Sacrifice © 2020 G. Bailey & Scarlett Snow

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Formatting by Champagne Book Design www.champagnebookdesign.com

  Cover design by Daqri B. at Covers by Combs

  Title Page

  Copyright

  About This Book

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Excerpt from Shadowborn Prison (Dark Fae Paranormal Prison Series: Book One)

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  About G. Bailey

  About Scarlett Snow

  I know their secrets.

  They don’t know mine.

  Holly Oak Academy is breaking up for winter break, flying all of us off to France. Sledging, eating marshmallows by the fire, sexy times in hot tubs and a little murder sounds like a good holiday.

  Right?

  With my parents watching my every move, my rich boys doing very bad things, and not to mention my own past catching up with me…

  What could go wrong?

  Welcome to Holly Oak Academy, where money is more important than life and my boys have just as many secrets to hide as me. Only my secret can’t be found out…or I will lose far more than the boys who have stolen my heart. 18+ RH Romance.

  Blood hangs thick in the air but it’s not from any of my victims. It’s from me. I grip the gun tighter in my trembling hands and glance at my shoulder. A dark patch of blood quickly swells through my thin shirt and trickles down my arm. The pain is sharp and piercing but doesn’t feel like the bullet has cut deep into my flesh.

  What the fuck is wrong with Ethan?

  Moving the gun so that it’s pointing at the asshole in question, I rip my shirt to check the wound. Sure enough, the bullet hasn’t gone straight through, merely skimmed the surface. That doesn’t make it any less painful or annoying and I’m going to need stitches.

  “You fucking liar,” I growl at Ethan. “Was this part of your game, too? Tricking me so you could be the one to kill me?”

  He shakes his head and lifts his own gun, pulling the trigger. It just clicks.

  Blanks?

  “What are you playing at?” I spit out, stepping towards him.

  He huffs. “What are you playing it?” He walks over to the guys and points to where the bullet should have landed in the tree, right above Lucas’ head. “I told you to shoot one of them.”

  “And you fucking shot me!”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure, darling.” My mother steps out from the shadows of the tree, her gun gleaming in the pale moonlight. “I do not think the boy is brave enough to think like an assassin.”

  It’s as if someone has just poured a bucket of ice into my body, leaving me frozen to the spot. A violent tremor works its way through my body, shivering up the length of my spine. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. My mother, holding the gun she just shot at me, with not a hint of remorse on her beautifully deceiving features.

  “Mother, wh… why?” I blurt out, barely able to say the words. “Why did you shoot me, your own daughter?”

  She just laughs, the sound light and scathing as the trees echo it. “Don’t exaggerate, darling. It’s simply a flesh wound. A warning shot, if you will.”

  The blood in my veins turns even colder. “Warning shot for what?”

  I watch her prowl towards the guys, moving with a sinuous grace that makes her every footstep scarcely audible. “This. You hesitated. You disappointed me, Regan.” Sliding Ethan a cold glance, she adds, “but I must applaud you, boy, on your sheer psychoticism and nerve. Did you really think I would let you tarnish my family’s reputation by forcing my child to partake in your silly game? Really, now.”

  My ears burn with a sudden fury as I flicker my gaze over Ethan, Lucas, Nathan, and Josh. I do not need my mother to fight my battles for me.

  But that’s not really what she’s doing here, is it?

  I’ve seen this behaviour of hers many times before. She likes to play these games, too. It’s like a cat toying with a defenceless little mouse before eating it. She’s a master at getting into people’s minds. I know that more than anyone.

  My head spins as I try to make sense of what’s going on here while ignoring the throbbing in my shoulder. Why is my mother here? How long has she been watching from the shadows? Did she know about me being blackmailed this whole time? My parents have done a lot of brutal things to me over the years. They’ve put me through unspeakable things, but never have they shot me with their own gun. They always said that whenever one lifts their gun, the bullet must kill the recipient no matter what. Nothing pisses an assassin off more than wasted bullets.

  “How long have you known?” I ask my mother quietly, my stomach churning.

  She laughs again. “Mothers always know everything their child gets up to. I have eyes and ears everywhere.”

  At that exact moment, Rory steps out of the bushes, his gaze averted to the leaf-covered ground. I glare at him, but it’s like he’s too angry to look me in the eye. I did knock him out with a mild sedative. But what is he doing here?

  Wait. Is he one of my mother’s spies?

  Before I can register what he’s doing, he smacks Ethan on the back of the head, letting his body fall into an unconscious heap by my mother’s feet.

  My mother clicks her tongue and nudges Ethan’s face with the side of her stiletto. “Such potential sadly wasted. Pity.” She wipes her foot on the leaf-covered ground, her eyes still on Ethan. “The Veil will expect a tribute by the end of the year, Regan.”

  “A tribute for what?” The words constrict in my throat. I already know what she’s going to say. How did she find out it was me?

