Blood Sacrifice (The Astral Chronicles #1)

Chapter TwoLuna

Chapter Two

Luna

My fight or flight kicked in, and I rolled, pushing myself to my feet and running as fast as I could on a sore ankle and painful body. A growl behind me rippled on the air, and made the hairs on the back of my neck rise in terror.

Whatever was chasing me knocked me forward again, pain piercing deep in my shoulder. I rolled onto my back, to face death and look it in the eye when it claimed my soul.

Another shadow emerged to stand in front of me, a deeper growl rumbling. Amber eyes glowed dangerously in the darkness as the massive predator stalked forward, hackles raised and menace in every step.

There was a clash of shadows, terrifying noises and cracks of bones. My fingers dug into the ground as I watched the fight in the moonlight. I had lost the package mother priestess had given me, and now was about to lose my life when this fight ended.

I crawled backward, afraid to take my eyes off the monsters fighting. My hand landed on something sharp, and I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out, wiping the tears that sprung from my eyes again.

There was a horrifying howl, followed by a gurgling sound, then a thud as something hit the ground.

My breath stilled, and I tried to swallow the terror that crawled up my spine. I jumped when a hand touched my arm, rolling to try and crawl away on my hands and knees. A whimper escaped when a powerful hand covered my mouth to prevent my scream.

“Easy, Lunabelle. You need to come with me if you want to live,” a masculine voice said in my ear. His presence calmed me, my heartbeat returning to normal for the first time tonight.

“Salvator?” I whispered when he removed his hand.

He didn’t reply, grabbing my wrist and leading me a different way than I would have chosen from my home. I almost had to run to keep up with his long strides. A shadow made me stumble, but he pressed his body against mine, hiding me from whatever prowled in the darkness.

“I can’t keep up with you,” I muttered. “You need to leave me and save yourself.” I rested my head against his bicep, both my hands wrapped around his.

I felt the motion of him shaking his head. “There is nothing to save, nowhere for me to run. I promised your brother I would keep his little sister safe in this living hell.”

“Is that the only reason you’re here?” I asked, staring up at him in the moonlight.

His eyes glowed softly, his finger tracing the curve of my cheek. “I would give my life to keep you safe, Lunabelle. We passed the barriers of friendship a long time ago.”

His free arm slipped around me to tug me against him. This was what I had wanted for so long, just the two of us running away together to have a life and family together. We faced death for having a relationship in this tribe, but I had dreamed of a future, a home, children.

Salvator lifted my battered and bruised body as if I weighed nothing, my legs wrapping around his waist and my arms snaking around his neck. Hours passed, and at some stage I think I fell asleep, the lightness on the horizon revealing the direction we moved in, and highlighting his features. It was a gift to be able to view him this closely in the daylight, since our relationship had evolved in the shadows. Salvator’s face was tense, his body muscular under my fingers.

He had been in every fantasy I had played out in my head when I watched the other youths in the tribe falling in love. I wanted to be able to smile at him as we passed each other, our fingertips touching discreetly when close to each other, knowing that it was all a prelude to being able to have a relationship.

I pressed my head into the crook of his neck and his arms pulled me tighter to him. “Is it supposed to feel like this?” I asked in a low voice. “Being together in the light of day.”

“They would kill us,” he replied, his lips skimming the side of my throat.

He found a cave for us to spend the day in, out of sight from prying eyes, water from the creek close by to allow us to wash and drink.

“There’s a settlement not far from here,” Salvator said. “We should reach it in a few hours when the sun goes down.”

“They’ll be looking for us,” I replied. “What if they find us before then?”

“I’ve been carrying you, so they’ll only detect my footprints and scent.” He stared at me with dark, unfathomable eyes. “You can escape this war, Lunabelle.”

“We can escape this war,” I replied, and Salvator glanced away to look out of the cave.

“He holds the chains that bind my people,” he finally said. “Our families are at risk, even the pups. We need to end this once and for all before any more lives are enslaved.”

I moved across the cave, my arms circling around his waist from behind as I pressed my forehead between his shoulder blades. “I can’t do this alone,” I whispered. “I’m not strong enough.”

We sat in silence with our arms around each other until I slept for a while, waking when I felt Salvator move me, wrapping me in his arms and lying curved around me from behind. My heart bled emotional tears at the thought of losing him, but I knew the truth of his words. Balor had tied all of us in knots and bound us to him in different ways.

I woke just as the sun began to fade and dusk settled across the land. Salvator’s hand tightened on my stomach, and I knew we were both dreading the new part of our journey. I rolled in his arms, pressing a kiss to his chest.

“If life was fair, we could run away together and find somewhere that witches and wolves were allowed to be together,” I said.

“If life was fair, that place would already exist,” he replied.

I leaned back to look up into his face, and my heart clenched in my chest as I tried to memorise every one of his features. He pushed my hair back, his head lowering until his lips found mine.

“You’ll always belong to me,” he said against my mouth. “Even if I can’t claim you, you’re mine.”

