The Ultimate Sacrifice - Talia Jager (best ebook reader for laptop .txt) 📗

To join him voluntarily and be his bride or he’d have to force me. Obviously, I chose my own way.”

“Go on,” she encouraged.

“He said he wants to rule the world. Unleash demons until he has control.” I shuddered, remembering the look in his eyes. “He wants to play God. He wanted me by his side to make things easier. Said after training, I’d be able to kill thousands at a time, and he’d send me out to do this because people would trust me.” Vala handed me a drink of water, and I took a few sips.

I continued, “He said he had heard about me a long time ago, but I was untouchable because I was special. I was supposed to save the world. Apparently, when I killed those humans, that changed. He said I wasn’t pure anymore, and I could be his.” Tears fell down my cheeks.

“I threatened to kill him, but he just laughed and said it wasn’t possible. So I turned the dagger on myself. He thought I was joking. And then…I…I stabbed it into my heart. That’s all I remember.” I looked at Vala. “Is it true that he’s protected?”

“Somewhat,” she responded.

“What does that mean?”

“It means it will be very difficult to kill him.”

“How am I…alive?”

“Some of what he said was spot on. I believe the rumors are true. You are supposed to save the world. Just not single-handedly. With Kern after you, the only shot you had was death. It was a risk, and I wasn’t sure it would work. But I knew they would have searched until they captured you, and then they would have used you. So dying was your only option.” She paused for a moment.

“But you, Kassia, are more special than you realize. Not only were both your parents gifted as were your grandparents on all sides, but one of your mother’s grandmothers had angel blood.”

“Angel blood?” I asked, puzzled.

“Yes. Even the smallest amount will be dominant through all generations after that.”

“And you knew this?”

“Yes. I know many things. I have known your family for a long time. The daggers were not only made by faeries, but also sealed by angels. They kill demons, not angels. However, if stabbed directly in the heart, your heart will stop. Your body will seemingly die. Demons cannot remove the dagger, nor can they use it. If the dagger is removed properly, life is restored to the person with angel blood.”

“Amazing…” I whispered. “Why didn’t you tell us? Why didn’t Noe see it?”

Vala smiled. “I blocked her from seeing us right now and she can’t see the demons clearly. This was good because I needed this plan to work perfectly. I needed you to actually kill yourself, and I needed everyone to believe you were dead. I couldn’t let Kern be tipped off.”

“And what if I had missed my heart? Or what if they brainwashed me first?”

“They were both possibilities. This was your only hope, Kassia.”

I nodded then, completely believing that. “So, where is everybody?” I was excited to see my friends.

“On their way back to school.”

“What? Why?” That didn’t make sense. They wouldn’t have left me.

“They think you’re dead,” she said matter-of-factly.

“We need to call them, tell them!” I raised my voice. “They’ll come back.”

“No. We can’t.” Her cold expression didn’t change.

“Yes! We can! If you don’t have a phone, I’ll just go find a way back to school.”

“Kassia…” She tried taking my hand, but I pulled away. “They can’t know yet.”

A tear slid down my cheek. I didn’t want to sound conceited, but I knew they’d be crushed right now. They didn’t have to be because I was okay. “I don’t understand. Mira’s my best friend, and Daxton…I…I’m in love with him.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I wish this could be different.”

“It can be. We just have to tell them!”

“You want to protect them, right? That’s why you sacrificed yourself.”

“Yes.”

“This isn’t over. It won’t be until Kern is dead. Do you understand? You and your friends won’t be safe until he’s dead.”

“But you said it would be difficult to kill him.”

“Difficult yes, impossible no.” She was trying to hold back a smile. “His plan is to destroy the world. We can’t let him do that. We have to stop him. Unfortunately, you are not ready yet.” She paced around the room, muttering.

“There are a number of things that need to happen. First, I will take care of the spot where they left your body. I will make it look like animals got to you in case they go back to check. Second, you must remain ‘dead.’ They cannot know you are alive. Which means there is no going back to your previous life. Third, you need to train. You all need to train. Last, we need to kill Kern. In order to do that, we will need the help of the faeries and all of the gifted we can recruit.”

“But if we need the gifted, we need my friends. Why not tell them now?”

“You’re not ready, none of you! The school will train them; I’ve already seen that. They will train them physically and give them weapons training. They will be prepared for battle. But you need more training, special training, and that requires commitment, focus, and dedication. You can’t be thinking about your boyfriend or conversing with your best friend. I need you to train first.”

I sighed and closed my eyes. I could not believe what I was hearing. I didn’t want any of this. I wanted to go back to how things were. This wasn’t fair. I was only sixteen! I wanted to be gossiping with Mira and making out with Daxton, not training for an epic battle. I wanted to go home.

