Tuesday, November 12, 2024

#Review - The Fate of Magic by Sara Raasch, Beth Revis #YA #Fantasy #Romance

Series:
 Witch and Hunter (#2)
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Release Date: October 1, 2024
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Romance

The exciting conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Witch & Hunter duology culminates with a sweeping romance and an epic battle to determine the fate of magic...and the world.

Fritzi is a champion. After escaping the clutches of Dieter Kirch, the sadistic leader of the witch hunters, Fritzi and Otto have taken refuge among the witches of the Black Forest. Fritzi is finally ready to assume her place on the council as the coven’s goddess-chosen champion. Plagued by distrust and self-doubt, Fritzi throws herself into her duty to serve the goddesses... until she uncovers a powerful secret that could mean the very undoing of magic itself.

Otto is a warrior. He swears himself to Fritzi as her bonded protector, certain the peaceful unity of a witch and hunter will heal the wounds he helped make. But as the horrifying plot that threatens the Black Forest’s magic comes to light, Otto will have to face his both his past and what it means to bind himself to a magic he does not fully understand.

Shadows loom. Truths are revealed. And as dangers new and old arise, Fritzi and Otto must stand together against everything that threatens magic—even if the biggest threat might be the very bond they share. 



The Fate of Magic is the second and final installment in authors Sara Raasch, and Beth Revis's Witch and Hunter duology. This is a series that features co-protagonists, Otto Ernst and Friederika Kirch. Fritzi is a champion for Holda. After escaping the clutches of Dieter Kirch, the sadistic leader of the witch hunters and her brother, Fritzi and Otto have taken refuge among the witches of the Black Forest. Fritzi is finally ready to assume her place on the council as the coven’s goddess-chosen champion. 

Plagued by distrust and self-doubt, Fritzi throws herself into her duty to serve the goddesses until she uncovers a powerful secret that could mean the very undoing of magic itself. Dieter isn't dead yet. In fact, he is even scarier and dangerous than before. So dangerous, that he sets out to ensure he has access to destroy magic. Fritzi's journey is a rollercoaster of self-discovery, doubt, and raw determination. Her struggle to reconcile her newfound power with her past traumas is heart-wrenching and achingly relatable. 

As she uncovers earth-shattering secrets about the nature of magic itself, we're right there with her, feeling the weight of responsibility crushing down and the spark of rebellion igniting in her soul. At the heart of it all stands the Origin Tree, a source of magic and mystery that looms large both literally and figuratively. Otto was a captain of the hexenjager, an institution whose purpose it is to capture witches for persecution and death by fire at the stake. He swears himself to Fritzi as her bonded protector, certain the peaceful unity of a witch and hunter will heal the wounds he helped make. 

His path from persecutor to ally is fraught with guilt, hope, and a burning desire to make amends. Fritzi and Otto have accepted their roles of chosen champion and warrior. Through their bond they seek to serve good and share magic. But when they realize Dieter is still alive and his plans are only beginning, they set forth on a quest to stop him before his ambition destroys magic and possibly the world. The greatest fight lies not only before them but within them. But as the horrifying plot that threatens the Black Forest’s magic comes to light, Otto will have to face his past and what it means to bind himself to a magic he does not fully understand. 

This series is filled with so many layers. This is a really surprisingly dark story: it is inspired by the historical witch trials in Germany, and it includes a fair amount of violence and torture, both physical and psychological. I have to give the authors credit when they created Dieter. He is just plain evil, and he doesn't care who he hurts, not even his own sister to manipulate others into falling into his control. There are some pretty interesting secondary characters, and the internal struggle of whether or not to trust the goddesses to do the right thing when all is said and done.  




Monday, November 11, 2024

#Review - You Can Kill by Rebecca Zanetti #Thriller #Suspense

Series:
 
A Laurel Snow Thriller (#4)
Format: Mass Market, 432 pages
Release Date: October 22, 2024
Publisher: Zebra
Source: Publisher
Genre: Thrillers / Suspense

The Blacklist meets The Profiler in this edgy, gripping thriller that’s perfect for of Laura 
Griffin and Jayne Ann Krentz!

A string of brutal murders is leaving a grisly trail across the Pacific Northwest—and drawing rising star FBI profiler Laurel Snow back into a treacherous case and a twisted personal drama she can’t escape . . .

The first body is torn apart, blood and flesh are discovered across both state and federal lands. As the victims multiply, a pattern emerges—each is related to past cases investigated by Laurel Snow, with the assistance of Huck Rivers, Washington Fish and Wildlife captain. When friends and loved ones are targeted, things become even more chillingly personal.

As Laurel and Huck team up again to navigate the gruesome and increasingly bizarre killings, they must also keep a safe distance from Laurel’s half-sister, Abigail, a dangerously clever sociopath. Ever since their father reappeared in town, Abigail has been convinced she must protect Laurel from his malignant narcissism—a scourge she’s sure they’ve both inherited. Huck is not spared either as a shocking development in the case touches his own life.

With the murders, and the suspects, multiplying around them, and the lives of everyone in their orbit at stake, only Laurel’s sharp analytic skills, Huck’s deep gut instincts, and their growing bond will enable them to face the demons within and the threats without—before they’re next on an elusive killer’s hit list . . .



You Can Kill is the Fourth installment in author Rebecca Zanetti's Laurel Snow series. Let's call this series The Profiler meets Justified meets The Blacklist. FBI Special Agent in Charge Laurel Snow has moved her Pacific Northwest Violent Crimes Unit to her home in Genesis Valley, Washington to be close to her lover Captain Huck Rivers of Fish & Wildlife, as well as her mother who is opening a shop that features gourmet tea. Oh, and let's not forget her psychopathic half-sister Abigail who has made it her mission to protect Laurel from the father they both share. 

Why you say? Because Laurel is pregnant. The two sisters at the center of the series are like two halves of one whole - one light, and one dark - one in law enforcement, the other a sociopath. This fascinating family dynamic is set against a suspenseful crime mystery. Laurel and her team have taken down (3) brutal serial killers, but it seems as though that doesn't matter. After Laurel is attacked by serial killer Jason, she is worried that if anyone learns that she is pregnant, she will be taken off the cases. That can not happen. 

Not when bodies start turning up in curious places. Places where she and Huck had previously found dead bodies. As Laurel and Huck team up again to navigate the gruesome and increasingly bizarre killings, they must also keep a safe distance from Abigail, a dangerously clever sociopath. Ever since their rapist father, Zeke Caine, reappeared in town, Abigail has been convinced she must protect Laurel from his malignant narcissism—a scourge she’s sure they’ve both inherited. Huck is not spared either as a shocking development in the case touches his life and puts him in a difficult situation with his employer. 

