Free The Sacrifice by Mia McKimmy

female .
Then he remembered a conversation with his mother when he was young.
    Not long after his father had died,
she explained what it would be like when he met his true etamlous. The Sivadian term for the person
destined to share his life. Humans called them life-mates.
    She ’ d
said there would be an undeniable pull the moment he laid eyes on her. Check.
    The
need to be with her and protect her would be so strong nothing could stand in
its way. Check.
    If anything kept you apart, it would
forever feel like a piece of you were missing. God, I hope not.
    After
that conversation, Cy had felt sorry for his mother because she had to spend
the rest of her life without her true life-mate. She had suffered terribly
since his father ’ s death. Not wanting to add to her misery, he had
never brought it up again.
    The
subject was off limits with Miles, too. His young life-mate had died at the
hands of Haagons before they ’ d left Sivadia. After her death, he ’ d
watched his best friend self-destruct too many times to count. He ’ d
picked up bits and pieces from others, but because of his mother and Miles ’ loss,
and their resulting pain, he ’ d put it out of his mind. He ’ d
hoped to keep it there.
    When
they reached the compound, Riana got out of the Hummer. She kept her eyes cast
down, not meeting his gaze. In spite of himself, a wave of desire hit hard as
she walked away. A part of him he didn ’ t understand wanted
to run after her.
    “Get your head in the game, boy,” he
chided. “Put her out of your thoughts. The best thing you can do for her, and
everyone else is to find Vind and rip his cold blooded heart out . ”
    Cy looked up as Kam came around the
side of the vehicle with that aggravating grin on his face.
     “Can
we go now? If you ’ re finished being your own personal cheerleading
squad—”
    “ Shut up, Kam, ” Cy interrupted.
    “That ’ s
yours, Miles, and Oz ’ s favorite thing to say. I think I ’ ll
have it tattooed across my Johnson. Maybe it ’ ll remind me to do
less talking and I ’ ll get more action.”
     Cy
snorted. “Yeah, why don ’ t you do that? I want to be there when you get it.
Nothing would please me more than hearing you scream like a little girl. Besides,
more action is the last thing you need. If there ’ s
such a thing as overuse, it ’ s going to fall off and put you out of your
misery.” As soon as the words left his lips, he realized since he ’ d
met Riana, he was no different than Kam. The perpetual erection was driving him
mad with need.
    “It ’ s a
good thing there ’ s no such thing as overuse,” Kam said as he
crawled back in the driver ’ s seat. “Can ’ t have my little
buddy falling off my body.”
    Cy realized they did tell Kam to shut up
a lot. But, dang, sometimes that boy could get on your last nerve. Even if he
was one of the best Protectors they had.
    Cy and Kam left the compound and
headed back to the pub to join Miles in the search for Vind, and the monsters
he brought with him.

 

Chapter 9
     
    The full moon shone bright over the
compound as Riana and Elle walked back to the lodge.
    Elle
removed the band holding her hair back. “I never thought I ’ d
say this, but it ’ s kind of a relief to be back here.”
    “I
know. Finding that woman dead in the parking lot took a toll on everyone.” The
misery on Cy ’ s face as he stood over the woman ’ s
body popped into Riana ’ s mind.
    Elle
pointed toward the gym. “I ’ m going to see if it ’ s
still open. There ’ s no way I can sleep with all this pent-up
energy.”
    “You go right ahead. All I want is a
hot shower and a bed.”
    Riana went back to their quarters and
got her night clothes out for her shower. Someone knocked on the door. “What
did you do, forget your key?”
    She
unlocked the door, surprised when her mother stood there instead of Elle. “What
on earth are you doing here?” A flurry of movement to the left drew her
attention, and the commander