Page 44 of Savage Sacrifice (The Savage Six #4)

POLARIS

“ S he’s definitely not in here,” I admit, defeated as we stand in the communal area of the witches’ dorms. I’ve checked her room, mine for good measure, and anywhere communal I can think of without disturbing any residents.

The last thing I need is to deal with the fact that I’m back from the dead on top of all of this.

“Okay, that’s fine. Let’s head outside. The fresh air will help us think,” Tatum insists, reaching for my hand at the same time Lincoln wraps his arm around my shoulders, and the three of us head outside as a unit.

We don’t pause until we reach the treeline enclosing the dorm, where the sand turns to grass. Looking back at the building, I sigh, racking my brain over where to go next.

“Maybe she went straight to her father,” Lincoln murmurs, making my gut clench.

“His office?” Tatum clarifies, and Lincoln hums.

“It’s worth checking,” he states as my gaze snaps to the left.

Or…

“She could be down there,” I rasp, the words thick in my throat as I gulp back the memory of the last time I was down in the basement. Besides, it’s where Tatum caught her earlier.

Before anyone can agree or not, the chiming of our cell phones rings through the air and we all hurry to pull out our devices to check.

Wylder: We’ve got the crabby bitch. Where to?

“They have Sian,” Tatum states out loud, sagging slightly in relief, and I can’t help but fuel the hope blossoming in my stomach. We don’t know what the next step is, but I swear with all that I am, I feel like we’re another step closer.

“Great, let them know where we are,” Lincoln mutters, tucking his cell phone away as Tatum taps out a message.

Taking a deep breath, I give myself a pep talk as I go to tuck my device back into my pocket too, but it chimes with another message before I get the chance.

I frown, aware it’s only my cell phone going off this time. Understanding dawns on me a moment later when an incoming message flashes on my screen.

“It’s Bryony,” I breathe, my heart rate catapulting.

Bryony: This has to end.

I scoff, my fingers dancing over the screen as irritation takes over.

Polaris: It would be over if you stopped whatever madness you are a part of.

“Where is she?” Lincoln asks, and I shake my head.

“I don’t know,” I admit, my fingers hovering over the keyboard ready to ask her.

“What is she saying?” Tatum queries as my cell phone chimes again.

Bryony: Come down.

“She’s in the basement,” I breathe, my eyes latching onto the doorway immediately.

“We’re with you this time, Polaris,” Tatum promises, and I nod, but a sense of dread lingers through my limbs, leaving me frozen to the spot.

“It’s going to be a setup,” I admit, and Lincoln grunts.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

I take the biggest breath of my life, willing my nerves to calm, and my eyelashes flutter closed. The second they do, a memory flashes in my mind.

My bottom lip wobbles as tears gather in my eyes, the storm rattling in my chest, growing with every breath until I can’t contain it anymore. “But I don’t want to die.”

There, I said it.

I let the dam break open and the truth reveals itself. The soft smile on my mother’s face confirms my outburst isn’t a surprise as the sweeping of her thumb continues.

My hands are clenched in my dress. The soft silver color that matches my hair is a crumpled mess, but I can’t let go. Speaking the words hasn’t calmed the pain and worry simmering inside of me; it only burns brighter now that the words have escaped my lips.

“You’re not going to die,” she soothes, tucking a loose curl of hair behind my ear as I sniffle. “I’m right here. I didn’t die, neither did your father.”

“But Georgia said it’s a blood curse that I can’t control until I’m twenty-one, and if I haven’t by the time I turn twenty-two, I’m going to die. We’re all going to die.”

It’s not just Georgia, either. We learned all about it in school this week. The teachers spoke of it too. They weren’t quite as blunt as Georgia was, but still, a darkness seeped into their gaze.

“Darling, open your eyes.” I scrunch them tighter, feeling the tears track down my face, but my father pushes on. “I need you to look at me so I know you truly hear me.”

Lips press against my temple, and my mother’s hand on my cheek is gone. Despite my hesitation, I pry my eyes open and settle my stare on my father. I look at him, just like he wants.

“I won’t lie to you, Darling, what they say is true, but not yet, not now. Today is all about testing your blood so we can find out who was born at the exact same time as you, who your blood kin is. The curse doesn’t take effect until you’re twenty-one. There is time. Lots and lots of time.”

My face crumples as I shake my head. “Why do we have to know now if it doesn’t matter until then?”

“Because it’s important for both families to work together to ensure you both remain safe.”

