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Other books by Katie MacAlister
Chapter 1 “Oh, look, a crop circle. Let’s stop and see if we will be abducted by aliens.” “Why on earth would you want to be abducted by aliens? From what I hear, they’re all about strange implants and anal probes. Neither is my idea of fun.” Sarah glared at me as we whipped past a sign noting that tours of a local farm famous for its crop circle were available for a modest fee. “You have the soul of a nihilist.” “On the contrary; I don’t believe in either assassination or terrorism. Is this the turn we need?” A map rustled next to me as my friend consulted the driving directions we’d received from a local travel company. “I don’t think so. The directions say the town is called Newton Poppleford. There should be a bridge we go across. And you know full well that’s not the sort of nihilism I meant.” “Ah. Newton Poppleford is another kilometer,” I answered, nodding to a small sign partially hidden by a dense shrub. “So you’re saying I have the soul of a disbeliever?” “Yes, I am. It’s all
Chapter 1
Chapter 2 “Na then, t’get ta the faery circle, gwain ye doon the road past Arvright’s farm—ye know where that be, then?” By focusing very, very hard, I managed to pick out words in the sentence that I understood. “Yes.” “Aye. Gwain ye doon the hill past Arvright’s, then when ye see the sheep, ye turn north.” The old man pointed to the south. “Is that north?” Sarah asked in an undertone, looking doubtfully in the direction the man pointed. “Shh. I’m having enough trouble trying to get through his West Country accent.” I turned a cheerful smile on the man. “So, I turn left at the sheep?” “Aye, ’tis what I am sayin’. Na then, once ye’ve skurved past they sheep, ye’ll come to a zat combe.” “Zat combe?” Sarah’s face was fierce with concentration. “I’m not sure I…a zat combe?” I wrote down the old man’s directions, praying we wouldn’t end up wandering into someone’s yard. “Aye, ’tis right zat. Full o’ varments.” Sarah looked at me. I shrugged and said to the man, “Lots of them, eh?” Behind m
Chapter 2
Chapter 3 I twisted in the man’s grip, attempting to knee him in the groin, but he anticipated my move, releasing my neck and jerking me around suddenly. I had time to suck in one large lungful of air before he grabbed my throat again, his other hand immobilizing my arm nearest him. “Where is she?” he demanded. “She left,” I managed to squeak despite the spots that were once again dancing before my eyes. I tried to get some air into my lungs, but his grip was on this side of fatal, leaving me just barely alive. Desperately, I tried to remember everything I knew about self-defense, but my brain seemed sluggish and slow to cooperate. “Left for where?” “I…” I threw myself backward, hoping to knock him off balance, but it was no use. “Don’t know.” The world swam around me in a nauseating way, and just when I thought I was going to pass out—or die—a bolt of blue from the sky startled my would-be murderer into releasing me. I collapsed on the ground into a fetal ball, my lungs heaving as I s
Chapter 3
Chapter 4 I felt behind me for the table lamp, grasping it firmly and shifting slightly to the side to hide the fact I was holding it. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but it was better than a paperback. The man stopped in front of me, so close I could smell his woodsy aftershave. “I want you to leave this room now,” I said in a calm, but firm, voice. Beside me, Sarah made a slight noise of unhappiness. “I don’t know anything about a court, but I do know that you have violated several laws, and the police are even now searching for you. If you leave right now, I will not harm you, but I am fully prepared to defend my friend and myself from you if you insist on attacking.” An annoyed look flitted across his face. “Stop saying that! I have not attacked you!” “You strangled me!” I answered, part of my mind pointing out that reason never worked with deranged madmen, but too irritated to listen. “I almost died! If that’s not an attack, I’d like to know what is!” “I told you—that was before I kne
Chapter 4
Chapter 5 “Could you have possibly been any ruder to poor Theo?” “Shhh. Madame What’s-her-face is gesturing for you. No doubt she wants to anoint you or something.” “It’s Mystic, not Madame. Mystic Bettina, as you know well. Oooh! She must have picked me to be one of her assistants! Fabulous! I’ll be in a perfect position for unbiased observation.” Sarah jumped out of her seat and hurried over to where the local medium was standing with two women. “Very unbiased,” I said to myself, then smiled reassuringly at the man on my left as he glanced at me. He leaned over and whispered, “Is this your first séance?” I nodded. “Mine too,” he said in a confiding tone, and hazarded a shy smile. “My wife—that’s her there with the others—is a member of the local ghost hunter’s group, so she’s been wanting to come to a séance for a long time. I’m not sure I believe in all this.” He chuckled a little, watching me carefully to see if I was going to mock him for his skepticism. “I’m a scientist by trade,
