Blood Sacrifice (The Astral Chronicles #1)

Chapter TenSalvator

Chapter Ten

Salvator

Whatever Luna had done, it felt as if I was waking from being in a drunken stupor. I trailed my fingers through my hair again as I tried to work out what the hell was happening to me and what had been wrong with me until she walked back into my life again.

I drove without talking, lost in my thoughts as I tried to figure everything out in my head since that was where I tended to spend most of my time.

“Can we stop at the next town to stretch our legs?” Luna asked, her voice low.

It shook me from the dark cavern of my thoughts. “Yeah, sorry, I was in a world of my own for a moment.”

“You were in a world of your own for over two hours,” she replied, shocking the hell out of me as my gaze snapped to the display at the front of the dashboard.

“Shit! Sorry, Luna. I don’t know what’s wrong with me today.” I rubbed my eyes with my hand and realised it was trembling.

“Why don’t we just stop now and take a walk?” Luna suggested. “I think we can agree that no one is following us.”

I pulled over and sat for a moment, my head falling on my steering wheel.

“Come on,” Luna said, her fingers touching my arm and drawing my attention. “Walk with me.” She opened the car door and stepped outside.

I drank in the sight of her outside, bending over and swinging her arms as she stretched. My life had existed in three eras: with Luna, the grey area in the middle, and the return of Luna. I sucked in a breath and climbed out of the car.

My wolf howled in my head at the sight of Luna with her long, black hair, and the sun shining behind her to highlight her beauty. My canines ached in my gums with the need to claim her, my claws digging into the palms of my hands as I fisted them to stop myself from touching her.

She held out her hand to me, and like a lovesick fool, I obeyed her silent command. “We never got to experience the light,” she said, her hand squeezing mine. “Our entire relationship was in the shadows, and nothing ever grows properly there since the sun nourishes.”

There was a narrow trail not far from the small carpark I had pulled into, leading into nature filled with trees and birdsong. We stopped close to a clearing and stood for so long that I thought Luna wasn’t going to speak.

“I’ve travelled this world more times than I can remember,” she finally said. “It is filled with wonders, and at the same time evil lurks where you least expect it.”

I leaned against a tree trunk to watch her. Luna crouched low to touch the ground, and leaves swirled up in a small funnel.

“Magic is the most powerful force in this world since the magical realm was closed to only the oldest of families. That means, this is the only place where some creatures can get their grimy hands on magical beings.”

I had no idea where this conversation was going, and that didn’t sit well with me as I tended to know what I was walking into.

“The amulet you are now wearing will block anyone who is trying to control you,” Luna said. “Over the next few hours, it will remove any curses or psychic anchors lodged in your aura.”

I cleared my throat, rubbing the back of my neck. “What the fuck am I supposed to say to that?”

“You don’t need to say anything,” Luna replied. “All you need to do is give the amulet time to work and free you from those seeking to control you.”

“It’s my job to keep everyone in my organisation safe,” I snapped. “How can I do that if I can’t trust myself?”

She wiggled her nose, and I was transported back in time to the first time I saw that mannerism when she was trying to find a way to sugarcoat something for me.

“Just tell me,” I grated out.

Luna’s gaze met mine and fear flashed in her eyes. “Salvator, you have stayed in this place for so long that you no longer see the danger that resides here.”

I wanted to argue with her, but these past few hours had brought a clarity that I hadn’t felt in too long. I bit the inside of my mouth and glared at the trees as if they were my enemy.

“Yesterday, I would have told you that you were mad, but today I don’t know what to think,” I confessed.

“Maybe along this journey, we can discover what has really been happening,” Luna replied. “I have it on good authority that the hellspawn favour the black dire wolves to enslave.”

“I—” Part of me wanted to protest, but over the years good men had disappeared and in the end we had put it down to them leaving to find a different life. Who could blame them since we had been caught up in a war that spanned centuries?