Then Kern’s face flashed in my head. Those evil eyes and wicked smile made me shudder even now. His words about sending the demons out to kill people echoed in my mind. He had to be stopped. I needed to protect my friends. My mind raced and finally wrapped around what she was saying. They couldn’t know I was alive yet. I had to do this for them.

I opened my eyes. “How long will it take? Are we talking years here?”

She looked away for a minute. “No. I almost wish we had that kind of time to get ready. It will happen before the year is over.”

“So…just so I know if I’m understanding this right. Are you saying that I’ll see my friends before the end of the year?”

“Yes.”

Relief flew through me. There were only a few months left in the year. As I thought about that, worry replaced the relief. “I’m supposed to be trained by then?”

“Yes.”

“How is that going to happen?”

“As soon as I know your body is healed, we are going to go to the only person I trust—a warlock. Together, he and I will train you properly. It will be grueling. The days will be long and you will want to give up,” she warned me. “But it will be worth it.”

“Vala, you say you know things?”

“Yes.”

“Everything?”

“Not everything.”

“Most things?”

“What are you getting at?”

“I know this sounds petty, but will you be able to tell if they’re okay…my friends? I hate the thought of them hurting.”

Her face softened. “You are very kind, Kassia.” She smiled. “I can…check on them for you.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“I want you to sleep now. I have to go deal with that first thing we talked about.”

“Okay.”

She handed me a clean shirt. “Change your shirt. I need to bring it with me.”

“Okay.” I took off the bloody one and put on the clean one. It was a little big, but it would work.

“I’m trusting you not to leave.”

As much as I wanted to, I knew this was too important. “I won’t.”

I lay back down on the bed. My mind was going a mile a minute and I thought of how Mira and Daxton must be feeling right now. Tears ran down my face again and I felt horrible for not being able to tell them. I wondered if they’d be able to forgive me. Then I wondered if they’d replace me. What if Daxton started dating Arian? What if Mira got a new roommate?

Mira...Mira wouldn’t forget. She wouldn’t replace me. We had never been apart for longer than a few hours in years. What was I going to do without her? I knew it was stupid to be thinking about such trivial things, but I was going to miss her teasing me about everything. I already missed her voice and her hugs. How was I supposed to get through months without her?

I cried until the tears wouldn’t come anymore. Then I yawned and soon succumbed to sleep.

I woke to humming in the morning. Turning over, I saw Vala cooking on her small stove. It smelled liked eggs. “Good morning, Kassia. How do you feel?”

“I think I’m okay.” I managed to sit up on my own.

“Very good. Come sit down and have some breakfast.”

Carefully, I slid off the bed. I wobbled for a second, but caught myself and walked to the table. My legs felt a little weak, but overall I felt okay. Weird, considering I was dead the day before.

After breakfast, she showed me to a bathroom I hadn’t seen before. “You can get cleaned up in here.”

“Thanks,” I said, stepping into the bathroom. I looked around and wondered how in the world this bathroom got into a cave on a mountain. I wasn’t complaining, just curious. Looking into a mirror, I was startled at my reflection. I was paler than usual, my hair was tangled, and I was dirty.

I stepped into the small shower and let the cool water fall on my body. It wasn’t hot the way I liked it, not even warm, but it wasn’t freezing either. I watched as the dirt and blood rinsed off my body and went down the drain. I shampooed my hair and scrubbed my body. I examined my chest again while in the shower. There was still no evidence of the dagger…I was amazed.

Once I dried off and brushed my hair, I looked back in the mirror. I was still on the pale side, but I looked a lot better. Much more like me. I found a new toothbrush lying on the sink; I opened it and brushed my teeth. It felt good to be clean. I dressed in some clean clothes she had laid out for me and exited the bathroom.

“Feel better?” Vala asked.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Good. I think you’ll be healed enough to travel tomorrow.”

“Where are we going?”

“North,” was all she said.

I stayed inside all day, sleeping, resting, and eating. I couldn’t stop thinking about Daxton and Mira; it was excruciating being away from them. I thought about going home and climbing into my bed with my satin sheets and my big, warm comforter. I hoped someday I’d be able to go home, but I wasn’t sure about anything anymore.

Vala woke me up at dawn the next morning. “Time to go.”

I got up and dressed. She handed me my dagger, the one I had used to kill myself. It was hard to believe it was the same one. It was clean now—all the blood had been wiped off. I stared at it for a minute, tracing the infinity sign with my finger before strapping it to my lower leg. After she fed me some breakfast, we left the cave. It was bright on the mountain, and the air was crisp. We