  She snaps her steely eyes onto mine. “For the life you took at Prestine Academy. I thought I trained you better but your sloppiness cost not only you dearly, but threatened your father and I’s position at the High Table. Have you any idea what your recklessness has done to our family name? You knew your father hoped to succeed The Dutchess and yet you nearly cost him that. And why? Because you couldn’t…contain…your temper.”

  I make a mistake as I look back at Ethan before meeting my mother’s gaze. She spots weakness like a hawk sees prey in a field even when it’s hidden.

  The tip of her heel digs into Ethan’s cheek, threatening to draw blood as her lips tilt up. I should hate him and want nothing more than to see him suffer for blackmailing me, but…

  “Stop!” The word tumbles out before I can catch it. “You said the Veil wanted a tribute,” I add hurriedly, hoping to distract her.

  Her heel lifts ever so slightly. “Yes, it would seem so. They wished for your head to be served to them. Fortunately, I was able to sway their decision by suggesting a more…fitting sacrifice.” Pulling her foot away from Ethan, she steps towards me. The rage burning in her eyes is unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed from her before. My breath hitches as the sheer extent of her fury. “You have twelve months to choose which of these four boys will be sacrificed to the Veil. Do not disappoint me again, Regan. I may be your mother but you do not want to make an enemy of me.”

  I swallow the lump of fear rising into my throat and nod. “Yes, Mother. I won’t disappoint you again. I promise.”

  “Don’t promise, darling. Actions speak louder than words.”

  With that, she throws a glance Rory’s way before returning to the shadows of the wood. My heart thrashes against my ribs. When I’m absolutely certain that she’s gone, I shakily step back and sit on a rock nestled in the ground. My entire body is trembling.

  Fuck!

  She wants me to surrender one of the guys to the Veil as a sacrifice? They’d torture him for weeks on end before finally putting him out his misery. Even then, it’s in the most barbaric way possible. All a stupid tradition of theirs every year.

  “You knew all along?” I whisper to Rory, my eyes snapping to his. “You were working for my mother all this time?”

  For the first time since he got here, he looks at me, and there’s almost a hint of regret in his sapphire eyes. He nods, providing no answer, and I take a deep, shuddering breath. At that moment, Ethan rouses, groaning and touching the back of his head. I’m not sure how long the guys will be sedated for.

  I point my gun at Ethan, who’s quick to look for his own gun. He grumbles when he notices Rory has it crushed under his boot.

  “Enough of the games, Ethan. They end here. If you want to st
ay alive, you’re going to do what I fucking say, you hear me?”

  He straightens up and brushes the debris from his clothes. “You think I’m scared of you, cutie? How sweet.”

  I shake my head. “I know you’re not scared of me. But your stupid little game has put you in the middle of a war between me and my parents. You should be frightened of them. Trust me. You have no idea what they’re capable of.”

  “Doubt they’re worse than my parents,” he mutters.

  Frustrated, I shoot a warning bullet into the sky. Ethan flinches and one of the guys starts to stir.

  “I’m not kidding anymore! You have no idea what you’re up against. If you value your pretty face, you’ll stop the games and help me.”

  After a long, strained pause, he groans and nods. “Fine.”

  “Take the guys back to their rooms,” I say, slinging the gun into my holster.

  “No need. We were camping out nearby. Perfect setup,” Ethan tells me, grinning.

  “Then let’s get them back there before they wake up.”

  We approach the tree and start to unravel the boys. Rory decides to help us but he doesn’t utter a single word to me. I can’t believe I need to sacrifice one of the guys to the biggest crime organisation in the world. How will I ever be able to choose?

  Ripping the bottom of my shirt, I pull down my top to reveal my shoulder as I sit on a deck chair around the fire Ethan is slowly making. We look like normal teenagers in the woods, camping and messing about.

  But in reality?

  Three of the guys are still heavily drugged and just coming around, my bodyguard is a spy for a psychopath and Ethan…well, I suspect he is worse than a normal psychopath with a mere obsession for a girl.

  And then there’s me.

  I’m the killer with an injury and a million levels of fucked up with a secret no one else can know. My mind flickers back to Josh, Nathan and Lucas’s secrets I’ve just found out. How could my guys be worse than me? Or at least on par if we are comparing.

  I shove the fabric against my cut and hiss at the sharp pain but at least that will help with the bleeding. The campground is starting to look a little too blurry to me and my blood-soaked top is telling me the reason is very simple: blood loss.

  Dammit! I’m not passing out until I make something very clear.

  “Ethan,” I call him just as he finishes getting the fire going. The flames flicker shadows across his handsome features and the trail of blood going down his cheek just makes him all the sexier. “You breathe a word about any of this and my secret, I will give you to my parents without a second thought.”

  He only smirks at me.

  I grit my teeth just as Rory steps between us, handing me a first aid kit.

  “Let me stitch you up,” Rory says softly.