With the murders piling up, and the suspects multiplying around them, the lives of everyone in their orbit are at stake, including Laurel's mother and those who work for her. Even with Laurel’s sharp analytic skills, Huck’s deep gut instincts, and growing bond, it will take a remarkable set of events to ensure everyone survives before they’re next on an elusive killer’s hit list. For those who haven't read this series, Laurel is a child prodigy. She has an eidetic memory and knows too much about almost everything. She also has heterochromatic eyes, which apparently is a sign of intelligence. 

Huck and Laurel are a perfectly balanced couple, these two know each other better than they know themselves, and the addition of Deirdre to the story gives the series more depth. This book ends on a brutal scene which I will not spoil. I am not sure where the author goes from here, but Laurel and Huck definitely need a vacation from everything that is happening around Genesis Valley and of course, Abigail who I doubt we have seen the last of. 




Friday, November 8, 2024

#Review - Bloodguard by Cecy Robson #Fantasy #Romance

Series:
 Old Erth # 1
Format: 
Hardcover, 448 pages
Release Date: October 22, 2024
Publisher: Entangled (Red Tower Books)
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy / Romance

Gladiator meets Final Fantasy in this cinematic, action-packed epic romantasy where one man’s last hope for freedom—and revenge—relies on one elven royal and her bloody, brutal arena.

One hundred years. Tens of thousands of gladiators. And today, only one will rise…

Everything in the Kingdom of Arrow is a lie.

Leith of Grey thought coming to this new land and volunteering to fight in the gladiator arena—vicious, bloodthirsty tournaments where only the strongest survive—would earn him enough gold to save his dying sister. He thought there was nothing left to lose.

He was wrong—and they took everything. His hope. His freedom. His very humanity.

All Leith has left is his battle-scarred body, fueled by rage and hardened from years of fighting for the right to live another day.

Then Leith meets Maeve, an elven royal who is everything he despises. Everything he should hate. Until the alluring princess offers him the one thing he needs most: a chance to win the coveted title of Bloodguard—and his freedom.



Bloodguard is the first installment in author Cecy Robson's Old Erth series. This story focuses on two characters: Leith of Grey and Maeve, an elven princess, and daughter of an alleged Queen Killer. Leith is a human who has spent years fighting in the arena for his impoverished family. After a certain number of wins and bloodshed, a gladiator can earn the prestigious title of Bloodguard and essentially become part of the wealthy elite of Arrow. 

Leith is only a few wins away from earning that title and saving his family when he meets Maeve, an elven princess who is next in line for the throne. Unfortunately, Maeve cannot become Queen until she marries and there are very few acceptable potential partners in the corrupt court that could secure her the throne because of her reputation of being the daughter of the man who killed the Queen. When Leith is offered help from Maeve, the offer is too good to pass up. 

The catch is that if he becomes Bloodguard, he must agree to marry her. The future of Arrow is in peril following the assassination of the Queen and Maeve needs to marry to take the throne. However, after Maeve learns the truth about what happened to Leith's family, I thought he should have been told immediately since it appeared that those who ran the fights were looking to leave no one alive. It was pretty apparent that the two main characters were going to fall for the other once Leith started acting as Maeve's bodyguard. 

I literally wrote down all the spicy chapters so I could tell those who don't care about them to skip over these chapters, but then I thought who am I to tell you what to do or what to like? This book does do alternating first-person narratives which are sometimes off-putting. In this case, it was necessary since both characters are dealing with a variety of issues that take much of the story to sort out. There are some issues which is why my rating is the way it is. 

The pacing was also horribly confusing at times. The author would bring up interactions with the characters that we never saw. I found myself a couple of times flipping back through the book to see if I had missed something. Finally, the ending is very interesting, and I am not sure where the author goes from here. 




Thursday, November 7, 2024

#Review - Schemes & Scandals by Kelley Armstrong #Mystery #Historical #TimeTravel

Series:
 A Rip Through Time #3.5
Format: Novella, 176 pages
Release Date: 
October 1, 2024
Publisher: Subterranean Pr
Source: Publisher
Genre: Historical / Mystery / Time Travel

It’s Mallory Atkinson’s first Christmas in Scotland. Victorian Scotland, that is. Also, as the twenty-first-century detective learns, Christmas really isn’t a thing in Victorian Scotland. It’s all about Hogmanay. But her boss, Dr. Duncan Gray, treats her to an early gift of tickets to the event of the season: a Charles Dickens reading. There, they bump into Lady Inglis—the lovely widow who has sent Gray sexy letters trying to entice him back to her bed.

Lady Inglis introduces Mallory to Dickens—the meeting of a lifetime—but in return she wants their help. She’s being blackmailed. Someone stole letters she wrote to another lover and is threatening to publish them.

Mallory isn’t sure what to make of Lady Inglis, but no woman deserves that, so she insists on taking the case with or without Gray’s help. Growing tension between them soon tells Mallory that Gray is hiding a secret of his own. She has until Hogmanay to uncover the blackmailer…and, hopefully, to put things right with Gray so they can enjoy the holiday together.



Schemes & Scandals, by Kelley Armstrong, takes place between books # 3 and # 4 releasing next year. The year is 1869 Edinburgh, Scotland. Mallory Atkinson, a Detective from the present, is adjusting to her new life in Victorian Scotland. Her employers know she’s not housemaid Catriona Mitchell―even though Mallory is in Catriona’s body―and Mallory is now officially an undertaker’s assistant. She has spent the past 7 months in the past and has grown accustomed to being in the body of a younger woman. 

This story takes place before and after Christmas and Hogmanay which is the last day of the year. Apparently, Christmas was once banned in Scotland. In 1640, the Scottish Parliament passed a law making Christmas celebrations illegal and punishable by imprisonment. The law was part of the Scottish Reformation, which began when Scotland split from the Catholic papacy. However, Christmas celebrations began to ease back in from the 18th century but remained rare in public until December 25th became a public holiday in Scotland in 1958. 

Boxing Day and New Year's Day became public holidays in 1974. I digress! So, Dr. Duncan Gray and his sister Isla decide to give Mallory a present. The present is tickets to see Charles Dickens's farewell tour. Mallory, raised by a teacher and grew up on Dicken's work, is eager to meet the man and even brings a book for him to sign. However, during this time, a woman named Lady Inglis approaches Mallory and Duncan to help her with a sticky situation. The situation is that someone took some intimate letters she shared with one of her possible suitors. 

