Free Sacrifice (Revelations Book 1) by Mia Bishop

trainable."
    "It remains to be seen just how trainable she is. Don't forget her mind is still mostly human, training her to fight and to kill might be more than her psyche can handle. We may just break her before we make her."
    "Either way as long as the Gate doesn't open makes no difference to us."
    "Cold, Meri, real cold."
    "Coming from you I should almost be insulted, but I'm sure you've said far worse to the girl." She stood up and smoothed out her clothes. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a wolf I need to go see. The sun is almost down, are you taking the creature out tonight?"
    Nico cleared the bottles from the table. "Nah, I think we've had enough excitement for her first day."
    "Suit yourself." She made her way to the door and paused glancing back in the direction of Abby in the corner. The fiery Striga shook her head and left the house without another word.
    Nico leaned back in his chair eyeing the darkness. "You going to come out?"
    "Maybe."
    Her eyes glowed red from the shadows. He sat back down at the table and drummed his fingers against the wood. "Would you like a written invitation?"
    Her voice cracked. "Why are you all cruel to me?"
    "Is a vampire really about to cry over being insulted by some humans?"
    Abby came out of the darkness, her eyes shimmering as they changed from red to brown, and lifted her chin defiantly. "She is not human... You both talked about me like I wasn't even here. Like I was some second class citizen. I'm human, damn it, you said it yourself. I wasn't bitten."
    He wiped his hand over his face and groaned. "You are still an abomination." He regretted the words as soon as they came out, but there was no taking them back now.
    "You keep saying that but where is your proof? My fangs, my eyes, my hunger for blood? They are all a spell, it's not me on a biological level. Look at what Arveda did to you with a spell, how is it any different than the spell someone put on me? Everyone thought you were a sexual predator because of her magick, but it didn't make you one, right? A spell was cast on me, now everyone thinks I’m a vampire. It doesn’t actually make me one."
    She was huffing and puffing and her eyes fluctuated between lethal red and their harmless chocolate color. He nodded as his eyes stayed locked on her. She was magick of a whole different kind, a tiny spark ignited inside him. Nico tried to ignore it but it still flickered in the darkness that filled him. The conviction in her argument sang to his soul. He wanted to believe in her. Concepts and beliefs couldn’t change overnight, but he was having one hell of a definite shift. His mind might be set on the fact she's a creature of pure evil, but his soul wasn't as easily convinced. He needed more time, he needed to see what she was capable of, see if she was able to restrain herself and learn.
    Most of all he needed answers, but he was fairly certain the man upstairs wasn't going to be giving him any answers anytime soon. "You make a good point, Abby."
    She crossed her arms as if she assumed his words might be condescending.
    He patted the now empty seat and waited for her to sit down in a huff. "No really, you do make a good point. I need to recognize you might be different than a regular vampire, but you will need to give me time to collect some evidence. I don't go by blind faith anymore. I need proof. While we're getting to know each other why don't we do this, we'll focus on training you. You can work on controlling these new instincts of yours and I'll cool my attitude if you promise to work at this."
    "I promise."
    "Then you have my word. I'll tone down the way I talk to and about you. Deal?"
    She gave a small smile and warmth stirred in his gut as she tucked a long strand of her chocolate colored hair behind her ear. "Deal."

CHAPTER FIVE
    “Rise and shine.”
    Abby stretched on the rickety cot and ignored the slight mildew smell coming from her makeshift bed. “Is the sun still up?”
    “No, it set about five minutes