“Why do we want to keep them safe too if only one of us can survive?”

“Because until you turn twenty-one, if something happens to one of you, it happens to both of you.”

“If something happens?”

My father glances over his shoulder, looking to my mother for help. She offers me her hand, and I take it, basking in the warmth of her touch as she pulls me into her side. “If they were to die before then, you would too, and vice versa, so it’s important for us to protect you both at all costs.”

Horror blossoms in my veins as I gape at my mother.

“B-but you said I wasn’t going to die yet!” I tremble beneath the weight of her words, and she nods.

“And you won’t. Not when we can protect you. This is a good thing, Honey. I promise.”

Two simple words, and I shake the tremors that threaten to make me explode.

“Just a pinprick?” I ask, glancing at my father, who remains crouched beside me, and he nods.

“Just a pinprick,” he repeats, digging a hand into his pocket to reveal a flash of gold. “Hold on to this; it will always protect you, okay?”

He holds out a gold coin, and I watch in awe as it shimmers under the sun.

Taking it from his grasp, I bring it closer, noting the pattern on one side of it.

It’s etched so delicately that it’s not easy to make out at first, but it almost looks as though it’s the face of a joker.

A silly hat with bells on the ends and a long face, just like the ones we’ve read about in books, from times when blood curses didn’t hold us all captive.

Turning it over in my hand, initials adorn the other side and nothing else.

T.K.O.G.

“Now, are we ready to get this part over with so we can move on to the birthday party for the princess herself?”

My eyes ping open as I dig my hand into my pocket, feeling the familiar weight of my coin. It hasn’t been in my pocket for so long, I almost forgot what it feels like to draw strength from it, but Blaze insisted we all carry them now, just in case, and I’ve never been more grateful.

The outline that presses into my skin is different, but it fuels my strength more because I know it’s for me.

It’s no longer a coin from my father to me, but a coin that represents my destiny.

It’s always been my coin, but now, it’s truly mine.

“Let them know where we’re going,” I state, my voice clearer than ever as I take off with purposeful strides toward the witches’ basement.

As I approach the door, Lincoln tries to side-step me to get it, but I lift my hand, halting him in place. I don’t speak, I just look at him, watching as he tries to dissect the look in my eyes before he nods, taking a step back.

Leading the way, I swing the door open, eyeing the dark steps leading down, but I don’t pause for more than a second.

Instead, I channel the empowerment flooding through me and begin my descent.

As I reach the bottom, the door straight ahead is open, dimly lit with flames burning around the ceiling.

It’s just as I remember it.

Only this time, Bryony isn’t hidden among her coven, and I’m not seated with a bag over my head. Instead, she’s standing between Professor Whitmore and Professor Juniper.

Now they’re all together, it makes sense.

I don’t shy away from their presence, moving to the center of the room with Tatum and Lincoln a step behind, but I don’t miss the cloaked shadows in the background, lining the exterior.

They’re not alone; their coven is here too.

Refusing to falter now, I look Bryony dead in the eyes. “What is this?”

She clears her throat. “I think we all know.”

“I don’t think we do, so how about you explain it to me?” I insist, and Professor Juniper sighs in frustration.

“Death dances closer with every beat of your heart, and I’m here to wield the sword that does it, Polaris.

” Her voice is different. Strong, unwavering, and she looks different too.

She always seemed timid and soft, but now, she’s all jagged and harsh.

Her glasses are gone, her nose is pointed up at the air as she looks down at me with a withering stare, and her demeanor is riddled with anger.

“I already met my end, yet here I stand,” I goad, cocking a brow at her, and she snarls.

Professor Whitmore claps his hands together twice in a condescending applause that draws my attention to him. “For the first time in almost five hundred years, someone weaved their way through the curse. You should be proud, but I can’t allow it to continue, Polaris.”

“Allow what to continue?” I push for clarity, and his smile grows more strained.

“You, your coven, the binding of the spell you threaten to unravel,” he offers freely, but the truth still feels disguised.

“And whose spell is that?” I ask, tilting my head at them, and Juniper scoffs.

“Sorry?”

“The blood kin curse, who created it?” I reiterate, eager for the answer, and she shakes her head in disbelief.

“We all know who created it,” she alleges, and my eyebrows rise in surprise.

“Do we? Or is it a guise you’ve created to hide your true ulterior motives?” I push back, and she gapes at me in horror as Bryony gulps and Whitmore swipes a hand down his face.