Chapter 5
Chapter 6 “Well?” Sarah asked the next morning as I staggered into the small room on the first floor that the pub owner said would serve as our private dining room. “I’m still alive, my head is still attached to my body, and no other evil elderly people tried to beat the crap out of me after I went to bed,” I said, slumping gratefully into a chair. “Did you talk to the police yet?” “Just got off the phone with them. Good morning, Darla. Yes, thank you, coffee and toast. And perhaps an egg, and that delicious-looking marmalade. Is there any bacon? Oh, good. I’ll have some bacon, too. And a grapefruit, if you have one.” The barmaid/waitress who fed us breakfast and dinner gave me a curious look, but toddled off to bring me the requested foodstuffs. “And?” Sarah asked around a mouthful of eggs and grilled tomato, a combination that made me shudder just looking at it. “It’s not polite to talk with your mouth full.” She made a face that would be more appropriate on her youngest child. “I ta
Chapter 6
Chapter 7 I would like to think that I’m a rational, relatively intelligent, down-to-earth sort of person, who doesn’t get rattled when a handsome man plants his lips on hers. I’d like to think that, in that sort of a situation, I would handle myself with aplomb and dignity. I would like to think that, but the sad reality was that the second Theo stopped trying to shut me up by swallowing my yells for help, and started really kissing me, I was a goner. Oh, the analytical part of my mind had quite a pleasant time examining the mechanics of the kiss. It noted that once his lips softened against mine, my breath started coming in short little gasps that had me parting my own lips. It understood that the act of his hands, sweeping down my arms, around to my back, and finally down to my butt, where they pulled me up against his body, were responsible for a sensation that left me feeling as if my entire body was tingling. It noticed that when his tongue touched mine, my knees seemed to be una
Chapter 7
Chapter 8 “It was just a kiss.” “You said that three times already. Would you turn off that light?” Sarah plumped up a pillow behind her, and tucked the coverlet firmly over her legs before sitting back. “A perfectly innocent kiss!” “Honey, there was nothing innocent about that kiss,” she said with a knowing look. I stomped over to the light she had left burning on the desk and turned it off, feeling awkward and unsure of myself. I don’t know why I felt compelled to explain that the kiss Theo and I shared was not what it seemed, but there I was, wringing my hands as I tried to sort through my emotions and thoughts. “I find him physically attractive even though he’s got some issues,” I explained. “There’s nothing wrong with a healthy libido.” “Nothing at all, especially when the recipient of your attentions is a gorgeous angel. I looked up nephilim while you were occupied with Theo. That’s what a nephilim is, you know. Kind of a sub-angel, the result of a union between—” “Oh, I know all
Chapter 8
Chapter 9 “I think I’m handling this very well,” I said after a few minutes of watching the night slide by the car window. We were approaching the town and the familiar humpbacked bridge. “Mind you, the only other available option is to completely lose my mind, so I don’t have much of a choice, but still, I believe I’m taking this all very, very well. I’m not screaming or laughing hysterically, or even crying, although somehow, I feel like doing all three.” He patted my blanket-covered knee. “I appreciate the fact that you are restraining your hysterical tendencies. This is a…” He hesitated for a moment. “…difficult situation.” “This prince guy, you mean? I have to tell you, Theo, I don’t believe in hell any more than I do in heaven.” He drove in silence for a few minutes. “Just as the Court of Divine Blood is not heaven, so Abaddon is not hell, although it is commonly referred to as such. The prince you refer to is the head of all the seven demon lords who rule Abaddon, and I’m sorry
Chapter 9
Chapter 10 We were falling, sinking, spinning, our insides churning outward in a soul-rending process that sank us deep into a horrible miasma of pain and nausea. Just when I thought I was going to pass out or die (I wasn’t sure which, and at that point, didn’t really care), the horror ended and I dropped to a yielding, warm surface. “Ow!” grunted the surface. I pushed myself off, apologizing under my breath to Theo. “Sorry about that. Did I hurt you? What just happened? Who is that horrible man? How did he come through the wall? And just where the blistering inferno are we?” “Ah. There you are. You may leave, Digan.” I was insanely glad that Theo made me put my bathrobe on. The man who had spoken strolled into view as we got to our feet. My jaw just about hit my feet at the sight of him—he was one of the most beautiful men who’d ever walked the earth. Theo was handsome—almost too handsome, with his dark, brooding looks that seemed to do odd things to my stomach—but this man was astoun
