The Ultimate Sacrifice, Talia Jager [novels to read .TXT] 📗

gasp. It grew more intense as the seconds passed until I mercifully blacked out.

I woke in the car with my head on Mira’s lap. She was stroking my hair. As I became more aware, the pain got worse. I moaned a little.

“Kassia?”

“Mmmm?”

“How are you feeling?”

“It hurts.” Tears ran down my cheeks.

She smiled down at me and wiped my tears away. “I’m sure it does. It should heal quickly though.”

“Where are we going?” I tried to sit up, but my stomach churned and bile filled my throat.

“You shouldn’t do that.” She gently pushed me back down. “Those cuts were nasty. It’s only been a few hours. Tomorrow will be better.” I kept gagging. “Better pull over, I think she’s gonna hurl!”

Zane quickly pulled to the side, and Mira helped me out of the car. Every movement was extremely painful, but once we were clear of the car, I threw up. Mira stayed with me, rubbing my back until I was done. I wiped my face with my shirt. She handed me a bottle of water, and I rinsed my mouth out.

A few minutes later, I carefully climbed back in the car and lay back down on Mira’s lap. Trying to maintain my composure, I silently cried. I thought about the size of the demons, the ones that had actually attacked me. They were small. If the wounds from them could hurt this bad, I couldn’t imagine what the bigger ones would feel like.

Once we were back on the road, I asked again, “Where are we going?”

“No idea,” Auralee said. “Figured we’d drive until we felt safe.”

“Could you hear them?” I asked her.

“Yes and no.” She ran her hand up the back of her hair and rested it on her head. “I could hear chatter. There weren’t any words, not English ones anyway. It sounded like background noise or static. It got quite loud in my head, but I couldn’t understand any of it.”

“What about Zane?” I asked. He could talk to different things.

“I wasn’t exactly trying to have a conversation with any of them,” he answered.

“Oh, right.” Exhausted, I shut my eyes. But every time I fell asleep, I would see the demons’ eyes…red, empty, dead…staring at me, wanting me…and I would jerk awake. Mira just kept talking softly to me as she stroked my hair, and I finally fell back into a deep sleep.

The next time I woke, we were at a gas station. Zane and Daxton were outside the car filling it up. “I need to go to the bathroom,” I told Mira.

“Okay, the four of us will go.”

“I don’t want to move.”

She smiled sympathetically. “I’ll help you.”

Pain shot through my body as I made my way out of the car. At one point, I thought I was going to vomit again, but somehow I held it down. We walked to the bathroom and each took turns going. I splashed water on my face and rinsed my mouth out again. I tried to peek in the mirror at my shoulder, but I couldn’t get a good view.

“It’ll be better tomorrow,” Noe said, forcing a smile. “There will be scars though.”

“Great,” I mumbled.

“You were amazing back there,” Auralee complimented.

I laughed. “I’m sure it was a sight to see.”

“It was over so quick.”

“Felt like forever,” I said. “Death stare.”

“What?”

“That’s what I’m calling it. My death stare kills.”

Mira scoffed. “Of course you named it.”

I shrugged. “Seemed appropriate.”

She laughed and threw a paper towel in the trash.

We all stood there looking at one another in the gas station restroom. I’m sure even that was quite a sight. We put our arms around each other and managed to do a group hug. “We better go.”

Auralee peeked out the door to make sure it was safe. She waved to us, and we hurried to the car. Noe had said we could go east now. By the morning we were headed out of Arizona and into New Mexico. The pain was better just like everyone had said. It wasn’t completely gone, but I imagined it would be by the next day.

The car was feeling cramped, and we all needed some good horizontal sleep. We agreed on getting a hotel room for the night. We took two-hour shifts that night so that everyone could get about six hours of sleep. I actually slept. Now that my nightmares were coming true, I didn’t have to dream about them. Or maybe my mind was too tired to dream.

The next morning, the pain was completely gone. In the bathroom, I found a scar on my side and a good-size one on my leg. I couldn’t see the one on my back, but I could feel it with my fingers.

When I came out of the bathroom, Daxton waved me over to him. “We’re going to start keeping our daggers on us.” He lifted up his pant leg to show me his.

Mira pulled up her shorts. Her dagger was attached around her thigh. “Not quite comfortable, but hidden and accessible.”

“Okay, do mine.”

She nodded and attached mine to the inside of my thigh. “When you wear pants, you can put it at the bottom like the guys.”

“Got it.”

“Look at your leg! It’s healed.”

“Not bad. I thought the scar might be worse,” Auralee commented.

The scar was a long, jagged line. It didn’t look pretty, but it was better than I could have hoped. I glanced over at Daxton, wondering what he thought of it. He smiled back at me and winked. I hoped that meant he wouldn’t find me less attractive.

