Willing Sacrifice Read online

  Praise for Shannon K. Butcher’s

  Novels of the Sentinel Wars

  Falling Blind

  “A taut mixture of action and suspense.”

  —Smexy Books Romance Reviews

  Dying Wish

  “A superb paranormal suspense.”

  —Genre Go Round Reviews

  “Butcher’s rise to the top of the paranormal and romantic suspense genres has been swift. . . . Her hallmark is consistent, superior storytelling that combines emotional punch with high-adrenaline danger—a recipe that can’t miss!”

  —Romantic Times

  Living Nightmare

  “There’s only one way to describe this book to me: fabulous!”

  —Night Owl Reviews

  “[An] action-packed story of the brooding and angry warrior Madoc and his journey to the future. This series rocks!”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “Utilizing her ability to combine excellent characterization with riveting danger, rising star Butcher adds another fascinating tier to her expanding world. You are always guaranteed generous portions of pulse-pounding action and romance in a Butcher tale!”

  —Romantic Times

  “Ms. Butcher’s written word began to grab hold of my imagination and lead me on a ride unlike anything I have read before.”

  —Coffee Time Romance & More

  Running Scared

  “What an entertaining and thrilling series! The characters are forever evolving, secrets are revealed, powers are found, new details come to life, and love is the cause of it all. I love it!”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “Superb storytelling. . . . I am amazed how Ms. Butcher’s intricacies and subplots continue to expand the story without bogging down the overall plot.”

  —Romance Junkies

  “This book jumps right in the fray and keeps you hooked till the end, and I was unable to put it down. Emotionally dark, this is a wonderful blending of paranormal romance and urban fantasy [with] many twists and turns.”

  —Smexy Books Romance Reviews

  Finding the Lost

  “Exerts much the same appeal as Christine Feehan’s Carpathian series, what with tortured heroes, the necessity of finding love or facing a fate worse than death, hot lovemaking, and danger-filled adventure.”

  —Booklist

  “A terrific grim thriller with the romantic subplot playing a strong supporting role. The cast is powerful, as the audience will feel every emotion that Andra feels, from fear for her sister to fear for her falling in love. Finding the Lost is a dark tale, as Shannon K. Butcher paints a forbidding, gloomy landscape in which an ancient war between humanity’s guardians and their nasty adversaries heats up in Nebraska.”

  —Alternative Worlds

  “A very entertaining read. . . . The ending was a great cliff-hanger and I can’t wait to read the next book in this series. . . . A fast-paced story with great action scenes and lots of hot romance.”

  —The Book Lush

  “Butcher’s paranormal reality is dark and gritty in this second Sentinel Wars installment. What makes this story so gripping is the seamlessly delivered hard-hitting action and wrenching emotions. Butcher is a major talent in the making.”

  —Romantic Times

  Burning Alive

  “A wonderful paranormal debut. . . . Shannon K. Butcher’s talent shines.”

  —New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh

  “Starts off with nonstop action. Readers will race through the pages, only to reread the entire novel to capture every little detail . . . a promising start for a new voice in urban fantasy/paranormal romance. I look forward to the next installment.”

  —A Romance Review (5 roses)

  “This first book of the Sentinel Wars whets your appetite for the rest of the books in the series. Ms. Butcher is carving her way onto the bestseller lists with this phenomenal nonstop ride that will have you preordering the second book the minute you put this one down.”

  —Affaire de Coeur (5 stars)

  “Absorbing. . . . Butcher skillfully balances erotic, tender interactions with Helen’s worries, and intriguing secondary characters further enhance the unusual premise. Fans of Butcher’s romantic suspense novels will enjoy her turn toward the paranormal.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Ms. Butcher offers fresh and delightfully creative elements in this paranormal romance, keeping readers engaged as the story unfolds. Burning Alive is a well-crafted beginning to this exciting new series, and will have fans of the genre coming back for the next adventure in the Sentinel Wars.”

  —Darque Reviews

  “An exciting romantic urban fantasy. . . . Shannon K. Butcher adds her trademark suspense with plenty of tension and danger to the mix of a terrific paranormal thriller.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  “Burning Alive is Shannon K. Butcher’s first foray into paranormal romance and what a doozy it is! Filled with sizzling love scenes, great storytelling, and action galore; fans of paranormal romance will rejoice to have Ms. Butcher finally join the genre!”

  —ParaNormal Romance

  “A different twist on the paranormal genre. . . . Shannon K. Butcher has done a good job with Burning Alive, and I will definitely be reading the next in the series.”

