Page 62 of Be My Sacrifice
I promise myself that if I don’t die here tonight, and I manage to save Sammy, David will be the next to die at my hands. The way he’s manipulating me, and using me, demands that I eradicate him from this earth. I can’t leave a man like him breathing.
“Dinah, I have a bad feeling about this. Warning bells are going off in my head. This is a trap, Snow.” My eyes leave the darkened windows of the mansion before me, while I hide in the deep shrubbery around the perimeter, and turn to stare into a pair of emerald green eyes filled with worry. If we weren’t in such a dire situation, I would joke that he’s a prince about to enter the dragon’s den, but I can’t find any reason to smile or laugh at the moment.
“Atasi, there has to be another way to get to Sammy. Someone else has to know his whereabouts. This is dangerous, baby. You could lose your life trying to save him, and he would never want that.” My eyes close at the truth in Abe’s words. He’s right, Sammy would be furious with me, if he knew what I had agreed to. But Sammy is not here, and I have to do everything I can to get him back. Everything, no matter the cost.
“There is no other way. You saw the pictures. He will be dead before we can get to him on our own. I... I could never live with myself if I didn’t try to save him.” My eyes meet Zeke’s and then Abe’s. I can see the pain, worry, and disapproval on their faces. Do they think that they are not enough for me? Do they not understand my pain? I would think if anyone in this world could understand the feeling of hopelessness and rage at having the love of your life, your very soulmate, ripped away from you, it would be them.
Yet here they are, pleading with me to abstain from this mission, and let him die. Not in so many words, because neither of them would have the courage to say that to me, knowing that I’d probably thrust a blade into their hearts if they did. Don’t they understand that my heart is shattering into millions of pieces every moment that I’m away from him? The monster inside me is growing in strength, as I lose a little more of myself, without Sammy here to rein me back from the edge. The minute I saw those images, I could never unsee the torture they were inflicting on him because of me. The pain he’s suffering because I am free while he’s trapped with demons.
Me.All of this is my fault; all of it is my doing. I should have gone meekly into my fate like all the other women of the Brotherhood, instead of trying to fight back. All it has brought me is misery, and if it costs Sammy his life, none of it will have been worth it. I don’t know why I thought I could change anything. The price to pay is too high. I cannot lose him too, after losing my brother and mother. Sammy is my family, not just my lover.
Zeke’s hand wraps around my jaw, forcing me to meet his gaze. “We will not be able to live without you. Do you not understand that, Snow?”
I swallow the lump that’s formed in my throat at his words, and shift my body forward until my lips meet his in a tender kiss. Just a brief moment, to show him I understand and feel the same emotions he does. If our roles were reversed, I wouldn’t want him to walk blindly into a trap, either. I do love him and Abe, and I always have. First with a child’s heart, then with a young girl’s affections and crush, and now as a woman who understands sacrifice and pain.
My head tilts to the side, and I reach out, grabbing Abe by his dark, long-sleeve shirt and pulling him towards me, until my lips meet his in the same tender kiss I just gave Zeke. “I care about both of you, and would completely understand if you did not go in there with me, but please do not ask me to let him die, when there is something I can still do to try to save him.”
“Dinah, we are not asking you to abandon him. We are asking you not to die. We all got the same vibe from David; something was not right there. Someone else is pulling the strings here and has the power. How will you save Sammy if you die here tonight?” Zeke questions, his lips drawn into a scowl and face tense.
“Atasi, we can’t trust any of these rebels, not even my mother. She’s fanatical, just like they are. They’ve convinced themselves they will change the world, and return it to the one long gone. It doesn’t work like that. The ground will be soaked with blood before any of this is done. I will not have it soaked with yours.”
I know he is right. I even know that he speaks the truth, and I can’t trust that the rebels with us won’t desert us or murder us, once I take out the Holy Father. I, too, felt that something was not right with David. His flexing of power and demeanor both confused, frightened, and made me wary. As for Abe’s mom, Sarah, she is a woman who has suffered so much trauma and abuse for so long, that any small glimmer of hope is one that she has latched onto with everything she has left. I cannot blame her with all that she has endured at the hands of men, who professed to be godly.
“Trust no one but us three to have each other’s backs. We will tread carefully forward, and at the first sign that we are being betrayed, we escape and head back to my childhood home. It has been deserted since Gabe’s death. Promise me if shit goes sideways, you will save yourselves and meet me there.” I plead with them through my eyes, letting them see the need to do this, coupled with the necessity to also protect them. I can’t lose them either. If I managed to rescue Sammy, but lost them in the process, I would be no further ahead, and pieces of me would still be missing.
