Goddess Sacrifice by M.W. Muse Page B

the same time, then whatever the sacrifice was, it was relevant to her change of somehow.
    “It appears your mother is trying to communicate with us. I’m not getting too much out of her, but I heard her say something about the oracle. Other than that, I can’t a read on her.”
    “Oracle? What do you mean? Do you know what this sacrifice is?”
    Lissa shook her head. Gods, Legacy wanted answers. This was too eerie to just let go. But beyond the weird vibe she got, there was a feeling that was much stronger.
    “Could this be bad?” she whispered.
    “Yes.”
    “How bad?” she asked as her body started to tremble. Oracles and sacrifices didn’t sound like child’s play here. Not that changing into a goddess was either, but that was something she was adjusting to.
    “Legacy, don’t worry about that now. You mother will do whatever she can to keep you safe. When you need to know something…when we need to know something, she won’t stop until her message comes through loud and clear.”
    Legacy nodded at Lissa, but no way was she ready to drop this topic. She immediately knew who she needed to talk to about this. The only one person who seemed to have all the answers—River. She’d been avoiding in depth talks about her change with him lately because she didn’t want to risk him finding out too much, but now she’d have to chance him finding out about the truth. If she was careful, though, maybe she would be able to get the answers she needed without divulging too much information about herself.
    Since Adin was busy helping with the party cleanup today, she had plenty of free time to seek out some answers. She called River and asked him to meet her at the park where they’d met over the summer. He agreed, and she immediately left, not wanting to waste one second. When she got there, he was already waiting at the picnic table.
    “Thanks for coming,” she said as she sat down across from him.
    “Why wouldn’t you explain what this is about on the phone? You sounded upset and it’s freaking me out. What’s wrong?”
    She sighed. “Sorry. My mind is totally preoccupied. I need some answers, but first there are some things I haven’t told you.” Things she was sure he wasn’t going to like hearing. She took a deep breath and forged ahead. “Er, at the beginning of school, Lissa said she was getting mixed signals about my change and—”
    “What?” River’s eyes got big. “Why didn’t you tell me this before? What’s wrong with your change?”
    “I don’t know.” She huffed at him. “And because it was around the time I initiated the no physical contract boundary, I didn’t want to risk pushing your limit.” Not entirely a lie.
    “Baby, you can come to me about anything.” River reached across the table and brushed her arm once before continuing. “Your safety, comfort, understanding…everything about you comes before my feelings for you. I would never let my love for you interfere with what you need.”
    She nodded and looked down at the table. She wasn’t venturing too far into that territory. “Anyway, I, er, had a dream last night, and I heard my mother say ‘sacrifice’ as I woke up. Lissa told me she’d heard this same word from my mother when she’d told me about the mixed signal thing. Then today, she said she heard my mother say something about an oracle. It’s obvious my mother is trying to contact us. I asked Lissa if she could be bringing bad news, and Lissa thinks that’s likely. I need your opinion on this. Oracles and sacrifices is a little too doomsday for my liking.”
    “I see.”
    She slumped a little, feeling some of the weight of the stress leave her as relief took its place. She knew River would make sense of this. “Then I need you to explain it all to me because I don’t.”
    River sighed. “Do you know what Laurel leaves are?”
    Legacy shook her head, but then frowned. “Actually, I heard Lissa talking about them once. In fact, I saw her crushing