A bite from him would be a death sentence to me. It was forbidden for us to be together, against the law for us to even touch. That didn’t stop us being drawn to each other when darkness descended. Our priests were the only ones who were allowed to breed with us, and mother priestess had gathered herbs to help prevent pregnancy in those forced into Balor’s bed. They tended to return with vacant expressions in their eyes and bruises on their skin.

She left the herbal tincture for anyone else who needed it, without any questions being asked. Mother priestess was often summoned to the bed chamber of the emperor, proving that none of us were allowed to choose our own lovers, and were forced into the beds of powerful men for their own pleasure.

My nails dug into his shoulders as I drew him closer to me. “I’ve always belonged to you.” It was true, he had been a part of my life from my first memories of childhood. He had been my dark protector every time I needed someone, the man who had stolen my heart.

Salvator’s body covered mine, his weight holding me captive as our lips spoke words of love to one another. I never wanted to let him go, but each of us had a role in this war, and his was that of a guardian to the innocent. My hands traced over his body, trying to memorise every muscle, every firm section of flesh.

He kissed every piece of me, worshipping me with his hands, his lips leaving a sacred prayer on my skin, an invisible mark on me. When he reached the delicate area between my legs, his tongue teased and tormented that sensitive nub until my back arched and I almost pulled the thick hair from his head.

His long, thick cock speared deep into me, his gaze locked on mine to read every emotion on my face. It was forbidden, punishable by death, and yet this was what I craved more than anything in the world. Slow and hard, Salvator thrust in and dragged out of my core, never once breaking the connection of our eyes.

My hands cupped his ass, pulling him closer to savour every piece of him as his hips ground into mine on every upstroke. It felt like forever, our two bodies moving as one before he thickened inside me and we came together in a mass of undulating limbs, and screams of ecstasy.

I stared at the ceiling of the cave, Salvator’s head on my shoulder, the graze of his canines on my skin. There was nothing I wanted more than for him to bite and claim me. My fingers traced lazy patterns on his back with him still embedded deep in me.

I couldn’t leave, there was no way I would be able to exist without him.

“Stay with me,” I pleaded, hoping he would change his mind.

Salvator raised his head, pain in his eyes as he stared down at me. “There is nothing I want more, but we both know two of us together is a bigger target.” He braced himself onto his arms. “I can survive this war if I know you are out there waiting for me.”

I pushed his shoulders, forcing him onto his back as I straddled his hips. “Promise me you’ll find me,” I said, lowering my head to his.

“Always.”

He was hard again, and I rode him, my hands braced on his shoulders. Salvator sat up, his hands cupping my ass to help maintain my rhythm, his lips seeking mine. All our chakras were aligned, our bodies two parts of the one whole. My core was on fire from the friction of his cock rubbing that sweet spot inside that made me squirm with short thrusts. I was panting, perspiration coating my skin, my hair stuck to my back.

“I can’t,” I muttered, my legs tightening at his hips. “Please.”

He rolled me onto my back, forcing my body up with hard thrusts that robbed me of breath. I felt his canines at my throat and canted my head to the side in silent invitation, but his soft lips were the only response I received.

Pressure built deep in my stomach, the fire there burning brightly to ignite my entire system. It was too much, and I struggled to cope with the strength of emotions tumbling through me. Salvator grabbed my hips, his pelvis moving in rapid thrusts until I shattered into a million pieces of pleasure that left me trembling and my limbs weak.

“You are mine,” he said against my shoulder, his canines digging into the flesh to leave an indentation but not breaking the skin as I wanted.

We washed in the cold river, removing the evidence of our union in case we were discovered. Salvator once again lifted me to ensure only his scent was left on our journey.

We eventually came to the outlying village. Salvator slowly set me on my feet, my body intimately touching his as I stood. He strode over to speak to a man, whose gaze snapped to me. He shook his head at first, until he was handed a pouch, which seemed to be filled with items of value. The man nodded his head once, pointing toward a small tent.

Salvator moved back to me. “They will take you away from here and hide you from the search parties that Balor will send out in the coming days.”

I glanced at the nomads. “I wish you could come with me,” I said, desperate to keep him safe from whatever was coming for all of us.

“There are others we need to try and save.” He brushed his thumb down the side of my face. “Stay safe out there, and one day, I promise to find you if I survive this war.”

He handed me the package from mother priestess that I believed had been lost. He turned so suddenly that I almost fell over, watching his powerful stride as he walked away from me.

“Wait!” I moved to follow him, removing the single quartz pendant I wore since I had nothing else except my clothes and whatever was in the package. “Keep this safe and return it to me when this war is over.”

He nodded once, his dark gaze locking with mine in a way that made butterflies explode in my chest. I didn’t want him to go, but to stay and run far from this place with me.

“Until we meet again,” Salvator said, tucking my hair behind my ear. He pressed a kiss to the centre of my forehead, and I felt the echoes of it to my soul.

“May the great goddess keep you safe,” I whispered, leaning into his strength.

This time, I didn’t stop him, watching until he was nothing more than a speck in the distance.

I had never felt so alone in my life, and by the fear and dread rumbling inside me at the prospect of what I had to achieve to escape this place, I would be lucky to survive.