With a bit of help from Jack, who is now working for Duncan while also writing a series about Mallory and Duncan's exploits, investigate who could have motives and means to cause damage to Inglis's reputation. The most interesting thing about this story is that Mallory gets to meet and talk to a man who will likely die shortly after she meets him. Can you imagine? Being able to go back in time for a day, or two, and meeting the author that you grew up with, and have him or her sign a book for you that makes the book priceless? For me, the mystery was solved when the author introduced several characters. 





Tuesday, November 5, 2024

#Review - The Salted Scepter by Helen Harper #Contemporary #Fantasy

Series:
 Thrill of the Hunt # 4
Format: Kindle, 293 pages
Release Date: September 30, 2024
Publisher: Helen Harper
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy

All my dreams are coming true. But some nightmares continue to lurk in the shadows.

I should be celebrating. Hell, I should be the happiest elf in the world. Unfortunately, I can’t revel in my successes when there’s a foul fiend who is relentlessly trying to lure me to his side. He won’t leave me in peace and he seems determined to plunge the country into chaos to get what he wants, using bloodshed, fear and malevolent magic. Still, I’m no stranger to stubbornness. If I can turn the tables and become the hunter instead of the hunted, I might have a chance. The odds are stacked against me but I’m not alone in this fight - and I refuse to be anyone’s puppet. 


The Salted Scepter is the fourth and final installment in author Helen Harper's Thrill of the Hunt series. This series takes place entirely within Scotland. The series protagonist is Daisy Carter. Daisy, who recently learned that she comes from an interesting mix of Elf and Fiend and has learned how to actually control her magic without drugs, has gone from a spider silk addict to pushing the buttons of Hugh Pemberville to see who is the best treasure hunter in the country. Right out of the gate, there is trouble waiting for Daisy in the form of a powerful fiend named Athair. 

Athair, who writes her name in blood on the Royal Elvish Institute, only wants one thing from Daisy. To have her admit that she is his kin and that needs to join him or those she loves will die. So, when Athair gives her a demand, what does Daisy do? Joins with Hugo, brownies Hester, and Otis for an old-fashioned treasure hunt to see if they can find an artifact that is powerful enough to rid the world of Athair and any other fiends in existence. But they're not alone. The Primes (Becky, Slim, Rizwan, Miriam, and Mark) are eager to help any way they can.

Now this part is kind of interesting so I'll keep it short. By chance, Daisy and the group learn of a map that contains 32 treasure hunts. It appears that someone, Athair, is looking for something powerful enough to defeat him. Could it be from the 13th century when a certain obnoxious and hated King ordered the making of powerful artifacts containing magic that would give him unimaginable power. Unfortunately for this King, it got lost in a flood and hasn't been since in 800 years. *This is true by the way. Look up King John.* 

Daisy and friends encounter some new characters along the way including Amy Aurum who has some curious abilities that you will learn about later in the story. We also are introduced to brownies Eloise and Horace, brother and sister, who have been bound to a fiend, and the only hope for them is Daisy if she can find a way to defeat Athair. I have to praise the author for doing a summary of what happened in the previous three books. That way, you can remember what has happened, and why Daisy has become something of a superstar now that her identity has been revealed. 

One of the best parts of this book was the ending. No joke. Every character from Daisy's past exploits, including one to the past, makes an appearance in a desperate move to help Daisy save the day. The book wraps up things quite nicely so that there's no question as to what is going to happen next. 




Monday, November 4, 2024

#Review - Only Cold Depths by Jennifer Estep #SyFy

Series:
 Galactic Bonds # 4
Format: Kindle, 504 pages
Release Date: October 29, 2024
Publisher: Jennifer Estep
Source: Publisher
Genre: Space Opera / Science Fiction

A WOMAN WHO CAN’T CONTROL HER POWER 

Everyone knows the name Vesper Quill. I used to be a lowly lab rat working in a Regal-owned corporation, but thanks to my truebond with Kyrion Caldaren, I’m now one of the most wanted fugitives in the Archipelago Galaxy.

Kyrion and I have spent the last few weeks avoiding bounty hunters, along with the Arrows, the elite Imperium warriors tasked with capturing us. Now we’ve journeyed to a distant planet that’s supposed to be a refuge for truebonded couples, but when new enemies appear, we’re once again in grave danger.

As a seer, inventor, and engineer, I’m skilled at figuring out how things work, but I can’t quite understand my growing magic and newfound psionic abilities. The clock is ticking, and if I don’t figure out how to tap into my power, I’ll doom myself to a gruesome fate, along with Kyrion.

A MAN WHO CAN’T LET GO OF HIS FEAR . . .

As Kyrion Caldaren, I’m used to being respected and feared, especially given my telekinesis, telepathy, telempathy, and other powerful psionic abilities. What I’m not used to is being on the run, but as a rogue Arrow, I’ll do anything to protect Vesper.

Just when I think we’ve finally reached a safe haven, trouble finds us again, reigniting all my fears about losing Vesper.

When the cold depths of our enemies’ plan are finally revealed, the truth is more terrifying than anything I could imagine. Soon Vesper and I are fighting for our lives again, but even with our growing truebond power, this is one battle we might not survive.



Only Cold Depths is the fourth installment in author Jennifer Estep's Galactic Bonds series which takes place right after the events of Only Hard Problems which featured Zane and Asterin Armas. The story alternates between Vesper Quill and Kyrion Caldaren. Vesper is an inventor, engineer, and seer who has escaped enemies like Holloway and Techwave who want her recaptured. Kyrion is the former leader of the Arrows and has taken to protecting Vesper even from herself. 

The couple are the most wanted individuals in the galaxy thanks to their truebond connection. With bounty hunters and elite warriors trying to track them down for their master, Holloway who wants to siphon their abilities for himself, Vesper and Kyrion jump from planet to planet looking for a sanctuary to deal with the reality of their new bond, and what abilities Vesper has come into since, and trying to figure out if she wants a connection with her new family which was revealed in book # 2 and Zane's book. What better place than Asterin's? 

I have to say that Zane has grown on me. He has gone from a dangerous enemy to something more to Vesper who really is confused by the emotions that Zane and his family show her during this book. Especially Wendell. While Vesper and Kyrion explore their new truebond, trying to figure out how it works best, but also struggling with their individual challenges, it helps that the couple runs into another bonded pair who gives them a hint as to why the connection is on the fritz. 

Finally, the story ends on a cliffhanger and I pray that the author finds a way to pay Vesper's mother for all the hurt and heartache she has caused from calling her names, to doing nothing to try to make up for her machinations against everyone. 