Auralee stood up, and reading her shirt, I rolled my eyes. The universe is laughing behind your back. Sure felt like it!

This time, Daxton drove and I rode shotgun. We spent two days in the car before stopping at another hotel. I was alone for a brief moment when everyone went to get some food. It felt good to have that moment of privacy…not that I didn’t love my friends and appreciate everything they were doing for me, but it just felt nice to be alone, and what did I do with that time? I completely broke down. I sunk to the bathroom floor, pulled my knees to my chest, and sobs shook my body.

I’m not sure how long I sat on the cold tile before Daxton walked in. He sat down next to me. I rested my head on my knees so he wouldn’t see my smeared make-up face. “Kass...” he whispered. “Where do you want to go?”

I didn’t even have to think about it. “A white sand beach.”

He put his arms around me, and I closed my eyes. “How’s this one?” he asked.

I opened my eyes and looked around. The beautiful beach reminded me of pictures I had seen of the Caribbean. Immediately, the rhythmic pounding of waves comforted me, repressing all of my fears. The ocean was a deep turquoise, and I could stare at it forever. The white sand was pure as snow. I was barefoot in this world. I curled my toes into the sand, which was warm and smooth.

I walked over to where the waves were crashing onto the beach and sat down, sticking my feet into the warm water. Daxton silently sat next to me. Each wave would touch my toes and then pull back, only to repeat again. I felt peaceful. There was nothing like this feeling. If only we could stay here forever, a place without demons, a place where I didn’t have this horrible gift.

I closed my eyes and lay back on the sand, absorbing the sun’s warmth. The sun hadn’t moved since we entered this world. I giggled, wondering if I could get sunburned here. “What’s so funny?” Daxton asked, lying down next to me.

“Nothing. I’m just being silly.”

He ran his hand up my leg and traced my new scar. I was surprised the scar had followed me into dreamland. I shivered looking at it. It brought back unpleasant memories. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“Why are you sorry?”

“I couldn’t protect you.” He kept on tracing the scar. “I’m a man and my gift is only being a dreamer. I’m not a fighter like you. I want to be. I want to protect you.”

“These dreams are amazing,” I said. “I don’t know what I’d do without this escape of yours.”

“Pfft.” He looked into my eyes. “Watching you battle demons is unnatural, it’s wrong. I should’ve been the one protecting you.”

“No.” I touched his face. “Nobody should have to do that.”

“You’re so strong.” He smiled.

I laughed. “I’m only strong because I have to protect my friends. I’m not so sure I’d be strong if I was just by myself.”

“You would be. You’re the strongest person I know,” he said, looking into my eyes. “And the most beautiful.” He leaned closer to me and kissed me. After he pulled away, we lay there for a long time.

When I felt completely at peace, I rolled over and said, “I suppose we should get back.”

“I suppose,” he agreed. Within a few seconds we were back in the bathroom.

I glanced over at him. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

He stood and pulled me up. I glanced in the mirror. Mascara was streaked all down my face. “I should clean up.” He nodded and kissed me before stepping out of the bathroom.

I heard voices as I washed my face and reapplied some make-up. I felt so much better, like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. When I walked out of the bathroom, all five of my friends were looking at the map trying to figure out what to do next. Noe was talking. “Something dark is coming, but I can’t see when or where.”

I sure didn’t like the sound of that. Something dark? I thought about sneaking away again to protect them, but Auralee shot me a look. Stop getting in my head! I yelled at her. She shook hers. Wouldn’t you want to protect us if the roles were reversed? She shot me another look, but she didn’t answer.

Zane was pointing at something. “Let’s go this way.”

“It’s as good a plan as anything,” Daxton said.

Noticing that I was in the room, Mira asked, “You okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

The next morning, I was sipping a cappuccino watching out the hotel window when I saw some movement in the trees. My body tensed and I waited nervously, trying to see what it was. Calm down, I told myself. It’s probably just an animal. No need to get all freaked out. Then I saw it again. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up, and I started shaking as the fear set in.

This cat-hound was using its big nose to sniff the ground. It was all black, like a 3D shadow. I was about to scream when it looked up right at me. I swear the thing smiled. Then it looked like it howled, but I couldn’t hear anything. The cup dropped from my hands and hit the floor with a loud clang.

“Kassia!” Mira came bounding out of the bathroom. “What? What is it?”

I pointed out the window and she ran over.

“Shit,” she swore. “Can you…kill it…from here?”

“I don’t know.” I didn’t take my eyes off the monster.

“Try.”

I concentrated on the demon, letting the anger fill my body once again, and wished him dead in my head. But he didn’t seem to be in any pain. I tried another time with the same result. “I don’t think it’s working.”

“Keep trying.” I heard her open the door.