Lord of Shadows
Authors: Alix Rickloff
ALIX RICKLOFF
is a sensation!
EARL OF DARKNESS
“A tangled tale of good and evil, magic and mystery, passion and desire—one that won’t be easily forgotten.”
—
Romantic Times
(Top Pick)
“This book is magic personified.”
—Night Owl Reviews
“A sexy and intense tale packed with dark passions and even darker magic.”
—
USA Today
bestselling author Caridad Pineiro
DANGEROUS AS SIN
“A heady blend of historical romance, deadly mystery, and deep betrayals. Add to that a dash of the paranormal and you have one heck of a book.”
—Fallen Angel Reviews
“A magical novel.”
—Joyfully Reviewed
LOST IN YOU
“A fascinating debut filled with sensory details and a deep sense of lore.”
—
Booklist
“A riveting tale full of magic, danger, and sensuality.”
—
New York Times
bestselling author Hannah Howell
Lord of Shadows
is also available as an eBook
Also by Alix Rickloff
Earl of Darkness
| Pocket Books |
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by Alix Rickloff
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
First Pocket Books paperback edition July 2011
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Cover illustration by Gene Mollica.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 978-1-4391-7037-3
ISBN 978-1-4391-7059-5 (ebook)
For John
My heartfelt gratitude goes out as always to those who have brought this book from blank page to “The End.”
My fellow desperate writers, Maggie and Do. The best friends and critics a writer could have. They question, answer, inspire, and prod in equal measures. Thanks for the popcorn, the Martini Bianco, and the laughter. Without you, this book would have been a whole lot harder to write.
Kevan Lyon and Megan McKeever for their editing polish.
Bethan Davies for helping Daigh find his Welsh.
The Beau Monde and their infinite knowledge of the Regency.
And, as always, my wonderful family, who know when the door closes, they’re on their own.
Off the southwest coast of Ireland
November 1815
He’d prayed the storm would kill him. One solid lightning strike to splinter his body into so many pieces no amount of mage energy could fit him back together.
A vain prayer. He’d moved far beyond the reach of any god’s aid.
The ocean had calmed from the froth of hurricane swells to a slick of black, rolling water. Good for inducing nausea, but not death. Clouds passed eastward, taking their lightning with them, leaving a sky shimmering with frozen stars, full moon hanging low on the horizon. Picturesque, yet his mood longed for a cyclone’s destruction to match the chaotic madness infecting his mind.
The storm had pushed them off course. He’d heard the sailors mutter and witnessed the captain’s frown as he prowled the quarterdeck. Behind schedule. Battered and in need of repairs. And Cobh harbor another day and a half away if the winds held.
So if the gods had deserted him, it fell to his own devices to find oblivion.
He’d been denied a split second’s painless annihilation. But there were other paths to
Annwn
. Trackless dark ways that led just as surely to the land of the dead.
He only needed to discover them.
Leaning against the rail, he scanned the sea, his answer written upon every wave. But could he go through with it? Would the wards that kept him alive and untouchable unravel within the sea god Lir’s cold fathoms, bringing the solace he craved? Or would the attempt result in endless suffering of a different kind within the clawing pull of the ocean tides?
The stars above rippled gold and silver upon the surface of the sea. Curled and eddied as if a hand drew shapes with light and water. Turned moonlight to a woman’s pale face. The ocean’s foam drifting across her features like a spill of dark hair, she breathed her love across the separating veil. Shone luminous in a world blanketed by shadows.
Had she been conjured from his tattered memories or was she mere dream? Impossible to distinguish. Names and faces drifted through his consciousness like ghosts. Sometimes as vivid as the existence he found himself trapped within. At other times, only emptiness met his probing efforts to remember. And he was left alone to fight the demonic rage that burned through him like acid. The fury of the damned.
He expected her to dissolve back into the waves any second, but she remained. Her eyes gleamed blue as corn-flowers. Her smile brightening for a moment the hopelessness pressing against his heart, and he knew he must take the course offered. Now. Here. Before she vanished. Before she was beaten back by the howling viciousness, and he was
once again left bereft of memories or even the comfort of memories. At least this way he wouldn’t face the uncertainty of death alone.
Slinging a leg over the gunwale, he glanced to be sure none watched. But no, the deck remained quiet. He’d not get a better chance.
With a hard shove to propel him out of the ship’s shadow, he plunged into the water. Arrowed far down below the waves.
The water jolted him alert. A stomach-punch of icy pain, stabbing needles of agony through every nerve. Releasing his breath on a cloud of bubbles, he dropped deeper. Lungs burning and muscles cramping as he fought the instinctual need to breathe. To live.
He struggled against the claustrophobic crush of water, but the seeping drugged cold of the sea made every movement excruciating. And then impossible.
The woman’s smile urged him deeper.
Water filled his lungs. His body surrendered. Death came like a lover.
He answered her smile. And stepping through the curtain between them, embraced her at last.
“Sabrina! Where have you gotten yourself? Answer, or so help me . . .”
Normally such a threat would have shot Lady Sabrina Douglas from her hiding place like a bullet from a gun. Not so today. Today was different. It was the sixteenth of the month. Seven years ago on this date, her world had been turned upside down, and nothing had ever been quite the same since.
