Sacrifice (Bloodline Vampires #1) - Katee Robert Page 0,52
is correct, then freedom is the very thing I’ve stolen from them. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“It’s not your fault.” Malachi climbs off the bed, taking me with him. “Can you stand?”
“Yes.” I’m not sure if I’m lying, but I lock my knees to ensure I stay on my feet when he releases me.
Malachi points at the other two vampires. “Don’t move.”
Rylan shakes his head as Malachi leaves the room and looks at Wolf. “Run. This is going to be your only chance.”
Wolf sits up and eyes me. “Nah, I’m good. This is the most excitement I’ve had in centuries.”
“It will be your downfall.”
“You’re all doom and gloom. Look at her.” He waves a hand at me. “Think, Rylan. I heard the stories of seraphim, too. The bond is annoying, but only in the hands of a tyrant. Think about what else she’ll be capable of if she lives long enough.”
“You’re making some large assumptions.”
I wrap my arms around myself and try not to shake. “Rylan’s right. You should leave. I don’t want…” My breath hitches. “I know what it’s like not to have your freedom. I don’t want to do that to you.”
“See.” Wolf laughs. “Not so tyrannical, is she?”
Rylan seems unmoved. “People change.”
“Then run.” Wolf shrugs. “Me? I’m tired of being hunted. Cornelius only has two other kids; neither of them have managed to pop a baby vampire out and become heir. With her seraphim blood, I’ll bet she’s just as fertile as her mother was.”
I blink. “Um, what?” I realize what he’s suggesting and shake my head. “It’ll never work.” Sometime over the history of vampires, the tradition began that in order for a bloodline vampire to officially become heir, they had to procreate to prove they could continue the line should it fail elsewhere. That was back when they were slightly more plentiful, when three of the bloodlines hadn’t been pruned down to one or two vampires. My father still holds to the tradition, but I’ve never really worried about it too much because it doesn’t affect me. “I’m a bastard.”
“Only because you didn’t have a recognized magic until now. If you show up with a baby and start flashing seraph magic about, all we have to do is kill him to take over the colony.” Wolf grins. “That’s my kind of fun.”
Rylan shakes his head. “She’s right. It’ll never work.”
Malachi walks through the door, my suitcase in hand. “Sounds like the beginnings of a plan.”
“More like a dream.” Rylan looks at me and then away, as if he can’t stand the sight of me. “We have a narrow window to get out of here unscathed. Let’s not waste it. We’ll deal with this later.”
Guilt clamps around me. I want to be happy that I was wrong, that I really do have magic, but the price seems too high. I never wanted to tie these vampires to me, not in a way that defies their free will.
I never want to be my father.
I slowly dress in the clothes Malachi hands me. No answers have presented themselves by the time I pull on my boots. “Rylan’s right. You should leave me. If there’s some kind of geographical limit on this—”
“There’s not,” Rylan says flatly. “As long as you’re alive, there will be a pull on us to return to your side.”
I spin on him. “This was your idea. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t set out to trap you or bond with you or whatever the hell has happened. Stop looking at me like this is my fault.”
He opens his mouth and I half expect him to cut me down with a few icy words. Instead he sighs. “You’re right. Sorry.”
I blink. Holy shit, that was an actual apology. I glance at Malachi, but he looks just as taken aback as I am. He gives himself a shake. “Get dressed. We leave in two.”
Rylan and Wolf blur out of the room. I take a deep breath and turn to Malachi. “You—”
“Stop telling me to leave you behind. It’s not going to happen.” He dresses in a pair of jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved shirt. Malachi pulls me into my arms, which is right around the time I realize I’m shaking again. “Not because of a mystical bond, either, so get that out of your head.”
“You don’t know what I’m thinking.” That was exactly what I was thinking.
He gives me a squeeze. “We’ll figure out a plan once we get out of here. Give me that long, okay?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?”
His lips curve. “Would you rather I toss your over my shoulder and just take you with me?”
Kind of.
Except, no, I wouldn’t. I wanted a choice, and now I have one. Really, there’s only one option. If my father realizes what I am, he’ll try to kill me. Or, more likely, he’ll try to break me so he can use me to boost his own power. Neither option are good ones for me. At least with these three, I have a chance. Hell, I have more than a chance.
First, we have to get out of this house.
Two minutes later, we’re at the front door. Malachi tosses my suitcase to Wolf and hefts me into his arms. When I start to protest, he gives me a look. “Seraph or not, you can’t keep up.”
Damn it, but he’s right. “Okay.”
He looks at Wolf and Rylan. “Where to?”
“New York.” Rylan glances at the sky. “We can get there in half a day or so, and even if he sends his trackers, it will be difficult to find us amongst that many humans.”
Malachi nods. “Lead the way.”
He moves as a quick lope across the grounds, not quite blurring. When we reach the edge of the property, Wolf leaps over the seven foot iron fence as if it’s nothing. Rylan follows suit. Malachi hesitates and then we’re airborne. He tenses as we pass over the top, but nothing happens. The blood ward really is broken.
He gives that rusty laugh of his when he lands on the other side. “Freedom.”
“Not quite,” Rylan says.
“Close enough for me.”
We take off into the night, the cool air whipping against my face. I look over Malachi’s shoulder in time to see flames licking through the windows of the house we just abandoned. They spread preternaturally fast, consuming the roof in giant bites. Something gives way and a piece of the house collapses. There will be no rebuilding that particular cage.
Malachi and I really are free. Or as free as we can be while my father still lives.
I open my eyes, resolve settling over me. No matter what else happens with these three men, one thing is certain.
For us to be safe, we have to kill my father.
And I have to be pregnant before we can do it.
Thank you so much for reading the first part of Mina’s story! I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, please consider leaving a review.
Want to know what’s next for these four? Their story continues in the next book, where they’ll be racing against time to get Mina pregnant and established as heir to her father’s bloodline. To make sure you don’t miss the release announcement, sign up for my newsletter!
About the Author
Katee Robert is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Entertainment Weekly calls her writing “unspeakably hot.” Her books have sold over a million copies. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, children, a cat who thinks he’s a dog, and two Great Danes who think they’re lap dogs.