Friday, November 1, 2024

#Review - Demon's Bluff by Kim Harrison #Urban #Fantasy

Series: Hollows (#18)
Format: Hardcover, 448 pages
Release Date: October 22, 2024
Publisher: Ace
Source: Publisher
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rachel Morgan must go on a deadly journey—into the past—in the next thrilling Hollows novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

What’s a witch to do when the coven of moral and ethical standards demands she untwist a curse—but an essential spell component no longer exists? There’s only one choice: go back in time.

Caught between self-exile and an Alcatraz cell, Rachel must find an Atlantean mirror to reverse the curse and prove to Cincinnati’s brand-new witch coven that, no, she does not practice illicit magic. Unfortunately, the only mirror of its kind in existence belonged to the insane demon Newt, forcing Rachel to go to the past to bargain with her for it.

But the time-travel spell goes awry, dragging Elyse, the young leader of the coven, into the past with Rachel. They expect to land five years in the past but instead arrive two days before Rachel’s long-lost love, Kisten, dies. Heartbroken and torn, Rachel knows she can't change the past.

Even with no allies, Rachel still has one thing going for her: Cincinnati is her city, now and forever. If she can find a way to work with Newt and prevent Elyse from becoming the demon’s next familiar, they might all get home.


Demon's Bluff is the 18th installment in author Kim Harrison's The Hollows series. Set in an alternative Cincinnati, Witch-born demon Rachel Morgan and her friends (Ivy, Trent, Jinx & Pike) fight to protect the inhabitants of the city of Cincinnati--including humans, werewolves, vampires, demons, witches, elves, and pixies. In recent developments, Rachel has taken up the mantle of subrosa for the city of Cincinnati while she tries to keep Constance from murdering everyone in sight. Rachel is also caught between the possibility of self-exile in the ever after or an Alcatraz cell thanks to the curse she put on Pike's brother. 
 
With a little help from Al/Gally, Rachel must find an Atlantean mirror to reverse a curse she put on Pike's brother, and prove to Elyse and her coven of moral and ethical standards that she does not practice illicit magic. Unfortunately, the only mirror of its kind in existence belonged to the insane demon Newt, forcing Rachel to go to the past to bargain with her for it. But the time-travel spell goes awry, dragging Elyse into the past with Rachel. They expect to land five years in the past but instead arrive two days before Rachel’s long-lost love, Kisten, dies. (If you don't know who Kisten is, please go back in time and read about Kisten, Ivy, and Rachel). 
 
Back in a past where many of her allies were still enemies and where she can only depend on herself, she's stuck with a huge rival and has to look out for Elyse who is a constant pain in the backside. When Rachel inexplicably runs into someone from her past, Rachel knows she can't change the past and she can't allow Newt to take Elyse as her familiar. If she can find a way to work with Newt and prevent Elyse from becoming the demon’s next familiar, they might all get home where Trent is being hunted down by bounty hunters for his past actions. 
 
*It's fair to say that I wasn't exactly jumping up and down while reading this book. Especially knowing Rachel once again made a potentially big mistake. I hated Elyse. She's a whiny, sniveling, trouble maker, but part of me felt bad after what happens when they return to the present. Was it really necessary to bring HIM back? So, are we now going to have to worry about feelings getting hurt and causing Trent pain? We shall see. 


"The authorities cleared me of intentional death," the woman said, Brice's dramatic come-hither lilt and low-cut blouse making my eye twitch as she indolently lounged on the couch across the low coffee table from me. She'd arrived first and was being careful, moving with an exaggerated slowness to hide her vampire-quick reflexes and threatening fangs, but it was that very wariness that had me on edge.

"I assumed I was asked to come to extend my apology in person," she finished mockingly, and the mousy man at the head of the table bristled.

"You can take your apology and cram it up your filthy, decaying hole of a-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I interrupted, lifting a hand before it got out of control. Again, I thought, stretching my arm to rub out the dull throb gained while separating them the first time. "Victor, the I.S. doesn't have the last word. Sit. Everyone take a breath. Have a drink."

Lip rising to show a spit-shiny fang, the onetime professor at Cincy's university pushed back into his chair, a glass of orange juice in his tight, undead grip. As the city's subrosa, mediating the minor power struggles of Cincy's vamps was occasionally part of my job-especially between the dead ones. Pike had wanted to bring them together with the hope of finding restitution, and when two vampires disagreed, it was best to bring the biggest guns you had. That would be me.

I eased deeper into the indulgent leather chair, eyeing them both in a wary annoyance as my old vampire scar began to tingle, the virus-laced bite responding to the pheromones both undead vampires were kicking out. Victor and Brice went silent, the former in frustration, the latter in calculation. If I was feeling it, the living vampires downstairs were, too, and I glanced across the room at Pike. Nodding, the living vampire unfolded his length to go turn the air exchanger to high. Below us, the rhythmic thump of a too-enthusiastic live band drifted up the wide, open stairway along with the intoxicating scent of pizza and too many vampires.

Piscary's on a Friday night, I thought as I glanced over the large room. By rights, the band should be up here with the more exuberant crowd to leave the sedate members to enjoy the calm, sipping on wine and the subliminal boost from the party, but Pike had recently begun to use the second floor as a semi-public space to mediate arguments. Kisten had done the same thing with a pool table and dance floor instead of a wet bar and a ring of chairs and couches around a low table. That Kisten's pool table was now in my sanctuary serving as a secondary spelling space would probably please him-even if the felt was burned and the slate cracked.

"Sasha's death was not accidental," Victor muttered, his eyes a dark pupil black, and I checked my phone for the time. Ivy was bringing in Constance, and they were late. "Brice lured Sasha into a situation where she had no control, and then she killed her knowing full well I didn't have a second scion who possessed enough stamina to sustain my needs."

It was a problem, and whereas an accidental death was not a punishable offense in the unwritten law of the undead, an outright culling of another's support system was. "That is what we are here to determine," I said, sneaking a glance at my phone again.

"Let me call down for another round of drinks," Pike said, and I winced. Yeah, let's add more alcohol to the mix, I thought, even as I acknowledged the logic behind it. Alcohol wouldn't slow them down or mellow them out, but it would remind them of what it was like to be living, and that might shift them into a more amenable frame of mind.

