Chapter One
Beth Moore kept packing even as her heart was breaking and tears streamed down her face. Her sister, Abby, was watching her from the doorway, arms crossed over her thin, hollow chest, tears dried after she’d switched from anger to resignation a half dozen times. Beth stuffed clothes into the big, old suitcase she hadn’t taken out from underneath the bed in years. She packed most of her summer dresses, then thought twice, took some of them out, and threw in a few pants and long sweaters. Her favorite strappy, flowy dresses wouldn’t be of much use to her in the mountains. Or wherever she’d end up. She closed the suitcase. Before she turned to her sister, she wiped the tears with the back of her hand and blinked a few times.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this, Betty.” Her sister’s voice sounded defeated. “I can’t believe you’re leaving me.”
Beth marched up to her and placed her hands on her shoulders.
“I’m not leaving you! I’m trying to save you.”
Abby shook her head. Beth was taller than her, curvy, and healthy. She felt like a child next to her sister, and she hated it. They didn’t use to be that different. But that was before Abby got sick.
She placed her tiny hands on Beth’s wide waist and pulled her in. The tears were starting to come again. She sniffed and buried her face against her sister’s chest.
“The doctor said nine months. Best case scenario, twelve. And they won’t be easy months.”
Beth kissed the top of Abby’s head and smoothed down her frizzy hair. The frizzy hair of her wig, in fact.
“I want you here. I need you here, with me,” Abby pleaded. Though there was no more real insistence in her tone. She knew she’d lost the battle already. Beth had made her decision. “I want to spend the last days of my life with my sister. My only family.”
“The last days of your life are a long way ahead. Trust me. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Betty, I don’t...”
“Shh... it’s going to be okay. I’ll come back for you.”
“I don’t want you to come back for me. I want you to never leave.”
Beth sighed but didn’t say another word because Abby was crying again, and all she could do was hold her tight until she calmed down. She wiped more tears off her cheeks. There was nothing that she wanted more than to spend her every waking moment with her sister. But the cancer was back with a vengeance, and all the doctors they’d gone to had informed them, one by one, that there was nothing that modern medicine could do for Abby this time.
Modern medicine. More like... human medicine. Yes, that was the right word. Human. Beth happened to know of a different type of medicine that she was sure could save her sister’s life. It was called magic. Orc magic.
The problem was that orc magic was not available to humans. Since the orcs had landed in their dimension, years ago, since the war between the two species had ended with a peace treaty that was advantageous to both parties, the orcs had refused one thing and one thing alone – to share their magic. In recent years, there had been attempts to convince orcs to share at least a little bit of their knowledge, or to sell the potions they made, but the Orc Council had said no to all negotiations.
It made sense, Beth thought. Magic was the orcs’ greatest asset. Their most powerful weapon. Sharing even a bit of it with her species would’ve put them in danger. Not to mention that it would’ve possibly put the peace treaty in danger, because Beth was sure that if humans got their hands on magic, another war would start. Deadlier and more vicious. A war that might wipe out both species off the face of the earth.
Politics aside, Beth still needed the orcs’ magic. In the past few months, as she took her sister from one doctor to another, making her endure all kinds of tests and treatments, Beth had grown more and more convinced that the only thing that could save her sister and restore her health to the fullest was magic. But how would she get it? Where would she find an orc mage to help her?
There were hordes all over North America, living in the mountains and forests, in caves and abandoned towns. And each horde had a mage. Some had two, but those were rare.
Beth figured that the first step was to join a horde. And as a human female, there was only one way she could do that – by volunteering to become a tribute. Then an orc would choose her as his mate, and if she was lucky, that orc would be a horde captain. And then it would be up to her to make him fall in love with her so hard that he’d agree to do anything for her. Including to order his mage to save her sister’s life.
That was the plan. It was a good plan, and from where Beth stood, – with her bags packed, ready to go to an institute for orc brides, – it had no flaws.
“Betty, please...”
“Shh... It’s going to be okay. I’ll take care of you.” She kissed Abby once more, then gently pulled away. Abby didn’t cling to her, and Beth was relieved. Saying goodbye was hard. Even if it was only “goodbye for now”.
Their childhood friend, Missy, poked her head from the other room. She was munching on her lip, unsure if it was okay to interrupt the emotional moment.
“Are you ready? Do you want me to drive you?”
Beth smiled. “No, that’s okay. I’ll take a taxi.”
“Are you sure? It’s no trouble at all.”
“I’m sure.”
Missy was going to stay with Abby. Take care of her while Beth was away. She was a thirty-year-old registered nurse, and the three of them had been friends forever. Beth wouldn’t have dreamed of leaving Abby with someone else.