  Ever the gentlemen, isn’t he just?

  I smile sweetly at him, which puts him at ease, just before I kick him between the legs. He groans and falls to his knees. I grab his chin, making sure he’s looking at me even through the pain clouding his vision.

  “Choose a side, Rory. It’s either me or my parents, and if it’s my parents, get the fuck out of here.” I dig my nails into his chin. I can’t believe I ever liked this traitor. Or Ethan. Or any of the others for that matter. What was I thinking?

  “Choose,” Ethan demands from behind Rory, but his eyes on me and I hate that he’s here. “My girl deserves only loyalty from here on out.”

  My girl? Asshole just spent weeks blackmailing me and playing stupid little games. I’m no more his girl than the sky belongs only to birds.

  Rory meets my eyes and his next words surprise me. “I’ve watched how your parents have treated you for years, how they treat you like dirt beneath their shoes. Since I saw you crying in the gardens, I’ve been on your side.”

  “New Years Eve?” I question, remembering that night two years ago more vividly than I wanted to. The yearly Blood Party my parents throw at their estate. That one in particular had been just awful. The bodies lining the floors, the strippers dancing around the edges of the room, the guns, the knives…the everything. Countless lives were taken that night for sport and I had to watch it all.

  I had to be there, cold and empty.

  But for one brief moment in those gardens, I broke like I never had never broken before.

  I thought no one heard my cries or saw my silent tears masking the pain I felt deep inside.

  “At that moment, I knew I had to protect you the best I could. I watched you grieve the loss of your fiance and everything that happened in York…” He trails off and my own voice catches in my throat. My rage turns into hurt as tears race down my cheeks, dropping onto the ground between us.

  He knows and my mother doesn’t.

  “You never told her?

  “I never told her anything I knew.” Rory places his hand on my knee, and my body fills with warmth. “I’m not sure how she found out about your fiance or what happened. The only reason I joined your household as a guard was to find a way to end the Veil and the sacrifices they demand for entering their ranks.” A dark, pained look flits over his face. “My sister was a sacrifice and she was only seventeen when her boyfriend took her. My mission is to kill him and protect you somehow. I might not have saved my sister but I’ll be fucking damned if I let them hurt you.”

  “I’m so sorry, Rory,” I whisper.

  Ethan steps closer. “Hate to break this tender moment. Your parents probably found out the same way I did, the footage from a hotel on the Thames.”

  The memory flashes into my head like a horror movie I can’t look away from, can’t see, can’t forget…

  “I love the way you dance, Regan-baby,” Adam says as I swirl around, laughing as I spill some of the champagne from my glass onto the shiny brown floor of the speed boat. The busy sounds of London flitter over the distance music we can hear playing. Our boat lights are off, and the Thames river is lulling the boat in the water. I don’t even know whose idea it was to come out here but it’s perfect tonight.

  And I’m happy…something I haven’t been in a long time.

  My drop-dead-gorgeous fiance gets up off his seat, sipping his beer before throwing the bottle into the river and swaying as he comes to me. His lips devour mine and I laugh as I dig my hands into his suit.

  “When are we going to tell our parents about us?” I ask, wrapping my arms around his tattooed neck. “We both know they will be happy.”

  “And we both know they’ll want us married and you popping out babies asap,” he playfully groans but guilt clogs my throat. I’ve missed a period and I’m sure it’s nothing as we always use protection.

  Always.

  There’s no way I could be pregnant.

  And I don’t want to bring a baby into this world.

  My world.

  Never!

  It’s all blood and darkness.

  “Adam, would that really be so bad?” I ask, and he lets me go. He laughs as he walks to the edge of the boat, where it looks like the river will never end and the city will never die.

  London is so alive, bursting with life in every corner. It’s beautifully invigorating.

  “I want to live,” he shouts, throwing his arms wide. “I want to explore and be more than what our parents have turned us into. I want to fuck you in every single country and tell the whole world I love you before we think about settling down.”

  For a fleeting moment, I imagine us doing just that. How beautiful of a life I’d have with him. How carefree and happy.

  I just want to be happy.

  We are rich beyond our wildest dreams and young and fit. We could have everything and I really do love him as much as he loves me. I open my mouth to tell him yes, to shout from the top of my lungs that we can do this, we can have it all, but the boat lurches and he slips. It’s like the whole world has come to a crashing halt. Adam’s bright green eyes widen in panic, filled with a fear I’ve never seen there before, and then he’s falling off the boat while screaming my name. I run over to the edge and lean over, but the water is still…

  The campfire flickers embers into the night sky, pulling me back down to reality. I know the water currents in the Thames are so harsh that he wouldn’t have survived even if I did jump in after him, especially when I saw his blood rising to the surface. I could have run for help. I could have jumped in after him despite the uselessness of doing so. But for the first time in my life, I ran away and told no one. A few days later, his body washed up.

 

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