He really does know what he's doing, I mused as the heavily scarred man in his early thirties moved gracefully to the stairway to beckon a bartender halfway up. His black hair was wavy and short about his ears, and his summer tan was already beginning to fade. No beard, but a midnight stubble gave him an attractive, bad-boy cast. He was officially Constance's scion now that the undead vampire was no longer a mouse. I knew the arrangement was tasteless to both of them, for though the undead could survive on any living blood, they craved that of their living kin, and if it was taken from someone who loved them, it was almost enough to fill the hole the lack of a soul left. Hence the tradition of cultivating living vampiric scions to support their undead brethren.

And whereas it was obvious that Pike didn't love Constance, he did enjoy the boost of power that sipping on undead vampire left in his veins. Though powerful in their own right, living vampires had only a portion of their undead kin's strength and pull. After almost a month of sharing blood with the undead, Pike had again regained the sexual lure and charisma he'd had when I'd first met him.

I stifled a shudder, enjoying watching Pike move about the room as Victor prattled on.

Living vampires were my Achilles' heel. All the benefits of the undead, and only half the risk. Pike was clearly off-limits, not because he was out of my league but because I knew better. And yet as my gaze drifted back to him, I smiled, pleased to be able to call him my friend.

His slacks were black, and his matching lightweight shirt was classy and sharp. Soft-soled shoes made his steps silent and his limp hardly noticeable. The scars about his neck and arms, though, were mottled and obvious. They weren't the bedroom-fun kind, rather the kill-you variety, and he took no pains to hide them. In short, Pike had had a very hard life evading his older brothers' lethal intentions. Which made the fact that one of them, the worst, was currently sitting in a beanbag chair in the corner, the older man focused on a handheld game with the intensity of a ten-year-old. But then again, Brad was down to about a ten-year-old's level of intellect, despite the man's temples beginning to gray and the first lines showing about his eyes.

My smile faltered at the flash of guilt. I needed an Atlantean mirror to break the curse I'd put on him. That I'd thought it was a white curse at the time was the only thing keeping me out of Alcatraz's high-security wing. Now even that excuse was running thin, and the coven of moral and ethical standards was on my case. Again.

"Orange juice and a Bloody Mary," Pike said as he set the two drinks down, a soft shudder making his hands shake when he breathed in their mix of anger and smug satisfaction.

"That bitch of a woman stalked and lured my scion away." The rim of brown around Victor's pupils narrowed further as his eyes went entirely black. "I demand restitution. As the city master, Constance has a responsibility to see that I get restitution."

Pike eased to halt behind my chair, not in protection but to watch the open stairway.

"You poor, deluded excuse of an undead," Brice mocked. "I didn't lure Sasha away from you. She came to me. You are a disgrace. No wonder you can't maintain a family."

"Don't you dare talk about my family!" Victor held his orange juice with a white-knuckled grip.

Brice shook her head, but it was exactly her seemingly reasonable attitude that rubbed me wrong. Still, I smiled at her, stifling my unease at her too-long canines and her unreal grace. She was faster than me, too. "Poor Sasha," the undead woman said. "Victor had been neglecting her. She wanted more aggressive bedroom play and he couldn't provide."

"That's not true!" Victor's face went bloodless, tension pulling him to a dangerous stiffness. "I loved Sasha. Her virus levels weren't sufficient for what she wanted to give me. We were slowly increasing them. She knew that. I didn't want to hurt her. I loved her." Eyes narrowed, he focused on Brice stretching languorously in the chair like a lioness. "And you killed her twice. Before her time."

"Easy," I said, glancing at my phone again. Where the Turn are you, Ivy? Victor had undoubtably loved his scion-before he had died. Now all he remembered was having loved her. The undead clung to that memory as if it was their last vestige of humanity-which it was. Victor was right to be upset. It usually took half a lifetime to gain the skill to convince someone that they were loved, luring a new victim into risking death as their scion to keep an undead in their semi-alive state. With Sasha gone, Victor would likely perish before he figured it out. It was the undead's tricky forty-year ceiling come early. Most didn't survive it. Those who did were truly manipulative.

Like Brice, I thought when the woman set her Bloody Mary down and leaned forward to show her scar-decorated cleavage as Victor continued his derisive tirade. Brice had died in the sixties during the Turn, and now that Constance was again out in the open demonstrating her ineffectiveness, it seemed likely that Brice's slow plotting to make a bid for the city had shifted into overdrive.

Put simply, Constance wasn't a good city master vampire-even as a front. It was why the DC vamps had sent her here in the hope I'd off her in a fit of annoyance. It would have landed me in jail and out of their hair-and Constance in a permanent grave. I'd promised to protect the outclassed undead vampire from her kin if she'd be the front to my control of Cincinnati, but the diminutive Black vampire was erratic at the best of times.

Which was why Ivy and Pike were handling her enforcement duties. As much as Victor was in trouble, I was starting to suspect that we were the ones in danger. Brice obviously had her eye on taking over the city. Perhaps the DC vampires had put her up to it. They'd love to see me gone. I was doing a better job of overseeing their people than they could, probably because Ivy, Pike, and I didn't put the capricious demands on a vampire population that a master vampire did.

"Where is Constance?" Brice said, her curt voice cutting into Victor's latest accusation, and my attention snapped to her. "This needs to be settled."

"She's on her way." I forced my fist to ease even as I tensed. This entire fiasco was Brice's plan to get her and Constance in the same room. Maybe breaking the spell that had turned her into a mouse had been a mistake. The hidden threat was always more convincing than the visible one.

I gathered myself to rise and find a quiet corner to call Ivy . . . and then I blinked as Brice exhaled and every last thought I had seemed to melt.

Pike's knees buckled. He caught himself against my chair, his breath going shallow as he fought off the undead woman's sudden pull. All my exposed skin was tingling with a delicious sizzing sensation, and I froze as the memory of teeth sliding cleanly into me surfaced, a pang of desire going right to my groin. I forced my hand from my neck, embarrassed that I had put it there, one lone finger tracing a delicious path to my clavicle as if I was a vampire junky. Jenks would laugh his wings off if he were here.

"See?" Victor pointed at Brice as the undead woman stared, her gaze black in a hungry passion. "She's doing it again! What scion can resist that? I swear I'm going to pull your fangs out and give them to my niece for her sweet sixteen."

"I'm going downstairs," Brad said suddenly, his eyes pupil black as he tossed his handheld game aside and stood. The pheromones were hitting him hard. He was getting randy. The restaurant, too, was getting loud. Between Brice and Victor, there were too many vamp pheromones in here. The air system could not keep up.