Chapter 10
Chapter 11 “Here’s another scone. And more coffee. Why did Theo tell me to tell you to be sure to put lots of jam on the scone?” I accepted the plate of scones and cup of coffee, although I wasn’t sure I could consume either. It was my fifth cup of coffee and fourth scone, and I was getting full. “He wants me to rebuild my strength.” “Uh-huh.” Sarah sat down across from me, the tiny private dining room blissfully empty of everyone but the two of us. “OK, I’ve been the good friend. I didn’t once smirk when Theo emerged from your room this morning. I didn’t make any jokes about the fact that you obviously have the hickey to end all hickeys under that bandage on your neck. And I haven’t even hinted that I’d like full details about what the two of you have been up to, even though, as your best friend, I believe I’m due some consideration in that area.” I sighed and pushed the half-eaten scone away. “And just who is that man in the Indiana Jones hat who has been talking to Theo for the last
Chapter 11
Chapter 12 “You’ve got to be kidding.” “You’re not impressed?” I made a face and considered the white stone building. “On the contrary, I’m always impressed by castles. This one is particularly nice. It has a nice view of the ocean, and it’s not falling down like lots of the castles Sarah has dragged me to see.” “But?” “Portland Castle isn’t really my idea of heaven,” I said, waving a hand that I hoped would express all the emotions I was having difficulty verbalizing. “I know, I know, the Court isn’t heaven, but it’s similar, and well, this just isn’t my idea of what heaven should look like!” Theo laughed and took my hand, leading me in through the entrance, on the tail end of a group of tourists. “Would it help if I told you that the Court itself isn’t in the castle?” “Then why—” “One of the portals is contained here. This way.” Heedless of the tour group, which was heading for the Tudor kitchens, Theo turned left and walked down a short hallway to a thick wooden door bearing a sign
Chapter 12
Chapter 13 “Murder? Hope was murdered? When?” I asked, backing away from the muscular young woman who bowled in through the door. “I had no idea where she went, let alone what happened to her, but I certainly haven’t killed her!” Theo, what’s going on here? Murder? I don’t know, but the mare must be handled carefully. This is a serious situation. You ain’t just whistlin’ ‘Dixie’! “I fear there has been a misunderstanding about my client’s situation, your grace,” Theo said suavely, positioning himself between me and the bailiff. The mare stared at Theo for a moment, thawing visibly when he smiled at her. Oh, that’s subtle, I thought at him. Subtle doesn’t win the fair maiden. I sent him thoughts of what I’d like to do to him at that very moment. You are a bloodthirsty little thing, aren’t you? You can stop mentally sharpening your neutering knife. I simply mean to win her over to our side, not seduce her. “You are the champion?” the mare asked, giving Theo a much more thorough eyeing th
Chapter 13
Chapter 14 “Still with me, sweetling?” “Barely. It was a close thing there when you turned the frosting on me.” Theo, lying on his back, a sated and very smug look on his face, waggled his eyebrows and hummed a happy little song about frosting-covered nether parts. “You certainly did seem to enjoy it.” “That, my adorable fanged one, is the understatement of the year. Are you sure you’re full? You seemed to spend more time in action, to be euphemistic, rather than dining.” “I am full. I am well-pleasured. I am physically exhausted,” Theo said, waving a languid hand. His eyes were closed, his face relaxed as he lay next to me on the bed, delightfully naked. I trailed a finger down one of his biceps, making him smile a drowsy smile. “You take a nap then, handsome. You certainly worked hard enough.” “I did indeed, although it was a labor of love. And, I will admit, you helped a little.” He yawned. “A little, huh?” I pinched his nipple. He pretended to snore. The many pleasant after-tingles
Chapter 14
