Goddess Sacrifice by M.W. Muse Page A

chest in front of her face while he stroked her hair. The actions seemed automatic, and not very comforting.
    “I’m sorry you had to see me with her,” Adin whispered.
    She shrugged. She didn’t trust her voice to speak. She felt pissed and sad and irritated. She could be both pissed and irritated if she wanted to be.
    “I know how much I hate seeing you with River, so I know how you felt tonight.”
    She nodded against him. “Um, do you think she said those things because she knows something I don’t, or do you think she was just trying to make me mad?”
    “I don’t know, sweetheart. I don’t want her to know anything about you, so I don’t talk about you with her.” Adin sighed. “I think that’s why she showed up tonight. She’s so curious about my relationship with you because it’s such a mystery to her. I guess she wanted to see for herself since I don’t talk about it.”
    “But you asked her not to come?”
    “Yeah,” he breathed.
    “Do you think it’s a coincidence that she wore that costume?” She sure as hell did not.
    “No. I figured she conned one of my fraternity brothers into telling her what I was wearing.”
    She sighed, and Adin squeezed her tighter.
    “You were the most beautiful woman there tonight. You’re always the most beautiful woman to me, and I’m not just talking about your outer beauty.”
    “Yeah, but I was kind of ugly tonight.” She knew she’d smarted off to the heifer. Yep, still pissed.
    “You were provoked, sweetheart.”
    She shrugged. She really wasn’t provoked. Venus had just stared at her before she’d mouthed off. “I should have continued to ignore her.”
    Adin pulled away from Legacy and put both of his hands on her cheeks. “You didn’t do anything wrong tonight. Do you understand me?”
    She half-smiled at him. She didn’t really believe that, but at least Adin believed in her. Knowing that made the bitter pill of Venus easier to swallow…and not vomit it right back up. She gritted her teeth as she thought about that wretched creature. Sensing her unease, Adin wrapped his arms around her again and held her while she stewed silently. He continued to hold her against him until she fell asleep on the couch, the knowledge of Adin’s unwavering belief in her the last lingering thought before darkness claimed her.
     

Chapter Seven
     
    Sacrifice.
    Legacy shot out of bed, looking around her room, confused. Adin must have carried her to bed after she’d fell asleep last night. Her hands tingled, growing hotter as an image lingered in her mind. She shot up, clenching the covers against her chest and breathing heavily. She’d had a dream. She hadn’t woken up like this before, so she quickly thought back over her dream to figure out what element was new or different.
    Sacrifice.
    The only new image she had was of the image of her mother, but Legacy only remembered seeing her in her dream for a split second. She couldn’t recall anything that was said except for the word sacrifice. That had been the same word Lissa had told her about before, so she wondered if her mother was trying to communicate with her.
    Legacy got dressed and headed downstairs. She needed to talk to Lissa and see if there was a connection to this word and her change. If so, what was she supposed to sacrifice? Of course, that was assuming the word was something literal and with her dreams, there was no telling if it was that or some kind of metaphor for something else. Lissa was sitting quietly on the couch, staring outside the window, but turned to face Legacy when she walked in.
    “Did you get a message too?” Lissa asked as Legacy sat down beside her.
    “Too? What did you hear this time? Yes, I got a message. My mother was in my dream last night, but I woke up remembering the word sacrifice. You mentioned this word before. What’s going on?” Legacy fired off the questions one after another, faster than her brain could process. If Lissa had also gotten a message at