My hands trembled, and I didn't dare take anything more than a shallow breath until I forced the memory of Ivy, and Kisten, and every undead vampire I'd ever run into from my thoughts. Pike, too, had gotten control of himself, and I felt a small flicker of victory even as Brad started for the stairs. Brice was good, but I'd fought better. She couldn't maintain her pheromone level, and the air was clearing already.

"You good here?" Pike said stiffly as he went after Brad. Having him up here hadn't been the best idea; leaving him downstairs was a worse one. The living vampire had no restraint, no memory-because of me.

I have to fix this, I thought, using my guilt to pull me out from the edge of Brice's ecstasy. "Nice try, Brice. Maybe in another fifty years," I said as I dropped my gaze to my phone, and the undead woman's expression became livid.

"Where are you?" I texted Ivy, one hand on my phone, the other touching the butt of my cherry-red splat gun. It fired spells, not bullets: a witch's ancient weapon made modern. Brice was clearly upset that she'd given me her best shot and that both Pike and I had brushed it away like the annoyance it was.

"She made me put on jewelry," came back immediately. "Be there soon."

Thank the Turn, I thought in relief as I set my phone on the table with a little click. Constance equated jewelry with being civilized. The vampire wore enough to bring down a camel. Quantity, not quality, was her motto.

But Pike had used Brad as an excuse to surround Brice, and the woman's eyes narrowed as she drummed her fingers once in a tight, bloodred-nail staccato.

"Relax." I set my weapon beside my phone in an unspoken threat. "Both of you. I will not tolerate Constance walking in here with you at each other's throats." Because a blood exchange between two undead vampires would kill them both, as the two slightly different viruses that animated them battled with each other. It was how I had lost Kisten, and a flicker of heartache took me. Damn you, Elyse, for dangling the spell before me to bring him back. It was a lie. It had to be a coven trick. Even Al didn't know the magic to recover the undead, even as a ghost.

"Constance is a puppet." Brice's expression held a mocking sureness. "Any justice you get from her will be at a witch's grace, Victor. How sad. Going to a witch for justice?"




Wednesday, October 30, 2024

#Review - A Forgotten Kill by Isabella Maldonado #Mystery #Thriller

Series: Daniela Vega (#2)
Format: Paperback, 363 pages
Release Date: March 26, 2024
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Mystery / Thriller 

An FBI agent tracks a brilliant serial killer in New York—right back to her own cold-blooded past in a riveting thriller by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Cipher.

FBI Special Agent Daniela “Dani” Vega was seventeen when her mother murdered her father. Ten years after Dani’s own damning eyewitness testimony sealed her mother’s fate, she’s starting to have doubts. What if she got it all wrong?

A veteran NYPD homicide detective agrees to reopen the closed case on one condition—Dani must help him find a serial killer who’s been operating throughout New York City for the past decade. If anyone can decipher his patterns, and his riddles, it’s a trained codebreaker like Dani. The killer knows this too. And his next riddle—and victim—is meant just for her.

For Dani, stopping a killer—and learning what really happened to her father—becomes more personal and more dangerous with each new twist. As secrets of the past are unearthed, the truth could forever change Dani’s life…and the lives of everyone she loves.

A Forgotten Kill, by Isabella Maldonado, is the second installment in the authors Daniel Vega series. This story ends up being more than emotional for Dani. Dani, who is an FBI Special Agent who was trained as an Army Ranger like her father, is called to Bellevue Hospital to visit a particular patient. This patient has not spoken for 10 years. 10 years since, Dani's father was murdered, and her mother was found unable to stand trial for killing him. 

But everything changes when Camila starts speaking via Bible verses. Bible verses that cause Dani to question everything that happened 10 years to the man that was her idol, the man who  was the reason why Dani worked so hard and accomplished so much in the Army before an attack on her unit ended her career. This is kind of hard for me because Dani's father had traumatic brain injury and because of that injury, he ended up being killed. To make matters worse, it was Dani's testimony that helped police focus on her mother. 

Stan Chapman, a veteran NYPD homicide detective out of Fort Apache, agrees to reopen the closed case on one condition—Dani must help him find a serial killer who’s been operating throughout New York City for the past decade. If anyone can decipher his patterns, and his riddles, it’s a trained codebreaker like Dani. The killer knows this too. A killer who may be the most prolific serial killer that Dani now has to track down and stop before she becomes the next victim. 

For Dani, who is still under investigation and on leave for her actions in the first installment to escape a dangerous psychopath, stopping a killer and learning what really happened to her father—becomes more personal and more dangerous with each new twist. As secrets of the past are unearthed, the truth could forever change Dani’s life and the lives of everyone she loves. In the first installment, I was not a fan of Dani's aunt who treated Dani horrifically because she is a lot like her father except the TBI. 

The story skillfully reveals Connor’s backstory and motivations alongside his gruesome acts. A killer who is as devious as he is dangerous. A killer who ends up playing a cat and mouse game with Dani thinking he can outwit her, and thus escape justice. The conclusion of the family background was a bit of a tear-jerker though. I'm very curious to see how Maldonado addresses that in the next installment. I will give Maldonado lots of credit. She walks the walk seeing as she has the experience in law enforcement. 





Tuesday, October 29, 2024

#Review - A Reign of Rose by Kate Golden #Fantasy #Romance

Series: The Sacred Stones (#3)
Format: Paperback, 496 pages
Release Date: October 8, 2024
Publisher: Berkley
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy / Romance

They must save the world—but can they also save each other?

Kane Ravenwood, King of Onyx Kingdom, would go to the ends of the continent for Arwen Valondale, but what if she’s beyond even that? Broken in ways he never imagined he could be, Kane must find a way to fulfill the prophecy and kill his father, Fae King Lazarus. And after what he's endured, he’s willing to save Evendell by whatever means necessary—even if that spells his own death.

Little does Kane know, he's not the only one fighting for revenge. Arwen is no longer afraid to fight--no sacrifice is too great, no enemy too daunting. Now, nothing will stop her from destroying Lazarus and his allies, because she knows if she fails, both realms will be doomed forever.


A Reign of Rose, by Kate Golden, is the third and final installment in the authors The Sacred Stones trilogy. This is once again a dual POV narrative story between Arwen Valondale and Kane Ravenwood. There are 9 kingdoms (named after gemstones) that are on different sides of a fae/mortal war. The story picks up two months after the cliffhanger ending of A Promise of Peridot. After being betrayed by Queen Amelia, Arwen is prisoner of the Fae King Lazarus Ravenwood.
 