Chapter 15 “So this is limbo,” I said, looking around. I wasn’t much impressed. “The word ‘limbo’ is a mortal term used by some religions to express the concept of the Akasha, something most people have difficulty understanding,” the small boy next to me said as we walked down a rocky hillside. He waved his hand at the sparse landscape around us. “The Akasha is more than limbo. It is a place few visit, and from which even fewer return.” “Really? What sorts of things do people have to do to get sent here?” The boy’s face gave away no emotion. “The Akasha is a place of punishment, Portia Harding. The ultimate place of punishment. To my memory, the sovereign has granted respite from its confines to only three people.” “Only three in that many millions of years?” I shivered. “Right, so note to self—don’t do anything to piss the mare off enough to be sent here.” “That would be a very wise policy to follow. If you would walk this way.” I obligingly followed him as he carefully picked a way t
Chapter 15
Chapter 16 “Right, the first thing we need to do is make a list of people who wanted Hope dead.” Sarah sucked thoughtfully at the end of her pen, then quickly wrote down my name at the top of a sheet of paper. “Hey!” I protested. “Didn’t you hear a thing I’ve said for the last hour? I did not kill Hope, which you of all people should know.” “Of course I know it. But all good detectives make a list of all possible suspects, then eliminate them one by one until only one person remains on the list—the killer. What was the name of that man who tried to seduce you?” I slumped across the table we had commandeered in the corner of the pub upon returning to town, my forehead in my hands. Theo sat next to me, looking wistfully at someone a few tables away who was sipping a whisky and soda. “No one tried to seduce me except Theo, and I seduced him right back. Oh, wait, you mean Gabriel the cherub?” “That’s the fellow.” Sarah added his name to the list, tapped the pen on her lips for a moment whi
Chapter 16
Chapter 17 “This is downright creepy.” “Meh.” I made a half-hearted shrugging motion to accompany the word, trudging along behind the group of people who chattered in excited whispers, occasional startled gasps punctuating their conversation. Sarah stopped to give me a gimlet eye. “Meh? Meh! This is not in the least bit meh!” “You’re talking to someone who has been to hell itself, and had a chat with the man in charge, not to mention facing down a gauntlet of Hashmallim, which in my humble opinion is a thousand times worse than the aforementioned demon lord. Something so simple as a haunted house holds no fear to the likes of me.” “I almost liked you better when you were a pigheaded skeptic,” she answered, making a face. “Oh, I’m still a skeptic…about most things I am. There are some I won’t dispute fall well out of the bounds of what can be explained by existing science,” I answered, obediently stopping when the ghost-hunting group leader waved everyone to a halt. “I haven’t seen any
Chapter 17
Chapter 18 “What are you doing?” Sarah asked, pulling out a chair and sitting down with a smile that was shared between Theo and me. “Plotting out a battle plan. Good morning, Darla. I’m not feeling myself, so I’ll just have toast. I believe Theo wants a traditional breakfast, minus the tomato.” Theo nodded at the waitress. “Indeed I do. With lots of preserves, please.” “Since when do you not eat like a horse at breakfast?” Sarah asked when Darla had toddled off to bring us our breakfast orders. “Since Theo prefers to appear perfectly normal, right down to eating food. Besides, I’m eating for two,” I answered, pushing a piece of paper across the table at her. “This is our plan, so far. What do you think?” I thought her eyes were going to pop out. “You’re eating for two? You’re not—” “No, I meant I’m eating to keep my blood up, so Theo can eat as well.” “Oh. You scared me there for a minute.” Sarah sipped at her tea while she read over the list. When she got to the good part, she choked
Chapter 18
Chapter 19 “I’m in so much trouble.” The hum of the air-conditioning in the car was the only noise. “I wonder how much groveling it’s going to take to get the mare to give me another shot at that trial?” Outside the window, gulls cried overhead. I flinched as we passed the area where earlier we’d skidded off the road, averting my eyes from the sight of Theo’s car, still half-buried in the mountain of oyster shells. “I hope your car will be all right. When are they coming to tow it?” “Soon.” I sighed, slinking down into my seat. Are you still mad at me? I have not been mad at you, so there is no “still” to it. Then why aren’t you talking to me? You haven’t said a word since we went back to the pub so I could take a shower and change. I know you have to be angry, or at least disappointed, that I’ve messed up the trial so much that I won’t be a virtue, and won’t be able to pardon you, but I really don’t believe the situation is as hopeless as you no doubt think it is. I don’t think anythi
Chapter 19
