The Sacrifice by Mia McKimmy Page A

finished with
class for the evening?”
    “Yes,
but I have to go back in a couple of hours for a one-on-one session with Kyra.
She says it ’ s to evaluate our skills. Personally, I believe
she intends to give us a beat-down to put us in our place. She was a little too
excited about it for my liking.”
    “Yeah,
since her little sister came to live with her, she doesn ’ t
get to fight in the field very often.” He might need to have a talk with Kyra,
make sure she wasn ’ t being too rough with the trainees.
    An idea popped into his mind. “I was
headed down to the stables on the other side of the lake. We use horses to
patrol the periphery of the compound. Would you like to come along to keep me
company?”
    She smiled, and her full, pink lips,
drew him in. He wanted to pull her in, brush his lips across them and feel
their softness.
    “Do I get to ride a horse?” Riana
asked.
    “Have you ridden before?”
    Light
danced in her eyes. “I ’ ve ridden a few times.”
    “Okay,
we have a mare that ’ s gentle. You can ride her.” He would have
preferred to have her ride with him, her arms wrapped around his waist,
snuggled close to his back. He pushed the thought from his head.
    What
am I thinking? I can ’ t even look at her without becoming hard.
Riding a horse in that condition is probably not the smartest move.
    They walked past the lodges, and then
past the lake.
    “This place is beautiful.” Riana said,
looking up at the high mountains.
    “Yes.
I ’ ve enjoyed living here. People are more laid back
than some other places we ’ ve been. Because of the feeders in town, we ’ ll
probably have to change our location sooner than I ’ d
hoped.”
    “How often do you change locations?”
    “If
undetected, we ’ ll stay between ten to fifteen years. That ’ s
why we build the compounds like a resort. It ’ s easier to sell when
we move on.”
    They
strolled across an arched, wooden bridge over a creek, and a large barn came
into view. As they entered the stables, the scent of hay and horses mixed with
a hint of manure filled the air. Cy went past several stalls before reaching
the mare he had in mind for Riana. She had stopped at a stall holding a large
stallion. Cy wasn ’ t surprised. The animal was one of the most
beautiful he ’ d ever seen, golden brown with white socks and a
white star between his eyes.
    Riana ’ s
arm reached through the gate and stroked the horse ’ s
neck. “Hey, boy,” she whispered. She glanced at Cy. “Can I ride this one?”
    “Tonka
has a bit of a stubborn streak… doesn ’ t
always do what he ’ s told.”
    She
looked at him from beneath long, thick lashes. “I guess that ’ s
something we have in common. We should get along splendid.”
    Great.
    How could he deny her anything when
those emerald eyes sparkled? Hell, how could he deny her anything, period?
    “Okay, but you need to stay close, in
case he decides to act up.”
    Riana ’ s
entire face lit to match her eyes. He ’ d do anything to keep
that expression there. The veil of darkness that had surrounded him for
centuries began to lift, allowing in a long forgotten light.
    Cy
saddled the horses and led them outside. He was about to ask if she needed help
mounting her horse when she put a foot in the stirrup and slung her leg over.
God, she looked good sitting up there. Her body was relaxed and confident, like
she ’ d done this a thousand times.
    “You look like a natural.”
    “ Elle’ s uncle owns a horse ranch in Wyoming. Every summer we spent several
weeks with him. We could barely pry ourselves from the horses long enough to
eat and sleep.”
    “You and she must have been friends a
long time.”
    “Since
we were children. My mother worked a lot, so I spent most of my time at Elle ’ s
house.”
    Cy
mounted the black stallion he ’ d chosen to ride. “We ’ ll
take this trail over to the rock wall circling the compound. There ’ s a
wide path that follows the fence.”
    They
rode at a