  —Fallen Angel Reviews

  NOVELS OF THE SENTINEL WARS

  Falling Blind

  Bound by Vengeance

  (A Penguin Special)

  Dying Wish

  Blood Hunt

  Living Nightmare

  Running Scared

  Finding the Lost

  Burning Alive

  THE EDGE NOVELS

  Edge of Sanity

  Razor’s Edge

  Living on the Edge

  WILLING SACRIFICE

  THE SENTINEL WARS

  SHANNON K. BUTCHER

  SIGNET

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 375 Hudson Street,

  New York, New York 10014

  USA | Canada | UK | Ireland | Australia | New Zealand | India | South Africa| China

  penguin.com

  A Penguin Random House Company

  First published by Signet, an imprint of New American Library,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC

  Copyright © Shannon K. Butcher, 2014

  Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

  REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

  ISBN 978-1-101-62783-9

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Version_1

  Contents

  Praise

  Other Novels by Shannon K. Butcher

  Title page

  Copyright page

  Dedication

  Character List

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chap
ter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  For Terri L. Austin, a fabulous writer and even better friend

  Character List

  Drake Asher: Theronai warrior, bonded to Helen Day

  Briant Athar: Sanguinar

  Connal Athar: Sanguinar

  Logan Athar: Sanguinar, blood hunter, Hope Serrien’s mate

  Aurora: Athanasian servant

  Cain Aylward: Theronai warrior, Sibyl’s protector

  Angus Brinn: Theronai warrior, bonded to Gilda

  Gilda Brinn: the Gray Lady, Theronai, bonded to Angus

  Maura Brinn: Theronai, Sibyl’s twin sister

  Sibyl Brinn: Theronai, Maura’s twin sister

  Canaranth: Synestryn, Zillah’s second-in-command

  Meghan Clark: blooded human

  Helen Day: the Scarlet Lady, Theronai, bonded to Drake Asher

  Eron: Athanasian prince

  Neal Etan: Theronai warrior

  Madoc Gage: Theronai warrior

  John Hawthorne: blooded human

  Mabel Hennesy: blooded human

  Dakota Kacey: Theronai, bonded to Liam Lann

  Lexi Johns: the Jade Lady, Theronai, bonded to Zach Talon

  Nicholas Laith: Theronai warrior

  Liam Lann: Theronai warrior, bonded to Dakota Kacey

  Samuel Larsten: Theronai warrior

  Thea Lewis: human woman living at Dabyr

  Tynan Leygh: Sanguinar

  Lucien: Athanasian prince

  Andra Madison: the Sapphire Lady, Theronai, bonded to Paul Sloane

  Nika Madison: Theronai, Andra’s sister

  Victoria (Tori) Madison: Theronai, sister to Andra and Nika

  Torr Maston: Theronai warrior

  Beth Mays: blooded human, Ella’s sister

  Ella Mays: blooded human, Beth’s sister

  Jake Morrow: human, member of the Defenders of Humanity

  Blake Norman: human, Grace Norman’s stepbrother

  Grace Norman: blooded human, Gerai

  Jackie Patton: Theronai, daughter of Lucien, bonded to Iain Terra

  Andreas Phelan: Slayer, leader of the Slayers

  Lyka Phelan: Slayer, Andreas’s half sister

  Joseph Rayd: Theronai warrior, leader of the Sentinels

  Viviana Rowan: the Bronze Lady, Theronai, bonded to Neal Etan

  Hope Serrien: Logan Athar’s mate

  Cole Shepherd: blooded human

  Alexander Siah: Sanguinar

  Paul Sloane: Theronai warrior, bonded to Andra Madison

  Carmen Taite: blooded human, Gerai, cousin to Vance and Slade Taite

  Slade Taite: blooded human, Gerai, cousin to Carmen, brother to Vance

  Vance Taite: blooded human, Gerai, cousin to Carmen, brother to Slade

  Zach Talon: Theronai warrior, bonded to Lexi Johns

  Iain Terra: Theronai warrior, bonded to Jackie Patton

  Morgan Valens: Theronai warrior

  Zillah: Synestryn lord

  Chapter 1

  Kansas, November 9

  Torr Maston would rather have fought a hundred poisonous demons bare-handed than face the man lounging on his motel room bed.

  Nicholas Laith pointed the remote at the crappy TV, not even glancing away from it as Torr stepped out of the cramped bathroom. If Nicholas had found him, then more of his brothers would be close behind. They’d all gang up on him, try to convince him that he should return home. And when that failed, words would turn to force.

  Torr really didn’t want to hurt any of his brothers.

  “Nice shower?” asked Nicholas. His face was heavily scarred, the crisscrossing marks making it hard to read the man’s expression.

  “How did you get in?”

  “Electronic key card lock. Easy to open.”

  Torr silently cursed Nicholas’s techie skills as he forced his words out slow and even. “Why are you here?”

  “You asked me to come.”

  “No, I didn’t.” Company was the last thing Torr wanted. Isolation was better. Easier.

  “Not directly, maybe, but you definitely issued a challenge by disappearing like you did. You knew I’d have to come looking for you just to see if I could find you.” A grin creased his scar lines. “Surprise. I win.”