Chapter 20 “That’s it, number twelve. Boy, that’s a mess, huh?” “Very.” I examined the outside of the small house that sat across the street. A black wrought-iron fence lurched drunkenly around a small garden that was more weeds than flowers, tall grass sheltering what appeared to be a rusted wheelbarrow. Butterflies provided brilliant spots of color as they flitted about the yard. “It’s not exactly what you’d expect from someone who used to live in the Court, is it?” “I don’t know,” Sarah answered thoughtfully as we got out of the car. “I suppose once you’d lived in heaven, anything else would be…crap.” The battered gate screeched painfully as I pushed it open, making my way through cast-off garden implements and boxes of unnamed refuse to the dirty front door. “You’re not just going to knock, are you?” Sarah asked as I raised my hand to do just that. “Of course I am. What did you think we were going to do here?” “Well, I don’t know.” She clutched her hands together in an agitated man
Chapter 20
Chapter 21 “You’re going to what?” Sarah grabbed my arm as I was about to knock at the door. “Are you crazy? Oh, what am I saying? You don’t even have a Taser…” “No, but I do have a handy little skill that allows me to control lightning.” Her eyes widened. “You’re going to strike Carol Lee with lightning? That could kill her!” “Not if I can control it properly.” I took a deep breath, pushing aside the doubting thoughts, focusing on what I needed to do. “A Taser is a device which uses a high-voltage pulse of electricity to momentarily shock its target, thereby disrupting the neurotransmitters, and effectively overloading the nervous system. Carol will be temporarily immobilized, but not permanently harmed.” Overhead, my little cloud formed. I spread my hands about six inches apart, mentally envisioning a concentrated electrical charge pulled from the surroundings. My fingers began to tingle, the sensation spreading up my arms, reminding me of the time I’d touched a low-voltage electrica
Chapter 21
Chapter 22 She is Hope. The last of my words echoed eerily from the back of the ballroom. I licked my lips, nervous now that I had to lay the facts—such as they were—out before everyone. You are doing fine, Portia. Disin frowned at Carol, who stood as frozen as a statue. “You claim this mortal is a virtue? Do you think us so ignorant that we can’t tell the difference between a member of the Court and an innocent mortal?” “I don’t quite understand how she can appear to be someone else, nor do I know about the mortal business, although I thought someone told me that you had to be a member of the Court to be immortal, and it follows that if she isn’t a virtue anymore, she would no longer be a member, and thus lose her immortal status.” The three mare gaped at me. “I could be wrong on that, though,” I said, squirming slightly under their combined looks of disbelief. “I’m not very current with all the intricacies of Court life.” “You are correct, as it happens,” a man’s voice said behind me
Chapter 22
Chapter 23 Tell me that Milo is insane. The silence that met my question was disconcerting. Tell me he isn’t right. Theo looked thoughtful. Everyone else, myself included, looked stunned to the point of insensitivity. Tell me I don’t have to choose between your soul and the continued existence of the whole, friggin’ Court. The existence of the Court is not your responsibility. The present hierarchy, however… There has to be some other sacrifice I can make. This can’t be the only thing. Theo’s silence was incredibly unnerving. Theo? Surely there must be something else? I don’t know, he said at last, sorrow filling my mind. I don’t know enough about Dark Ones to know if just any sacrifice will work, but I suspect… His sigh wrung my heart. I suspect, sweetling, that it is that which would cost you the most that will be the act necessary to fulfill the last stage of Joining. The weight of the world seemed to descend upon me, pressing me down into the earth until there was little left of me
Chapter 23
Chapter 24 Time passed. I don’t know how much because consciousness returned slowly to me, but when I regained my senses I was aware of the sound of a woman sobbing and a man screaming his fury at the top of his lungs. I smiled even without opening my eyes. My plan had worked. I hadn’t been sure if the Hashmallim would be able to extract me alone from the maelstrom of a powerful tornado, counting on the probability that they would just suck the whole mess out of the Court and into limbo. “Welcome to the Akasha,” I said. Strong hands jerked me off the ground, holding my neck in a vise of pain. Spots danced before my eyes as Milo’s contorted face swam in and out of focus. “You! You did this to us! You have destroyed everything!” “Yes, I did. I’m just glad it worked,” I croaked, kicking him in the groin at the same time I slammed the palm of my hand into his nose. There was a delightful crunching sound from his face that I fervently hoped was a bone breaking. Milo screamed again, dropping
Chapter 24
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