Chapter 1

"You're going to love it, Nicole. It's... different. But it's my home."

Andrew Morris said that to me two days ago, his hand resting on my knee as we drove deeper into the Appalachian Mountains. His voice was warm, the way it always was. For two years, that warmth had been my anchor.

Now, that same voice was ice.

"She's the one. Take her."

I was on my knees on the cold, damp earth of his hometown. Rough hands held my arms, twisting them behind my back. The whole town seemed to be there, their faces grim and shadowed in the failing light.

Andrew stood a few feet away, his arm wrapped protectively around another woman. Jennifer Todd. I recognized her from the photos in his wallet, the ones he told me were of his "cousin." She was pretty, with a hard glint in her eyes that the photos never captured.

She was the one who spoke next, her voice dripping with satisfaction.

"You understand, don't you, Nicole? It was either you or me. And I've been chosen since I was a girl. It's not fair."

My mind couldn't process the speed of it all. The welcome dinner that turned into an ambush. The friendly smiles that vanished. The man I loved, the man I was going to marry, stood there as they tied my wrists with coarse rope.

"Andrew, what is this? What are you doing?" My voice was a choked whisper.

He wouldn't look at me. He just stared at a point over my head, his jaw tight. "It's for the good of the town, Nicole. We need to give the Forest Spirit a bride. To keep us safe. To make sure the crops grow."

He said it like he was explaining a business deal. Cold. Detached.

"A bride? A sacrifice?" The words felt insane on my tongue. "You brought me here to be a sacrifice?"

Jennifer laughed, a short, ugly sound. "Someone has to do it. Andrew loves me. He wasn't going to let them take me."

The town elders, two withered old men with dead eyes, stepped forward. They grabbed the rope tied to my wrists and pulled me forward.

"She'll be purified for three days," one of them rasped. "Then we make the offering."

Andrew finally looked at me then. His eyes were cold, empty. He had made his choice. I was just collateral damage.

They dragged me away from the village, into the dark woods that pressed in on all sides. The last thing I saw was Andrew pulling Jennifer into a tight embrace, kissing her like he used to kiss me.

The betrayal was a physical thing, a sickness that rose in my throat. I had run from a world of monsters and power centuries ago, seeking the simple, honest love of a mortal man.

And I had chosen him.