Idol of Blood (25 page)

Shiva lifted Ra's chin and gave her a stern look. “You are my equal. Rise as Meer.” Ra stood, overcome by the meaning of this pronouncement, as Shiva observed the remains on the tavern bar.

Hugging her arms, Ra shuddered at the offensive stench of him. “He must not be allowed to return.”

MeerShiva nodded and took hold of Kol's hair, dragging him like a meaningless bag of trash through the back room of the tavern, where a door beside the privy opened onto a service alley in the rear.

Ra followed as Shiva dragged the corpse out to the new wetlands from the flooded moor to the south and tossed it down. She took Ra aside to wait, sitting in the boggy marsh, unaffected by the damp as she drew Ra within the protective circle of her limbs. They waited until the carrion eaters of the moorland appeared, vultures and wild dogs fighting one another for the raw flesh, and watched until there was nothing left that could be conjured again to life.

MeerShiva stroked Ra's hair under the glittering sun as they listened to the sounds of the marsh, and Ra remembered that Shiva had lived wild in the swamps in the days before the Age of Meer. The bright sun and Shiva's touch were lulling Ra once more into the quiet realm where Meeric wisdom flowed. The mud of the marsh and the murmuring of frogs and insects were one with the shared beating of blood through her veins. The moisture of the bog was no different from the water that coursed through her body or dashed against distant shores, ushered by the Anamnesis into the vast sea.

In the Meeric well, there were all things and none, sorrow and joy, ecstasy and loss, time and motionlessness in a single drop of blood—or mortal tear—on the tip of an eyelash. Ra had dipped into the well and reemerged countless times over a quartet of centuries, each time reborn in more subtle ways than renaissance, reformed of Meeric desire. Jak and Ahr waited there within the fluid fabric of memory.

MeerShiva rose without speaking, and Ra followed, no words necessary. They stepped out onto the drying hillocks dotted with clover and heather, leaving the trailing outskirts of highland society behind. The highlands, like the Delta, were no place for gods.

Scattered herds of shaggy cattle and qirhu observed them with mild curiosity, unconcerned with the cake of mud and red matter that spattered them as they walked in the clear morning light. They were part of the qirhu, and the cattle, and the circling condors, part of the dappling light that rolled out across the heath. Beneath papery white clouds and autumn's fragile robin's-egg sky,
falend
stretched before them, the rain-swollen Filial winding through it across the heath toward its Anamnesis.

Beyond lay only undiscovered country.

About the Author

Jane Kindred is the author of
The Devil's Garden
and
The House of Arkhangel'sk
and
Demons of Elysium
series. Born in Billings, Montana, she spent her formative years ruining her eyes reading romance novels in the Tucson sun and watching
Star Trek
marathons in the dark. She now writes to the sound of San Francisco foghorns while two cats slowly but surely edge her off the side of the bed.

You can find Jane on her Twitter account and Facebook page—both of which are aptly named “janekindred”—and her website,
www.janekindred.com
.

Look for these titles by Jane Kindred

Now Available:

Demons of Elysium

Prince of Tricks

King of Thieves

Master of the Game

Looking Glass Gods

Idol of Bone

Idol of Blood

Coming Soon:

Looking Glass Gods

Idol of Glass

Lost Coast

One stranger seeks to claim her heart…another is destined to destroy her.

Looking Glass Gods, Book 1

Ra
. Just two letters. Barely a breath. When she stumbles into the frozen Haethfalt highlands, her name is all she has—the last remnant of a past she's managed to keep hidden, even from herself. Her magic, however, isn't so easy to conceal—magic that's the province of the Meer, an illicit race to which she can't possibly belong.

The eccentric carpenter who takes her in provides a welcome distraction from the puzzle of herself. Though Jak refuses to identify as either male or female, the unmistakable spark of desire between them leaves Ra determined to find out what lies beneath the enigmatic exterior.

But more dangerous secrets are brewing underneath the wintry moors. Jak's closest friend, Ahr, is haunted by his own unspeakable past. Bounty hunters seeking fugitive Meer refuse to leave him in peace.

Harboring feelings for both Ra and Ahr, Jak nonetheless struggles to keep them apart. Because like the sun and the moon coming together, their inevitable reunion has the potential to destroy Jak's whole world.

When desire rises, angels will fall. One, by one, by one…

Demons of Elysium, Book 1

Over the past century, Belphagor has made a name for himself in Heaven's Demon District as a cardsharp, thief, and charming rogue.

Though the airspirit is content with his own company, he enjoys applying the sweet sting of discipline to a willing backside. Angel, demon, even the occasional human. He's not particular. Until a hotheaded young firespirit steals his purse—and his heart. Now he's not sure who owns whom.

A former rent boy and cutpurse from the streets of Raqia, Vasily has never felt safer than in the arms—and at the feet—of the Prince of Tricks. He's just not sure if Belphagor returns those feelings. There's only one way to find out, but using a handsome, angelic duke to stir Belphagor's jealousy backfires on them both.

When the duke frames Vasily for an attempted assassination as part of a revolutionary conspiracy, Belphagor will do whatever it takes to clear his boy's name and expose the real traitor. Because for the first time in his life, the Prince of Tricks has something to lose.

There are worse things to lose than one's good name.

Demons of Elysium, Book 2

Belphagor can seduce demons with a look and bring angels to their knees with a single motion, but when it comes to being in love, the Prince of Tricks is out of his element.

At every turn, Vasily rebels against the discipline he claims to want, even refusing to use his safe word. But when Belphagor uses a scheme to shut down an underage brothel to test Vasily's limits, he loses Vasily's trust along with the boys he intended to set free.

Uncovering a smuggling ring that spans two worlds, Belphagor calls on a team of Nephilim mercenaries to rescue the “Lost Boys” from earthly gangsters. But his relationship seems beyond repair—and a heartbroken Vasily beyond his reach in the arms of a sensual demon named Silk.

Belphagor has more than enough grand schemes up his sleeve to bring down the smuggling ring for good. But when it comes to putting things right with Vasily, his bag of tricks is empty. Except for trust…and a plan to teach his boy a lesson neither will soon forget.

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

Cincinnati OH 45249

Idol of Blood

Copyright © 2015 by Jane Kindred

ISBN: 978-1-61922-372-1

Edited by Linda Ingmanson

Cover by Kanaxa

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: June 2015

www.samhainpublishing.com