Page 17 of Savage Sacrifice (The Savage Six #4)
LINCOLN
“ L inc?”
My shrivelled heart swells at the thickness clogging his throat.
I’ve been so focused on searching for Polaris that I hadn’t even considered the pain I left behind. It’s only upon hearing it in his voice that I realize the despair I left my family to deal with.
Looking up at the sky, I take a seat on the small patch of grass outside of Polaris’s home. It feels weird to call it that, but I don’t know how else to describe it.
It’s slightly even weirder that Belladora had my freaking cell phone, but there’s no time to ask questions, not when she’s technically being useful.
I pinch the bridge of my nose with a heavy sigh. “Hey, Tatum.”
“You’re okay?” he breathes, and I hum, unsure what the actual answer to that question is.
“For the most part,” I mutter, letting the late afternoon sun coat my skin like the warm embrace I need.
“Where are you? We’ll come right now,” he insists, and my gut clenches.
“No, no, not yet. A lot has happened.”
“It has?” The concern is clear, and I muster the courage to speak the three words that fuel me and ruin me all at once.
“I found her.”
“Polaris?” he blurts, and a lot of commotion follows.
I close my eyes, envisioning the sounds that I can hear.
“What about Polaris?” Minnie screeches, eyes wide as she plants a hand against her chest.
“Little Witch?” Nothing more than a breath from Wylder, hope likely pausing his pacing.
“What is he saying, Tatum?” A grunt from Asher as he plants his hands on his hips, desperate for a sliver of control.
“Put that motherfucker on speaker phone right now,” Blaze snarls, forcing my eyes open as he filters through my thoughts, and I sigh.
“I still hate you, bloodsucker,” I grunt, hoping I’m on loudspeaker like he requested, and a scoff echoes in my ear.
“Yeah, yeah, get to the point.”
Swiping a hand down my face, I try to find the words, but figuring out where to begin is futile, so I cut to the point. “A lot of shit has happened, but I found her and now… she’s gone.”
“Gone?” Asher hisses, and I nod even though they can’t see me.
“Uh-huh, she ran.”
“From you?” Tatum clarifies, but before I can answer him, Wylder interjects.
“You fucking scared her, didn’t you? With your alpha ways. I knew this would happen,” he bites, and I scoff.
“No!” I shout, but no one listens to me.
“What did you do to her?” Minnie snaps, reprimanding me, and I grunt in frustration.
“I didn’t do anything,” I insist, eyes wide, desperate for someone to actually hear me, when Blaze’s voice cuts through the cell phone again.
“How about we let him explain to us instead of us all making assumptions?”
“That,” I yell, silently hating the fact that I’m agreeing with him.
“Fine, that’s fair,” Minnie mumbles, and I smile.
“Thanks, Minnie.”
“Get to it, brother .”
I smirk and grimace all at once. “Fuck, okay.” I stand, needing the strength that comes with standing tall as I scrub the back of my neck. “I woke up in a hospital bed, and the nurse, who definitely isn’t an actual nurse, helped me get to Polaris.”
“How did a nurse help?” Asher asks, and I shake my head in disbelief, aware that I’m about to sound insane.
“Because it’s Belladora.”
“Belladora?” Blaze grunts before Tatum clears his throat.
“Wait… the original witch?”
“The one and the same.”
“You know witches came before her, right?” Blaze clarifies, and Minnie snickers.
“Yeah, but she screwed us over with this goddamn curse. Everything in our lives revolves around her, starting and ending with her. She’s the original, regardless,” she explains, and someone else clears their throat, cutting through the turn in conversation.
“Anyway,” I say with a sigh, when Minnie screeches my name.
“Wait, there’s a lot to unload there,” she rambles, and I roll my eyes.
“I know, but I haven’t pieced it all together myself yet,” I explain, looking up and down the street for a sense of direction, but I’m just as lost as I was when I first rushed out here.
“Why?” Wylder asks, and I sigh.
“Polaris.”
“Fair,” he mutters, and I can envision him nodding in agreement. “So, back to why she ran.”
