The Sacrifice (23 page)

Riana glanced at the puzzled expression on Lily
’
s
angelic face.

“Riana, who are you talking to?”
“No one, baby.”

She
had no choice. She
’
d have to protect Lily when everything went to
hell
at the gate. Vind must not know about the compound restriction. The guards
stopping her and Lily from leaving was her only hope.

Vind
’
s
fingers tightened, cutting off her air. He released her arm and reached for
Lily.

“Okay, Okay, Okay!” It came out as a high-pitched
squeak. Vind released her throat and took hold of her arm again. Riana gasped
air into her deprived lungs.

As
soon as Riana squeaked okay, Lily
’
s face lit up. “So I can go shopping with you?”

Riana
couldn
’
t speak, so she nodded to Lily.

Lily
did a little happy dance. “I
’
ll run tell Kyra.
”

“
No, we don
’
t have time. I
’
ll
call her on my cell when we get there.”

“Okay,” Lily said, and happily skipped
along in front of them.

Riana
continued to keep her head down until they reached the gate. “I have to sign
out,” she whispered. Vind turned her arm loose while she scanned her ID badge.
She sensed him at her back, and hovered over the clipboard to sign them out.
Instead of writing her and Lily
’
s names, she scribbled: “Help us. We
’
re
being abducted by Vind.”

The guard looked at her instead of the
sign-out sheet. “Who is escorting you?”

Riana froze, unsure how to respond.
She picked up the clip-board with her note and shoved it at the guard.

His face turned red. “Miss, you are
not allowed to leave the compound alone. You must wait over there with the
other girls until someone returns to take you home.”

The
idiot still hadn
’
t looked at the message she wrote. These guys
might have good bodies, but they had the IQ of an orangutan.

Vind grabbed her arm. At the same time
alarms sounded from a device attached to both guards’ hips. Vind must have
crossed the DNA scanners.

“Get the child,” Vind said. He pulled
her through the scanner, and then dragged her toward the courtyard by one arm.

“Stop,” the guard shouted.

Finally,
he must have looked at the clip-board.

She
jerked from Vind
’
s grip. Afraid he would strike Lily; Riana bent
down and scooped her up to run back toward the guard.

Someone hit Riana in the back hard enough to knock her off her
feet. She shifted her body so she wouldn
’
t
land on Lily. As she hit the ground, her head bounced off a hard surface. She
focused on Lily lying across her chest with a frightened expression on her
little face. White, hot pain lacerated through Riana
’
s skull. Her vision narrowed and turned gray. Then
darkness closed in.

Riana jolted awake. She struggled to
focus through partially obscured vision, like she was surrounded by thick fog.
After a moment, the canopy of an elaborate four-poster bed appeared.

Where
am I?
Intricately carved
gray marble posts held the overhead canopy covered in burgundy silk. Her head
spun as she turned and saw Lily
’
s small body lying next to her.

Her heart drummed in her hears as
everything rushed back with a vengeance. The last thing she remembered was Vind
taking them from the compound. She attempted to sit up. Imminent nausea lurched
in her throat and forced her back on the pillow.

“Welcome home, love,” Vind said in a
deep, low voice. “How are you feeling?”

He sat in a leather, wing back chair
in the corner of the room. His long, dark hair bound with leather at his neck,
and a dark gray, silk suit with a blue ascot, completed the picture of
arrogance he was evidently trying to portray. With the large brandy snifter in
his hand, he looked like he belonged in a soap opera.

Ridiculous.

Riana
glared at him with cold, hard eyes. “This is not my home.” She laid her hand
against Lily
’
s neck to check her pulse.

“She
’
s
fine,
” Vind, said. “She
’
s
sleeping.
”

“What did you do, drug us?”

“I gave her something to help her
relax. You hit your head when you fell and lost consciousness. The child
thought you were dead. I cannot tolerate crying children, and instructed the
doctor on duty to check you both out. He gave the child something to calm her
until you came around.”

A
lump formed in Riana
’
s throat, and tears stung her eyes. “Why? Why did
you have to take her? She
’
s just a little girl.”

“Oh,
that
’
s very simple, dear,” he said with calm arrogance.
“Leverage.”

As
quick as lightning, Riana
’
s fear flashed to rage. “If you harm one hair on
her head… I swear on my life, I
will
kill you!”

Vind
chuckled at her threat. “You see, that is exactly why I brought her. I sensed
you cared for her, and would do anything to keep her safe. She
’
s
my guarantee you
’
ll do as I ask. Soon we will have our own
children. It
’
s up to you if the girl lives long enough to
become part of our family.”

Heat
burned Riana
’
s face. “You
are
delusional. I despise you…
you psychotic bastard! We will never be a family, no matter how long you keep
us here. We are prisoners,
not
family!”

“That may very well be, but you are
mine now. I am king of my people and you
will
be my queen. My brother and your father will use every Protector they have in
order to save you. Their frantic attempt at a rescue before I take your life
will make it easy to draw them in. Once I destroy them and the Protectors, I
will become king of the entire race. In the meantime, all you have to do is
cooperate, and I will not harm the child.”

She
wanted to knock that smug look off Vind
’
s face.

But
at the moment, I
’
m going to be sick
. Riana sat up, determined to ignore the
accompanying dizziness. “I need a bathroom.” Her hand went to her throat and
froze when she touched something metal around her neck. She tugged at the
unmovable object, and then shot Vind a questioning glare.

“Oh,
that
’
s a little pre-wedding gift.” He rose from his
chair and strolled to the bedside table, took a handheld mirror from the drawer
and held it toward her.

“I
had it designed especially for you. It
’
s as functional as it
is beautiful. First of all, it prevents you from transporting, but will allow
you to move around the castle as I see fit. You may even go outside into the
gardens if you like. If you go past the gardens, well, that
’
s
where the second part comes in.”

