if he did want my blood. I
wanted him anyway.

And I couldn't tell him.

Not here in front of all these strangers.

I waited for him to walk to me, each step
agonizingly slow. When he made it over to where I stood, he lifted
his hands as if to hug me, then lowered them.

“Are you okay?” he said, his voice
shaking.

“I'm a little shaken up, but I'm okay,”
I said. “I thought you were dead.”

“I know,” he said. “I should
have explained to you how the club's entrance worked when you first
started there, but it never seemed like the right time. After work
last night, I was going to...”

His voice trailed off and he looked up to find
half the room staring at us. They all quickly turned around and went
back to what they were doing, but we knew they were listening in.
They were probably wondering what was going on just as much as I was.

The corner of Rend's mouth lifted into a smirk.
“We can talk about it later,” he said softly.

I pressed my lips together hard to keep from
smiling like a complete dork. “Okay,” I said. A shiver of
anticipation rippled up my spine at the thought of what else might
come later. Would we have a chance to be alone?

God, I hope so.

“What about Lyla and Marco?” I asked,
trying to shake the thought of him possibly kissing me again out of
my mind. “Have you heard from them?”

“They made it to Las Vegas, but I haven't
heard from them since they landed,” he said. “Marco's
family is there, so I think they'll be okay. At least for a while.”

“Thank God. I don't know if I can handle
anyone else getting hurt.” I licked my lips and looked down at
the floor. “Selena's dead.”

“I know,” Rend said. He put a hand on
my shoulder. “She did what she had to do to keep all of us
safe.”

“None of you would have been in any danger
if it wasn't for me.”

“You can't blame yourself,” he said.
“There is evil all around us. You can't hold yourself
responsible for that.”

“What's your plan?” Harper asked. She
leaned against an island in the kitchen. “What else can we do
to help?”

“You've already done so much,” Rend
said. “Just giving Franki a place to stay until I could get to
her was help enough.”

“Where will you go?” Jackson asked. He
stood behind Harper, his hand resting on hers, their pinkies
entwined. “You guys are welcome to stay here as long as you
need to.”

“We wouldn't want to put you in any more
danger than you're already in,” Rend said. “I was
planning to take her back to my place. Through the hall of doorways.”

“No,” Mary Anne said, standing up from
her spot at the dinner table and walking over to us. “It's not
safe.”

I hid a smile and glanced toward Rend. I knew he
wasn't used to someone telling him no or questioning his judgment. I
was liking my cousin more and more, just for having the guts to speak
up.

“It's probably the safest place there is,”
Rend said. He shook his head, his shoulders tense. “There's a
spell on my door keeping everyone out.”

“What about your Brotherhood?” Mary
Anne asked. “All of them are barred from your home?”

Rend's eyebrows came together in a pinched
expression. “No, not all of them. But I trust them.”

“Do you?” she challenged. “Isn't
the Devil himself one of the Brotherhood?”

Rend cleared his throat. “Yes, but he is
banned from my home, as is anyone working for him.”

“Anyone you know is working for him,”
she corrected. “But from what I understand, a lot of the
Brotherhood of Darkness is upset with you for your decision to stop
drinking blood. Any chance someone you once considered a friend would
be willing to betray you? Someone who was maybe looking to teach you
a lesson?”

“Shit,” Rend said. He ran a hand
through his thick black hair. “You have a good point.”

He paced the floor in front of the island.

“We could place another spell on the door,”
he said. “Something that would keep everyone else out even if
they originally had passage through the door to my house.”

“Can you cast something strong enough so
quickly?” Harper asked.

“I don't know,” Rend said. “The
barrier spell that's on there now is very strong, but it took me
weeks to gather the power and items I needed in order to create the
binding.”

“Besides, the Devil will expect you to take
her there,” Mary Anne said. “He's already seen how far
you're willing to go to keep her safe. Bringing her back to your
place is the most logical response.”

Rend nodded. “We'll have to run,” he
said.

“He'll follow you,” Harper said.

“Yes,” Rend said. “But we can't
very well hide out here forever. This isn't your fight. You have
important work of your own to do right now.”

“You can stay as long as you need to,”
Harper said. “Any fight against evil is our fight.”

“I know where you can go,” Mary Anne
said. She put her hand in mine again and squeezed. “We'll take
you to the crow village.”

Excitement and fear buzzed across my skin.

The crow village. The place where my mother grew
up. I was dying to see it, but I was also afraid of what seeing it
would make me feel.

“Is it safe there? What about the crows?”
Rend asked.

“No one would go back there,” Harper
said. “We used it as a staging ground for our army when we were
fighting the Order of Shadows. It's safe.”

“If no one can get in besides crows, how did
you bring all those people up there?” Rend asked.

I could tell he wasn't completely sold on the
idea. I stayed silent, not knowing whether I wanted to see it or get
as far away from that place as I could.

“We had Essex make ribbons that were infused
with a drop of Mary Anne's blood,” Harper said. “Anyone
wearing the ribbon was able to pass through the barrier.”

“Do those people all still have their
ribbons?”

I was touched Rend was grilling them so hard. The
fact that he wanted so badly to keep me safe was a great comfort. I
just wished I knew the real motivation behind his desire. Our
late-night meeting to talk it through had been canceled when Venom's
entrance exploded, but I hoped we would still be able to find time to
talk about it.

Was it weird for me to care about things like that
at a time like this? His kiss should be the last thing on my mind,
but it wasn't. It was all I could think about.

“We collected the ribbons from everyone
after the battle, and burned them,” Mary Anne said. “It's
been abandoned since the fall of the blue gates. You'll be safe
there, I promise.”

Rend nodded, then met my eyes. “How do you
feel about this?”

I raised an eyebrow, surprised he was even asking
for my opinion. “I'll go wherever you think is best.”

I just want to be with you.

Rend's eyes flashed with hunger, as if he'd heard
that last part. I hadn't said it out loud, but maybe I'd said it with
my eyes.

He cleared his throat. “Show us where to
go.”

Mary Anne nodded and started toward the back door.

“Wait,” I said. Everyone turned to
look, and I laughed nervously. “Do you guys have anything to
eat first? I'm starving.”

Rend relaxed and nodded. “Of course, I
didn't think about that.” He punched Mordecai in the shoulder.
“You didn't think to stop and get her something to eat?”

Mordecai held his hands up in surrender. “All
I could think about was getting her here as fast as possible, man.”

“Thanks for that,” Rend said, his
voice growing more serious. “I owe you big time.”

Mordecai patted Rend's hand. “No worries.
Seriously, anything you need, you just let me know.”

Harper and Zara rummaged through cabinets and the
fridge and within fifteen minutes, an entire buffet of food was
spread out on the island, along with a stack of paper plates.

“Help yourself,” Harper said.

“Thank you so much.”

I piled a plate with fried chicken, baked beans,
biscuits, and cole slaw. Real southern food. Mary Anne even poured me
a glass of sweet tea. I nearly choked on it, not expecting something
so sweet.

“Wow, that's sweet,” I said with a
laugh.

“That's how we do it down here in Georgia,”
Mary Anne joked. “Besides, Zara made it. She always puts in too
much sugar.”

“I do not,” Zara said, sticking her
bottom lip out in a pout. “It's delicious.”

“It's great,” I said. “I've just
never had sweet tea before.”

Mary Anne shook her head. “You have so much
to learn.”

I laughed, knowing just how right she was.