Zeke and Abe stare at each other, and something passes between them, some silent communication or agreement that I am not privy to, before they both turn to me and nod, and I release the pent-up breath that I didn’t even realize I was holding.Thank fuck,I thought they were going to argue some more with me, trying to win me over to their side. They never would have managed to convince me not to do this.
“Well, fuck, let’s go off and kill the wizard, shall we?” Abe cackles with a snarky grin, his amber eyes alight with mayhem, as he checks all the sharp blades attached to his chest holster.
“I can’t wait to get a good look at who is under that ostentatious mask.” Zeke grins back, his body releasing some of the tension in his shoulders and frame. He still doesn’t look entirely on board, and doesn’t have Abe’s bloodlust and mayhem running through him, but he pulls out his gun and prepares himself to take down more of the Brotherhood.
As for me, I don’t give a shit who the wizard is, or what he looks like; as of now, he’s dead. He is the price demanded for Sammy’s life, and nothing will stop me from delivering it.
Chapter forty-one
The Sinner
Dinah
Isilentlycreepacrossthe lush, green, manicured lawn, making my way to the back of the mansion. The sound of my breathing is heavy in my ears through the mask I wear to disguise my features. I can barely make out the footfalls of the two large men behind me.My sentinels, my warriors, my loves,as they mirror my footsteps, and keep watch for our enemies.
The rebels’ planned distraction will go off any moment now, and we need to be in position. I look over my shoulder at Zeke, and he motions with his fingers to proceed to the left, where a luxurious courtyard, with a waterfall and pool area, opens up to a back door that, we can see through the glass, leads into a massive kitchen area. Subtle spotlights highlight the back of the house, and we work our way around them to avoid drawing attention to ourselves.
According to the rebels, the security cameras have been disabled in anticipation of our attack. Again, the thought races through my mind: why didn’t they take out the Holy Father themselves, if they were able to get to him in this manner? Why force me to do it in order to save Sammy’s life?
Trepidation and anger flow through me, knowing that I’m being used, that they are risking me for some unknown reason. Could this possibly be a test of my commitment to follow their orders? They have to know they won’t be able to control me, once I have Sammy and my nephew back. Is this just a way to enslave me to them? For what purpose?
There are so many questions with no answers, yet even that fact won’t stop me from continuing on this perilous journey. We reach one of the glass courtyard doors, and I don’t see any signs of Brotherhood men, which sets off further alarms in my mind.Where are they? They should be patrolling.The Holy Father is an important man, and there is no way he wouldn’t have adequate security in place. This gets stranger and stranger as we go on. Abe and Zeke stop in the shadows, their eyes meeting mine, and I glimpse the wariness in their eyes through their masks. They are both thinking what I’m thinking about the missing security.This is not good.
Abe bends down at the door and pulls out a lock-picking device, just as explosions begin at the front of the mansion, and at the farthest rear of the acre-long backyard.Fuck, here we go, there’s our distraction.I don’t hesitate, picking up a landscaping block and smashing into the glass door. There’s no time to wait for Abe to pick it; we must go now. Abe’s amber eyes glow in the moonlight like a wolf’s as he meets mine. I can feel the disapproval radiating from him in waves, but he doesn’t waste his breath arguing with me about my reckless actions. It’s just one more in a long string of them, anyway.
That look doesn’t stop me from pushing forward to open the now shattered glass door, and making my way inside the room, with my gun at the ready to shoot anything that moves. Abe immediately moves in front of me when he’s crossed the threshold, protecting me from harm with his large body acting as a shield. I roll my eyes at his antics, knowing he can’t see it with my mask in place, and from behind him. He’s going to get himself hurt or killed, trying to play my protector—soft-hearted idiot.
My heart lurches painfully with the memory that that was always Sammy’s job. He was always my fierce protector, always on my side, even though it has led him to his own peril.I can’t lose him. This can’t be the end of our love story. I refuse to accept this as our fate.
The sound of crunching glass lets me know that Zeke has taken up the rear of our little convoy, as we move through the deserted room. All of the gleaming expensive appliances shine in the moonlight. An abundance of fresh fruit is sitting on the marble stone counters, just waiting to be consumed, and the expensive-looking space screams wealth and luxury. This fucker lives like a king while his parishioners live like paupers.Fucking asshole.
“I don’t like this, Snow, this place should be crawling with guards. Where the fuck is all his security?”