He
handed the mirror to Riana. A choker covered in jewels circled her neck. Every
bit as pretentious as the man who
’
d put it there.

“Beneath each of the three rows of
embedded stones lays a cylinder,” he continued. “Each cylinder contains a
harmless liquid when separate. However, if mixed, they are
highly
volatile. If you go twenty-five feet past
the gardens in any direction, the row of emeralds will beep. They will glow a
gorgeous green as the liquid contained inside that cylinder releases and flows
into the lovely diamond encrusted heart pendant.”

Riana tugged on the heart—a secure,
inconspicuous bomb.

 “If
you continue on, when you pass the fifty-foot mark, the row of rubies will
react in the same manner. That is your second and final warning to stop. If you
choose to ignore it and continue, when you reach one hundred feet, the row of
sapphires will release the final liquid into the heart of the necklace. And
that, my dear, will be the end of you, along with anyone within fifty feet.
There wouldn
’
t be enough of you left to scrape from the forest
floor.”

Riana threw the mirror onto the bed.
“This dog collar is your idea of freedom? Why not throw me in one of your
prisons and be done with it?”

Vind
looked at her with dark, uncaring eyes. “If you defy me, that
’
s
exactly what will happen. I never said you were free to leave, just to move
around the castle.”

Riana
laid her hand on Lily
’
s sleeping form beneath the burgundy satin
comforter.

“I
haven
’
t put one on her. Not yet, anyway. She
’
s
too young to transport, and we are isolated deep in the mountains. She would
never make it out on foot.” Vind chuckled. “Not before she
’
s
eaten by wild animals, that is.”

“You
’
re
a monster!” Riana swayed as she stood and leaned against the bed to steady
herself.

Vind
gave her an arched stare. “Yes, well, we have already established that now,
haven
’
t we? The bathroom is through those doors. When
you return there
’
s someone I want you to meet.”

Riana
turned to glance at Lily. If she woke up alone with Vind, she
’
d
be frightened.

“Run
along, she
’
s fine. I gave my word. I will not harm her as
long as you cooperate. Her room is next door to yours. To prove I
’
m
not the
complete
monster you believe me to be, I will allow her to
remain with you tonight, give her time to adjust to new surroundings.”

“Gee,
you
’
re such a prince.” Riana
’
s
tone dripped with sarcasm. “Am I supposed to thank you for taking a poor
defenseless child to use as a bargaining chip?”

Vind
’
s
face turned red, and his eyes flashed black. “Watch your tone with me, Riana.
You do
not
want to push me too far. I am king here, and you will learn
to treat me as such.” His eyes landed on Lily before he added, “Or you both
will face the consequences.”

Riana
glared back at him with as much disgust as she could muster. Between the
shooting pain in her skull, the dizziness and nausea, she
’
d
be lucky if she made it to the bathroom. She sure as hell wouldn
’
t
ask for his help. It
’
d mean he would have to touch her again, and she
really would throw up. She held to the bed and then the dresser until she had
her balance. Then she wobbled the rest of the way on her own.

At
the bathroom door she glanced back at Lily, and caught a glimpse of Vind. He
sipped his brandy and watched her with an apathetic glare, similar to the one
he
’
d used in her vision of his father
’
s
death.

Heartless
bastard.

Riana closed and locked the door. She
slumped to her knees beside the toilet and emptied the contents of her stomach.
When she finished, she eased onto the floor and curled into the fetal position.
The cool tile soothed her face, as hot tears rolled and dropped to the floor.
What am I going to do?

She
had to get Lily out of there before the psychopath did something to harm her.
Surely Vind knew if he harmed Lily, he
’
d have to kill Riana
too. She wouldn
’
t stop until he did. As long as he wanted an heir
from her, maybe he
’
d keep her alive. She could only hope he didn
’
t
want to lose Lily as his…so called leverage. Keeping both her and Lily safe
would be like playing with a stick of dynamite and fire at the same time. She
had to figure some way out of this mess.

Riana
stood and wiped her eyes. It
’
d please Vind
way
too much to know she
’
d
cried. She couldn
’
t let Lily sense how scared she was either. Lily
would be frightened enough when she woke.

She looked around the massive
bathroom. Black and white marbled tile covered the floor and walls. The
shocking contrast of red borders and accessories hurt her sensitive eyes.

Tacky.
Expensive, but tacky.

Riana caught sight of herself in the
mirror. A bandage covered her right temple. She eased the tape back on one
side. An abrasion and dark bruising disappeared into her hairline. Her fingers
moved over her scalp. She winced, and traced a lump the size of a golf ball.
Her head had hit the cement border of a flowerbed as she went down with Lily in
her arms. She recalled the guard yelling and heavy footsteps running toward
them. Vind must have transported them before the guards reached them. Cy and
Kyra would be worried sick, and the chances of them finding this place anytime
soon were slim. Somehow, she needed to figure out where they were and find a
way get word to Cy.

Riana splashed cool water on her face.
Her emotions were all over the place. She had to calm down enough to think
straight. As she entered the bedroom, Vind stood near the door talking in
hushed tones to a small, older man dressed in a black, butler uniform, and
heavy-set female wearing a black uniform dress.

Vind turned as she closed the bathroom
door.

“Riana,
this is Alpheus. He is in charge of my home. If there
’
s
something you or the child need, he would be the person you ask.”

The butler bowed his head before he
spoke. “Madam Riana.” His accent was Sivadian, and his eyes were light gray.

Riana
hadn
’
t expected to meet someone who wasn
’
t a
feeder. Alpheus smiled at her, a warm smile that wrinkled his eyes.

Vind
turned to the woman. “This is Ms. Rizzo. I arranged for her to be Lily
’
s
nanny.
”