Lazarus wants pure blooded fae children to rule Evendell and since Arwen is the last pure blood in existence, she is his only chance at getting what he demands. For months, Arwen has drained of her light magic by the sadistic Octavia to make sure she can't try to escape, while Lazarus uses her light to enhance his own abilities. For a long time, Arwen realizes that nobody is coming to save her and that she has to find a way to save herself. There are some curious surprises when it comes to Arwen, and the ending which I refuse to spoil.

Meanwhile, Kane, King of Onyx, has spent the past two months trying to find a way to kill his father but he needs the Blade of the Sun to do so. Kane believes that Arwen fell in the battle with Lazarus, and has no idea that she is being held hostage as a blood mare. In order to find the Blade, Kane travels to meet a man that could make him immortal so that he can kill Lazarus. This story takes our characters to new lands, and new threats, and even more wicked characters who may or may not be open to joining them against Lazarus. 
 
*Brutal ending if I am honest. I didn't think it was necessary to kill off one particular character who was truly one of the best secondary characters and it broke Arwen's heart, but war sucks and sometimes people die. Arwen is definitely a much more interesting character in this book. She takes responsibility for being the one to make sure Kane doesn't die trying to kill Lazarus. I also loved how much Kane goes through in order to take down not only Lazarus, but to save Evendell for everyone, not only fae and humans. Kane is a wonderful character who proves his love and loyalty to his people.


1

kane

I knew this time it was my rib that had cracked.

Each inhale sent the mismatched shards straining from one another and pain radiating into the pummeled muscles of my back. Sitting up was marginally less painful, and I sucked in a slow, bracing breath.

The scent of pine and blood filled my nostrils.

When I blinked my eyes open, they raked down the cascading wall of solid, glinting ice that I'd plunged from-its peak still hidden behind thick white clouds, the smooth face marred only by the cracks and dents where I'd jammed my fists and feet, unsuccessfully attempting an ascent.

First you failed them. Then you failed her. Now you're failing again.

Anguish pierced my heart anew. Fresher, every fucking day.

Wasn't grief supposed to dull with time?

I stood, chest still constricting with two very different types of pain, and brushed snow and dirt from my backside. The motion aggravated deep scrapes along my palms. Whatever protective ward the White Crow had cast around his home atop that glacial mountain was inhibiting all aspects of my lighte-barring me from shifting into my dragon form, halting my accelerated Fae healing . . .

I trudged through near-blinding white back in the direction of the town at the base of the mountain. I'd only made it a few feet when the bruises, scrapes, and blisters across my body began to fade. My toe cut across the snow, demarking where the ward appeared to end.

I winced with the movement. The rib was going to take longer to heal.

If I were smart, or patient, I'd retreat down to town, get a room at the unsavory, sleet-coated inn, and lie still in devastating silence until I recovered.

But I wasn't smart.

I wasn't patient.

And I didn't mind the pain.

I was so cold these days it was almost preferable, feeling something ache inside my bones.

Pressing my palm to the radiating volleys of pain in my side, I appraised the ice-cold mountain range for the hundredth time. Beyond bare ponderosa branches thick with hoarfrost, and snow prints from hares and caribou, that towering rise of jagged hunches rose and rose and rose, gobbling up the skyline.

"You planning to become a dragon and fly at it again?" a crotchety old voice called from behind me. "That almost worked."

Gods damn it.

"No," I growled.

And that hadn't almost worked. It had only gotten me high enough into the air to spy the tiny stone cottage that topped the peak, observe the elderly sorcerer tending to a flourishing root vegetable garden, and then, as soon as I flew for him and through his wards, shift against my will midair and plummet to the ground.

That fall had yielded me one crushed kneecap, a concussion, and two dislocated shoulders. None of which had rivaled the experience of waiting days for my knocked-out teeth to grow back-nothing humbles a man quite like teething in adulthood.

My body shattering against packed snow hadn't been all bad. In some ways, I'd welcomed the pain. It allowed me to feel what Arwen had felt-that same gruesome powerlessness. Sailing through the air, instincts screaming at me to fly despite my brain's roaring that I couldn't-

"You're not going to die." That's what I had told her.

A grimace twisted my face at the memory.

So I'd tried again the next day. And the next.

The second time I fell out of my dragon form, I'd broken my back in two places, and lost the use of my legs. I'd lain there for half a day, inside the White Crow's wards, unable to heal, unable to move, until this mouth breather had stumbled across my prone form and, upon my very clear instructions, dragged me back toward town until a tingling in my calves told me I'd started to heal.

I appraised him now as he stood expectantly with that yoke across his shoulders. The wrinkly, crumpled do-gooder was named Len and had a long face and thin lips that he used to smile far more often than necessary. A dishwasher in the town's only tavern, Len climbed up the hill for fresh water from the well each morning, and once told me he was all too used to seeing sorry assholes like myself up here, trying and failing to reach the White Crow.

"Don't beat yourself up," Len said, eyes crinkling. "It's a feat when someone can even track the old nutter down."

Pressing against my aching, splintered rib, I cut a glance at him. "On your way now, Len."

The older man raised his hands in mock surrender. "All right, all right. Come down to the tavern if you need to refuel."

"Will do."

But I wouldn't.


”Fuck.” I grunted, sliding down the face of the mountain, hands clawing for purchase against the rocks I’d driven into the smooth ice to serve as handholds. My chest slammed into one and I spasmed for air, landing hard against the snow. Through my blurred vision, I watched several brown rabbits scatter for the powdery brush.

"You're going to kill yourself before you do whatever you came here to."

"Why are you always here?" I croaked to Len through a mouthful of ice.

"This is where the damn well is!"

I craned my neck. Len gestured at the water source, yoke balanced across his back, twin pails spilling water from either shoulder. "Help me bring these down the mountain and I'll buy you a pint."

"There isn't time," I said, ragged, bearded cheek growing numb in the slush.

It had been months. If Lazarus had destroyed the blade already . . . then actually I'd have nothing but time. A miserable, aching eternity.

I swallowed a dry heave at the thought and sucked in more frigid air, rolling onto my back with a groan.

Don't think like that.

That sick, wounded yearning took root in my chest as it always did when her voice resonated in my head. Like bells. Like sweet music.

Arwen would tell me that I couldn't know anything for sure until I made it to Lumera and found out for myself. And I couldn't do that, couldn't confront my father until I, too, was full-blooded and had a chance of destroying him.

Which was why I had to get up the fucking mountain.

Up there-where the impenetrable clouds met an icy summit.

I squinted. If there had been a sun to see, it would have sunk behind those peaks hours ago. I could tell by the dim, cerulean light dulling the snow, and the cold seeping into my bones.

