Sacrifice by Wrath James White Read Free Book Online

He had taken her to see Delilah that very first night. They left the bar together, but instead of taking her to his place he’d taken her to some kind of prayer session. After that night, Matt was all Linda could seem to talk about. She had broken her own rule and given him her phone number. They’ve been dating ever since. Linda attributed it all to that voodoo witch Matt had introduced her to.
    “You really have to meet her to understand. I have never felt so loved, so free, as I did the night I met Delilah. I used to make fun of people who were in love, remember? That’s because I was jealous and afraid. I had built up a wall around myself. I was so full of hatred back then. Delilah took all that away.”
    April hated to hear Linda talk about Delilah. She sounded like some fucking Jesus freak whenever her name came up. Her eyes would glaze over and she’d get this dopey grin on her face like she was high or something. It was the way you talked about someone you were in love with. April noticed that the man she was supposed to be in love with never seemed to bring out quite the same degree of adoration. She was affectionate with Matt and they were so sweet to each other it made April’s teeth hurt, but the way Linda’s entire demeanor changed when she spoke of Delilah was so much more intense. It almost made April envious in a way that seeing Linda grope her boyfriend never had. April thought she should at least see what the woman was all about. If she could turn someone like Linda around, maybe she could help April too.
    “And this chick Delilah is like the leader of this cult thing?”
    “It’s not a cult, April. Voodoo is a religion, but it’s not like what you see on TV. I mean, there are angels and demons and there’s God of course, but we worship love. That’s what Delilah gives us. She gives us love. She takes all the pain away.”
    “Whatever.”
    It sounded like what alcoholics said about hard liquor. April leaned her head against the passenger-side window and stared out at the shops along Eastern Avenue as they whizzed by, trying to hide the fact that she was terrified.
    They continued up Eastern into Seven Hills, past a huge golf course into a small gated community of big custom-built mansions. Linda and Matt were chatting excitedly as they navigated through the perfectly maintained streets about how beautiful Delilah was and how she was such a wonderful loving human being and how much she’d helped them.
    “She’s the most gorgeous person you ever saw,” Matt said in an awed whisper.
    “Damn, Matt. Aren’t you supposed to be in love with Linda? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were fucking this voodoo chick.”
    Matt and Linda both fell silent and looked away.
    “Whoaaa! Are you?” She looked questioningly at Matt, who stared right back at her, shrugging and blushing. Then she turned to look at Linda, who was smiling sheepishly as well.
    “Are you fucking her too? What the fuck? Okay, let me out right now. What the fuck are you guys trying to get me into here?”
    “It’s not what you think. Just trust us. Come on, April. I’ve known you since we were little girls. Would I drag you into something that wasn’t cool?”
    “I’m telling you right now, Linda, the first sign of any freaky shit and I’m out of there, and then I’m going to kick both your asses.”
    They pulled onto a long driveway and followed it up a quarter of a mile, winding through a landscape of thick trees and shrubs that were unusual for Las Vegas, which is little more than a desert. The trees parted as they pulled into a circular driveway in front of a house that looked like something from MTV’s Cribs ; Delilah’s home was enormous. The entire front was covered in decorative rock, and green and gray slate with thick veins of blue and purple ran through it. The windows were tinted, and roses of every color bloomed everywhere on the expertly manicured landscape. The house was surrounded by thick