Pursing my lips, I recall everything that happened since I woke up. I don’t even know how it’s still the same day. I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime. “I woke up in New York, and Belladora transported us to Florida.”
“Florida? At this time of year? It’s hotter than the surface of the sun,” Minnie blurts, and I scoff, feeling the layer of perspiration that clings to me from head to toe like a second skin.
“You’re telling me.”
“Let’s stay on track, guys,” Asher grumbles, and I roll my eyes.
“She already had guests when I got here.”
“Who?” So many of them ask all at once, I’m not sure who actually speaks.
“Her parents.”
“The Keeper Of the Games?” Bryony asks, speaking for the first time. I forgot she was even there.
“Yes,” I answer, earning a huff of frustration from Blaze.
“Fucker.”
“Ben and Bianca are here too. Possibly Foster, but I haven’t seen him yet.”
“Is he okay? Ben I mean,” Blaze asks, and I grin.
“Why, do you love him?”
“No, he’s my…” Blaze’s words trail off, making my grin spread wider before I speak.
“You can say you have friends you know,” I tease, eager to embrace the playful moment, despite the stress and worry looming over me.
“Get back to the point of why you made her run away,” he replies, redirecting the conversation, and I blow out an exasperated breath.
“I didn’t. I actually… well, it was Belladora’s magic but…”
“Spit it out, Lincoln,” Minnie warns, and I bite the bullet.
“Because she’s my mate and I’m part of Polaris’s coven, Belladora was able to help break the spell, wiping Polaris’s memory blockers.”
“Holy fuck,” Tatum breathes, and I grin, saying that out loud sounds even better than being in the moment with her. It makes it true, but it also confirms the other part too. They deserve to know the level of memories she’s regained.
“Yeah, but not just the life she left behind when she killed herself for Minnie,” I explain, and silence greets me.
“What do you mean?” Wylder asks, and I take a deep breath.
“Pre-Florentine’s.”
“Holy fuck,” they all whisper in sync, and I nod.
“Holy fuck indeed.”
“What did she remember?” Bryony asks, and my chest starts to tighten again.
“It wasn’t our parents behind her attending Florentine’s, Minnie,” I state, speaking directly to my sister despite the question coming from someone else, but she deserves to hear the truth.
“Then who was it?”
“ Her parents. They made a deal with someone, which involved her attending Florentine’s. She ran out before getting any more details from them, but my guess would be The Crow was involved.” The words taste like ash on my tongue.
“Those motherfuckers,” Asher grunts as the throaty rasp of a wolf threatening to break through echoes in the background before Tatum bites out his anger too.
“I hope you kill them.” I know he means it.
“That’s why she ran, isn’t it?” Minnie breathes, and I hum, struggling with the distress rattling inside of me as I look back up at the sky for strength and support.
“Yeah, and now I’m standing in the middle of the hottest place on Earth without a clue of where to look. I’ve been up and down the block three times with no luck.”
I’ve never felt more like a failure, and I hate having to admit it.
Silence greets me and I glance over my shoulder, looking back at the house to find Belladora standing in the doorway. She doesn’t say a word, just cocks a brow at me, and I glare at her in response, but it does nothing to make her falter.
“Find a maze,” Tatum blurts, and I freeze.
“What?”
It sounds like he’s shuffling around, possibly rushing to his feet as his words fill the air in a hurried tone.
“I run to the maze every time I need space to think, so does she,” he offers, and I take another deep breath as I desperately glance around me.
“Look around, find something fucking green. She’ll be there. ”
“You’re sure?” I murmur, hating the reassurance I need.
“I know it,” he promises as I make my way to the end of the front lawn.
“We want that address, Lincoln,” Blaze hollers, and I grunt.
“I’m sending it now,” I offer, quickly tapping out the location before hitting send, and the second I lift my head, my gaze latches onto a row of trees off in the distance, up to the left.
Green.
I’m moving before I realize it. My pace quickens the brighter the greenery gets in my vision.
“Wait there for me,” I grunt, ending the call and stuffing my cell phone in my pocket without pause as I break through the trees, ready to hunt down my queen.