In the first days of my journey to the Pearl Mountains, a few residents told me I'd just missed the bright, clear-skied summer. It was cold year-round in the floating kingdom-something about the altitude, or the magic that kept the city hovering among the clouds-but it was especially brutal in both fall and winter months, when there were fewer than six hours of daylight and near-nonstop snowfall. It was even worse here in Vorst, the region that served as home to the White Crow.

Meanwhile, Shadowhold was probably just reaching the tail end of autumn, the Shadow Woods likely replete with toadstools and blackberries.

Another swift kick to the gut. That's what thinking of my keep felt like these days. Not because of how much I missed my people, or Griffin or Acorn. Not because I longed for the comforts of lilac soap and whiskey and cloverbread.

But because even if this treacherous, frostbitten climb was possible, even if I reached the White Crow, convinced him to turn me full-blooded, stomached whatever anguish that might entail, and somehow still arrived in one piece back to my shadowed, familiar castle . . .

Arwen wouldn't be there.

Her books, filled with flattened petals, unopened. The side of my bed I'd so foolishly hoped would be hers, eternally cold. I'd never hear that peal of laughter again, nor smell her orange blossom skin.

I'd watch my home become a crypt.

I rolled over, burying my face in the snow, and roared until flames ran through my lungs. Until tears burned at my eyes and my chest rippled against the ground, the agony, shredding me, the guilt, the untenable sorrow-

"Stones alive," Len breathed. "You need a break."

"No," I grumbled, spitting ice and pushing myself up from the ground. "It helps. I'm fine."

"It's almost nightfall. You can't scale a mountain of ice in the dark with a broken rib and a punctured lung. Are you trying to die, boy?"

I'd asked myself that same question so many times I'd lost count. "Depends on the day."

Len offered me a flat expression. "One pint, a hot meal, and you'll be back to falling off the mountain again by sunrise."

Perhaps he was right. I was slinking dangerously close to that tipping point. The one wherein my own death was looking just a bit too attractive. Where I'd either join her or stop having to live each despicable day without her. But then her sacrifice would have been for nothing and that-that I couldn't allow. In life, or in death.

Dry wind bit at my skin as I limped toward Len with a grunt. Alarm erupted on his face as I drew near, but I only lifted the pails from his shoulders and moved past him, prowling down the mountainside. Len's sigh of relief was audible as he stomped through the snow after me.

Vorst was barely a town. It was barely a village. That aforementioned seedy inn, a nearly bare general store, a temple, and Len's quiet stone tavern were all it had to offer. Populated only by those passing through, solitary lifelong merchants like Len, and the rare scholar or priest who sought remote corners of Pearl to study or serve the Stones in peace.

Len's tavern-which he made clear to me three different times on our trudge over was not his tavern, but his cousin, Faulk's-was a frostbitten slate-gray hovel on the outskirts. I had to duck to enter, and, due to the low, slanted ceiling, hunch once inside, which sent currents of pain through my still-bruised abdomen.

With few options-the grim space had only a handful of mismatched stools and one bench with a man snoring beneath it-I sat down in a back corner beside the tavern's hearth. My table was built from an overturned pig trough. A single pillar candle melted atop it, stuffed into an empty wine bottle and flickering for its life.

"What can I do you for?" Len asked, prodding at the crackling fire.

The heat permeated through my stiff, wet clothes. Remnants of ice and snow were melting beneath the layers. I removed my gloves, brushing frost from my beard and flexing my hands closer to the flames. "I'll take that pint. And whatever you have to eat."

Len nodded once, returning minutes later with a foamy ale and a lukewarm meat pie. One bite told me it was mostly gristle but I ate the entire thing regardless and then asked for a second. Being this far from the White Crow's wards had bettered both my appetite and my injuries. I twisted to loosen my rigid spine.

"Want to know what Faulk tried to name the tavern?" Len asked, pulling up a low stool across from me and draping some animal's hide over his knobby legs.

Irritation pricked at my neck. I couldn't tell the elderly man to scram when he had offered me the first hot meal I'd had in days. But I really, really would have liked to.

When I remained silent he said, undeterred, "The Frozen Yak."

"Yeah . . . that's terrible."

"I told him every patron will think of rock-hard vomit when they eat."

My eyes found the soupy pie before me, and I lowered my fork.

"You're obviously not from here, but in Vorst, yaks-"

"No offense, Len, but I'd prefer a bit of-"

"Solitude?"

I let my silence answer his question.

Len only leaned forward. His cracked lips spread with a curious grin. "What do you want with the old Crow anyway?"

The fire popped beside me and the snoring man bathed in shadow rolled to his side. I sighed like an ox. "Is it even him up there?"

Len sniffed, the wrinkles on his face creasing with ease, as if he did that all too often. A chronic dripping nose from chronic winter. "It's him, all right. He's come down once or twice. Bought seeds for his garden."

"Does anyone in Vorst speak to him? Is there any way to send word?"

Len shook his head.

"Not even for-"

"The king of Onyx?"

I choked on a piece of lard-laden crust.

"People talk," Len said, leaning back. "Even in towns as small as these. Your land's been missing a king for the last two months. And not so many men can turn into dragons. Only two, by my last count."

Suspicion ground my jaw shut. "What do you know of my father?"

Len made a face. "This whole kingdom is made up of scholars. He's a Faerie, right?"

I said nothing, back rigid, narrow fork mangled in my grasp.

"Why'd you abandon your kingdom?" Len plucked the knife from beside me and twirled it across his crooked fingers. "Are you not at war?"

The rage that spiraled through me nearly blew out my fists and into the thin man. He was only spared by the equal rage directed back at myself-the truth in his words, all my mistakes, being forced to travel here and leave them all behind.

"I didn't abandon them," I growled. "My men are preparing for battle. I'm here to retrieve something we need in order to win."

"And what's that?"

Len's curiosity had graduated from mildly irritating to deserving of a fork through the throat.

"C'mon," he pried. "Who am I going to tell? The rodents?"

I took a breath. "The man I seek to destroy can only be killed by a certain type of Fae. I need the White Crow to make me . . . able to beat him." I said the next words very slowly, as to infiltrate Len's feeble mind. "Can you help me reach the sorcerer?"

Len's eyes softened, and for a moment, I thought he might actually answer me. "Why now? When you've been at war for years?"

I stabbed my warped fork into the soft center of the pie, ignoring him. Two more mouthfuls and I'd head back up-

"If you answer me, I might be able to help you contact the wizard. I have lived beneath him for sixty years."

I didn't want to talk about her with this toad. I didn't want to talk about her with anyone.