Age of X01 - Gameboard of the Gods

GAMEBOARD

OF THE

GODS

ALSO BY RICHELLE MEAD

BLOODLINE SERIES

Bloodlines

The Golden Lily

The Indigo Spell

VAMPIRE ACADEMY SERIES

Vampire Academy

Frostbite

Shadow Kiss

Blood Promise

Spirit Bound

Last Sacrifice

DARK SWAN SERIES

Storm Born

Thorn Queen

Iron Crowned

Shadow Heir

GEORGINA KINCAID SERIES

Succubus Blues

Succubus on Top

Succubus Dreams

Succubus Heat

Succubus Shadows

Succubus Revealed

RICHELLE MEAD

GAMEBOARD

OF THE

GODS

DUTTON

DUTTON

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

New York, New York 10014, USA

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Copyright © 2013 by Richelle Mead, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Mead, Richelle.

Gameboard of the gods : a novel / Richelle Mead.

pages   cm. — (Age of X)

ISBN: 978-1-101-62430-2

1. Government investigators—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3613.E1275G36     2013

813’.6—dc23

2012050951

Designed by Carla Bolte

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

FOR JAY,

THIS ONE WAS WAITING FOR YOU.

As the main body of troops in Rome they were the emperor’s instrument to discourage plotting and rebellion and to crush unrest. The emperor’s most immediate line of defence; they could also, on occasion, be his most deadly enemies.

—
The Prætorian Guard
, by Boris Rankov

At the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis all the gods were invited with the exception of Eris, or Discord. Enraged at her exclusion, the goddess threw a golden apple among the guests, with the inscription, “For the fairest.” Thereupon Juno, Venus, and Minerva each claimed the apple. Jupiter, not willing to decide in so delicate a matter, sent the goddesses to Mount Ida, where the beautiful shepherd Paris was tending his flocks, and to him was committed the decision. The goddesses accordingly appeared before him. Juno promised him power and riches, Minerva glory and renown in war, and Venus the fairest of women for his wife, each attempting to bias his decision in her own favour. Paris decided in favour of Venus and gave her the golden apple, thus making the two other goddesses his enemies.

—
Bulfinch’s Mythology
, by Thomas Bulfinch

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: She Usually Wears Black

Chapter 2: A Beggar at the Door

Chapter 3: A Few Less Problems

Chapter 4: Each Other’s Undoing

Chapter 5: A Burning Bridge

Chapter 6: Genius, Con Artist

Chapter 7: Fairyland

Chapter 8: Not Cool

Chapter 9: The Deadly Warriors That Keep Us Safe

Chapter 10: Master and Apprentice

Chapter 11: License to Worship

Chapter 12: Miracles

Chapter 13: Two Percent

Chapter 14: Justin’s Favorite Megalomaniac

Chapter 15: He’s Taller

Chapter 16: The Principle and Stuff

Chapter 17: The Most Dangerous Man in the Republic

Chapter 18: A Church Without a God

Chapter 19: Grateful to Be in the Folds of Civilization

Chapter 20: A Ticking Time Bomb

Chapter 21: Conflict of Interest

Chapter 22: The Miscreant Terrorist Girls’ Reform Camp

Chapter 23: The Ballad of Mae and Porfirio

Chapter 24: Therapy

Chapter 25: How Mae Got Her Purpose

Chapter 26: Everyone’s So Blond

Chapter 27: Koskinen Decorum

Chapter 28: Her Drug

Chapter 29: Technicalities

Chapter 30: The Ramblings of a Madman

Chapter 31: Avenging Valkyrie

Chapter 32: Desperate Times and All That

Chapter 33: Mortal Weapons

Chapter 34: No One Ever Expects the Knife

Chapter 35: A Recluse and a Technical Genius

Chapter 36: The Other Pattern

Chapter 37: Stephanotis

Acknowledgments

About the Author

CHAPTER 1

SHE USUALLY WEARS BLACK

Mae dealt out death regularly. It really wasn’t a problem.

Death was clean on the battlefield, and there was no reason to dwell on what it meant. The kills were just mission objectives, and the people weren’t really people at all. It was you or them. And when the fight was done, you could just walk away.

But today? There was no walking away. Today, she was walking
toward
death, and that scared the hell out of her. Not much else did these days.

With a deep breath, she leaned her cheek against the living room mirror, closing her eyes and taking comfort in the way the glass cooled her skin. She repeated the soldier’s creed over and over in her head, using the familiar words to steady herself:
I am a soldier of the Republic. I do not serve my own will but that of my country. I am its tool and will gladly lay down my life to further this nation’s glory. I am a soldier of the Republic. I do not serve my own will but that of my country….