“Give yourself time, Salvator.” Luna threaded her fingers through mine. “Someone has been using magical techniques that were forbidden long before I was born. Each person in my network wears an amulet created for them and sealed with their blood to ensure they cannot be manipulated or controlled by those working alongside the hellspawn.”

My wolf howled in my head, screaming that he had been warning me that something wasn’t right, that I wasn’t who I should be. Instead, I had found different excuses to explain what was wrong with me. Today, I felt like a fool.

Luna transfixed me when her hand landed in the centre of my chest. “Most wolves would have fully succumbed to such a powerful spell,” she said. “You’ve fought to remain yourself.”

I swallowed and glanced away. She was the one person who saw through me. Packmates who were supposed to know me better than anyone else hadn’t realised I wasn’t myself, yet a woman who hadn’t seen me for four centuries was able to find the truth.

“No one should have gotten close enough to do this,” I muttered, my anger starting to rise. “I was there to protect my pack.”

Luna grabbed my face to force me to look at her. “You did protect them,” she said, her jaw tightening. “Your strength alone was the only force keeping every wolf in your pack safe.”

My thoughts were slowly becoming clearer, as if I had been drunk and I was beginning to sober up. “I don’t feel strong,” I replied truthfully. “I have so many questions, but the most predominant one is how could I be so stupid to let this happen?”

Luna linked her arm through mine and started us walking back toward the car. “It has nothing to do with stupidity, and everything about the darkness that has been sweeping across the globe.”

I glanced down at the tiny, ferocious woman beside me. She had been timid and fragile in the past, but now possessed a core of steel and a strength that made her a formidable opponent. My wolf almost purred in delight as he observed our mate.

We settled into the car and she rummaged through the CDs I kept in the centre console until she selected music to listen to, her feet and fingers tapping to the beat. After our walk in nature, I relaxed into driving, humming along to the background music. We stopped at the next gas station for me to fill the car, Luna wandering in to pick snacks. I found her chatting to a young woman, debating the merits of a particular flavour of chips.

The guy behind the counter kept flashing covert looks at Luna, smiling at her like a fool. I wanted to reach over and slam his head into the counter our snacks currently sat on, my canines aching in my mouth.

I deliberately stepped in front of Luna, blocking his view, and bringing his attention to me. He took a step back, his eyes widening.

“Do I have to guess or are you going to tell me how much?” I grated out, my wolf turning into a possessive asshole.

The guy glanced between me and Luna, swallowing hard as he kept pressing a button on the cash register, and muttering.

In an attempt to calm my wolf, I slammed cash on the counter and snatched our stuff, grabbing Luna’s arm to manoeuvre her toward the door.

“Would it be easier to pee on me?” Luna asked. “Or I could wear a bag over my head.”

I glared at her in bad temper, my jaw tightening.

“I could stay in the car next time,” she continued like a smartass. “Or maybe travel in the boot so no one can see me.”

I opened her door and stared at her, earning myself a huge sunshine smile in reply.

My stomach contracted at the way her entire face lit up with that smile. “You’re lucky I didn’t rip his head off and shove it up his ass, or rip off the head he was thinking with.”

Luna slipped into the car, a small smile playing on her lips. The woman was driving me in-fucking-sane, and I swear if any other man tried to undress her with his eyes, I’d gouge them out and put them into the sockets backward.

My hands gripped the steering wheel so hard it creaked, my back molars grinding together in annoyance. Luna happily ripped open a bag of chips, shoving several into her mouth, before offering the bag to me to take some.

“You still angry?” she asked when I ignored the bag.

I shot her a filthy look. “You weren’t doing anything to discourage that idiot back there,” I snapped.

“Did you want me to curse him? Turn him into a frog? Maybe give him warts?” Luna asked, her eyebrows rising as she spoke.

“All of those sound appealing,” I replied. “The asshole was practically having sex with you in his head. He was already starting to undress you.”