  Torr instinctively moved toward his sword, only to find that it had been relocated. His sword belt was on the nightstand across the room rather than propped just outside the bathroom door, where he’d left it. “How’d you find me?”

  The man who’d been his friend a lifetime ago—before Torr’s world had been shattered—shrugged and switched to the next TV station. “You didn’t make it easy. Ditched your cell phone. Ripped out the truck’s tracking devices. Never used any plastic. You really shouldn’t have challenged me like that if you didn’t want me to come find you.”

  Torr’s hand tightened into a fist on the damp terry cloth around his hips. “Do you think, maybe, that I disappeared because I didn’t want you to find me?”

  Nicholas shrugged again and paused for a commercial selling videos of drunken young women lifting their shirts for the camera. “Don’t care what you want. It’s time to come home.”

  “No.”

  “No? That’s it? I track you down after you being AWOL for seven months, and you just refuse to come back? I found you fair and square. That means I win and you have to come home.”

  “Since you’re apparently no good at taking the not-so-subtle hints I left behind that I want to be alone, I thought I should make it easy for you to understand. I don’t know how to be any clearer than a single word with only two letters.”

  “You’ve pouted long enough. Time to move on. Get back to work.”

  “Pouting? You think that’s what I’ve been doing?”

  “I know you loved the woman, but she’s gone now.” Nicholas’s voice dipped low, to that gray area between sympathy and pity.

  A flash of rage ignited just beneath Torr’s skin. One second he was standing several feet away from Nicholas. The next, he had his brother-in-arms pinned against the wall with a forearm digging into his throat.

  The skin between the scars on Nicholas’s face darkened from the lack of air, but the man didn’t fight back. He just stared at Torr, his bright blue gaze calm. Accepting.

  Torr wished Nicholas would fight back. Smashing heads would have gone a long way toward distracting him from his misery.

  But Nicholas didn’t fight. He didn’t even blink. No way could Torr hit a man who wasn’t fighting back.

  With a feral growl, Torr shoved away from his brother and stalked across the room.

  Nicholas rubbed at the bruise already forming on his neck. “I’ll let Joseph know you’re not fit for duty.”

  For some reason that pissed Torr off even more than if Nicholas had tried to drag him back. “I fight fine. I just need you all to leave me alone.”

  “So you can get yourself killed?” Nicholas shook his head and started texting. “I don’t think so. You need to stay out of the field until your head’s screwed on straight.”

  “I don’t take orders from you.”

  “Are you still taking them from Joseph? Or have you stopped giving a shit about everything you used to hold dear?”

  “I vowed to fight, to protect humans, to kill Synestryn. And that’s what I’ve been doing. It’s what I’ll continue to do whether you, Joseph or anyone else likes it or not.”

  “Until one of the Synestryn brings you down. Which will
be soon if your state of distraction is any clue.”

  “I’m not distracted.”

  “No? Then how did I find you? I’ve been on your trail for a couple of days now, keeping my distance. You never noticed me once.”

  “Maybe you’re just that good.”

  He snorted. “Or maybe I’m not and you’re in no condition to fight alone. I know losing Grace has upset you, but—”

  “Upset me?” Torr stripped off the towel and started dressing so that he wouldn’t attack his friend again. “I’m so far past upset I can’t even find a word to fit where I am.”

  Nicholas’s tone turned gentle. “You will get over her. You’ve been alive long enough to know it’s true. It sucks, but it’s true.”

  “I don’t want to get over her. I want to be with her.”

  “It’s not possible. Even if she survived, she’s on another world.”

  “I know that,” growled Torr as he fastened his jeans and belted his sword around his hips.

  “You have to let her go.”

  “Don’t tell me what I have to do. I know all the platitudes, all the hollow advice. Move on, stay strong, life goes on.” He couldn’t bring himself to look at his brother as he confessed, “I love her. She’s still out there. She may even need me. And there’s not a damn thing I can do to change any of that.”

  The metal disk attached to his back pressed against his spine as he bent over to lace up his boots.

  Grace had put the disk on him—embedded it in his flesh in an effort to save his life and reverse his paralysis. The magical device had worked, leaving him whole and strong. His wounds, his pain, his weakness—they were all hers now, slowly killing her human body and stealing from him the fragile spirit it housed. He would have done anything to take back those wounds and spare her, but the device worked in only one direction. She could heal him, but he couldn’t do a thing to help her.

  His sweet, selfless Grace had sacrificed herself for him, leaving him both grateful and furious.

  “There are a lot of things we can’t change,” said Nicholas, his voice ringing with absolute certainty—the kind that comes only from hard lessons learned. “And we’ve all lost people we love.”

  “Knowing other people suffer doesn’t make me suffer less. I just need to be alone. Why can’t you get that?”