Luna grinned, biting into her crispy snack. “You know as well as I do, you don’t have to undress to have sex.”

My head cut in her direction and I glared at her while she continued to pop chips in her mouth. I only moved my attention back to the road when a horn made me realise I had veered over the central line.

I knew only too well that sex didn’t have to be skin sliding against skin, although that was definitely preferable. On more than one occasion, Luna and I had little time, and our rendezvous was nothing more than her priestess robes being lifted up as she braced herself against the wall. The passion that burned between us had been all-consuming in its intensity, making us reckless since nothing mattered but finding my way to Luna.

I growled lowly in my chest. “I hate when I can scent another male’s arousal near you,” I finally muttered, hating that I admitted that fact.

Her sigh echoed around the car and clutched my heart. “Salvator, I tend not to crawl on the counter and open my legs in every store where the worker gets a little flirtatious,” she said.

The image of her lying on the ground in that pose with her hand held out to me flashed through my mind and my foot pressed the accelerator down, the car lurching forward. My problem was that the longer I spent with Luna, the more I craved her. I wanted to stop the car and bury myself so deep in her that we were one entity instead of two people.

“I can’t help my reactions,” I responded, trailing my fingers through my hair. “You might not view us as being together, but my wolf knows you are our mate.”

She turned in her seat to sit and watch me. “That was a different lifetime, Salvator,” she said in a soft voice. “I waited for you, living on just the other side of the border of the empire. I grieved your loss, the loss of our relationship, and our future together.”

My heart felt like it was going to shrivel up and die in my chest. “I searched for you, seeking a witch to activate the magic in this quartz so I could track you.” My rage began to thrum through my veins. “I trusted them to help me since you were a sister witch, and they fucking lied to me.” I slammed my fist down on the steering wheel and it cracked under the force.

A gasp sounded from beside me, and I pulled the car to the side of the road and stopped.

“Fuck!” I almost screamed.

We sat in silence while my pulse pounded in my ears and my wolf howled in rage and hatred as he protested what had been stolen from us.

Her small hand touched my thigh. “I can’t change the past,” Luna said in a small voice. “If I could turn time back to that morning, I would insist you stayed with me and we ran together. If wishes were real, we would have had four centuries together, children, and grandchildren.”

I stared at her small hand on my leg. “I wanted to stay that morning, to leave with you, claim you as my mate and find somewhere for us to be together.”

“That world didn’t exist back then.” Luna lifted my hand in hers, pressing a kiss to my wrist where my pulse pounded. “Even now, the crossing of the species is frowned upon.”

“I don’t care what is acceptable, or what rules govern over who we can and can’t marry. A heart doesn’t understand rules when love is on the line.” I slumped back in my seat and stared out through the windscreen, suddenly deflated.

“Look at me,” Luna commanded.

At first, I refused to move my attention away from the tree in the distance. Luna tugged my hand and I finally moved my gaze to Luna.

“I’m not that woman anymore,” Luna said softly, her thumb rubbing the side of my hand. “You’re not that man either. Neither of us can pretend that four hundred years haven’t happened.”

The truth of her words sank in and I sucked in a deep breath. “My wolf doesn’t understand that. All he knows is that you are our mate.”

Her smile was sad and didn’t reach her dark brown eyes.

“I know, but you need to understand. The Salvator who walked away from me that day is not the same Salvator who is sitting in this car with me.”

“What are you trying to say?” I asked, bracing myself for the news that she was about to leave me and return to a husband and six kids.

“I’m saying that we should get to know the new versions of ourselves. That we should take time to find out what we experienced in the time we have been apart.”

I knew she was right, but that didn’t stop the pang of disappointment that pierced through me. My greatest desire was to pick up where we left off that morning when I had to leave her and return to a war I didn’t start.

Luna curled her legs under her. “Why don’t you tell me about what happened just after I left,” she continued. “We heard rumours of the fall of the empire, but we all know there is only a grain of truth in a rumour.”

I sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly. “Those were dark days that left marks on the souls of the survivors that are still there today.” I put the car into gear and started driving again. “Balor had everything planned, and some believe he had been poisoning the emperor so he would request magical intervention more and more, meaning Balor could manipulate the sacrifices.”

Every time I think of those youths being executed, it made nausea crawl up the back of my throat. That entire era had been dark and harrowing.

“Mother priestess had always been wary of him,” Luna replied. “She believed him to be a soul eater. I remember hearing her and another priestess discussing it when they thought they were alone, but the only secrets we have are those that stay inside our heads.”

“What’s a soul eater?” I asked, since I didn’t want to talk about the war and the devastation it caused.

“Someone who can absorb the power of another at the moment of their death,” Luna said, and I heard a soft sigh. “He was deliberately seeking people with specific abilities. Some of our priestesses mysteriously went missing when he sent them on missions for him, and he tended to breed the priestesses with specific priests and then the babies were taken. He said they were being raised away from the temples, but none of them were ever found. The same as that baby born from a priestess and dire wolf…” Her voice trailed off.

I had long believed that the baby had been killed, but I had believed it was included in the murder of its parents. This version was more sinister than I ever wanted to believe.

“It was why mother priestess gathered herbs to help prevent pregnancy,” Luna concluded, looking out the window. “If we had conceived a child, he would have killed us to steal the magical gifts of the baby.”

A low growl rumbled in my chest at the thought of Balor anywhere near Luna or any child we may have created.

“I don’t even know what to say to all this,” I finally replied. “I knew he was an evil bastard who liked to torment those around him, but sucking magical gifts from people by killing them is a new low—even for him.”

“Evil exists alongside good, disguised and lurking in the darkness,” Luna said. “Just waiting for the opportunity to strike. It’s the reason why, after all these years, very few people know where I live or how to contact me directly.”

“I thought I was the only one who tended to keep myself isolated,” I muttered.

Her lips turned up in a sad smile. “Nope. We both saw the face of evil back then, and were touched by its actions.” She shivered slightly, wrapping her arms around herself.

In my mind, I could almost imagine Balor reaching out toward us, summoned by us speaking about him. “Let’s change the topic for a while. Why don’t you tell me about your journey around the globe, and how you changed the way you perform magic.”

Luna leaned back and stared out the window for so long that I thought she wasn’t going to speak. “My life has been lonely. I stayed in South America for nearly a hundred years, wandering and waiting, thinking you may have been imprisoned and searching for news.” She paused, and I felt the ocean of time stretching between us. “Then I moved east toward Europe. The majority of the witch trials had ended, and the witches who remained were forging new lives for themselves, taking on new roles in the community to allow them to hide in plain sight.”

“I remember those days,” I replied. “Lycans were eradicated, wolves hunted into near extinction. Balor had been killing other magic users so he could control most of the Americas. They had been dark days and the rebellion was living in caves with nothing but our instincts to survive.”

“It’s a miracle any of us survived,” Luna said. “The world seemed to turn its back on mysticism and magic and want scientific explanations. We had to learn to blend in.”

I barked out a laugh at her disgusted expression. The last thing a dire wolf wanted to do was pretend to be a normal human, living a life of civility. Luna rolled her eyes, and started to laugh. Something happened in that moment, and it felt as if a barrier that existed between us evaporated.

I relaxed back in my seat as the car ate the miles away as we chatted about the adventures we had both been on over the years. What struck me was how similar our paths had been, almost as if we had been mirroring each other. We had been half a world away from each other, and yet we were still two halves of the one whole.

My wolf soothed at being so close to our mate. Luna hadn’t dismissed the idea of being mated, just that she needed time for us to get to know each other. I didn’t care if I had to abduct her and make her my prisoner until she realised she belonged in my life, I intended to keep her forever.