England, 1876. Twenty-year-old Maraina Blackwood has always struggled to adhere to the restrictive standards of Victorian society, denying the courage and desire that burn within her soul. But after a terrifying supernatural encounter, Maraina's instincts compel her to action. Maraina soon discovers a plot to unleash a new world—one of demonic aristocrats, bloody rituals, and nightmarish monsters. Putting her upbringing aside, Maraina vows to fight the dark forces assuming control of England. But as her world transforms, Maraina finds that she too must transform...and what she becomes will bring out all that she once buried. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing
View MorePART VAscensionFebruary—April, 1878CHAPTER THIRTY-THREEPenance“I recognize, in retrospect, why some would take offense to the Immortalist Papers. The fact of the matter is, they reflected the commonly-held beliefs of the age in which they were written. I do not feel it is fair to blame me for spreading ideas that were already commonly-held. You must understand that we are in a period of rapid change, and one can hardly be expected to know what lies around every corner. For God’s sake, I was only doing what I was told! You want me to put my family at risk? My wife, my children? If I’d refused to write those papers, you know what would have happened to them—and to me, for that mat
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWOCrimson RainSalem’s mention ofLoretta made it clear to me that she was alive and uninfected, just as I needed her. As I arrived at her home, I found a group of Uncivil trying to hammer down the front door. I slashed through them before they even saw me.Rather than pound on the door as the Uncivil had done, I simply rang the doorbell. Loretta’s face poked through the drapes, and the door opened.“You’re alive!” she exclaimed, yanking me inside. After slamming the door shut again, she turned to a servant and said, “Fetch her a dress, won’t you? Something black.”Mr. Pervis stood inside a blood circle, his arms outstretched, fingers bloody. His expression remained neutral as he concentrated and chanted beneath his breath. He was too focused on the ritual to notice my nakedness.“He’s warding the house,” said Loretta. “Making it so no one can force entry. He’s been at it for hours. First the Reapers were coming, then the Uncivil.”Loretta’s posture had str
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONESweet SorrowThe Reapers walkedme out through the front doors of the Necropolis, and to the edge of Westminster Bridge. There were crowds of Reapers at either end of it, their dark cloaks billowing in the wind. Some rode on bone stallions.The cold rain felt like needles against my battered body. Below us, the bloody Thames swirled and screeched, hammering its barriers. The storm had made it higher. Further down the river, a large shape was growing closer—Salem’s island of flesh. We could hear its weeping even from here.At the other end of the bridge, the crowd of Reapers shuffled, and two faces emerged from the sea of skulls: Alkin and Sven. A stone dropped inside of me. The Reapers must have taken them both at the docks when Alkin had arrived. Mr. Cillian was going to deliver all three of us to Salem, forcing me to watch as the people I loved were tortured.Mr. Cillian’s eyes lit up at the sight of Sven. He walked past me to the center of the bridge, th
CHAPTER THIRTYIn the House of Mr. Cillian“This will beeverso much fun,” Mr. Cillian trilled.He had taken me to a room with walls of fine wood paneling. This was no ordinary bone cell; it appeared to be a meeting room.Mr. Cillian sat across from me in a fancy chair, sipping blood from a teacup. Not a drop stained his lips, but he dabbed them with his handkerchief anyway. “Salem wants to torture you himself, of course, but I’ll still get some satisfaction from delivering you to your doom.”He hadn’t chained me to my chair; he acted as though this was an informal meeting between close friends.I tried not to show my anger; I didn’t wish to indulge him. I had to approach this from a place of strength and certainty, no matter the crippling pain still coursing through my body.“He’s coming to infect us all, Warren,” I said. “Everyone. Even you.”“He told me he’d spare me if I got you ready for him,” Mr. Cillian replied. “He’ll even let me kill the Dark Watcher. And oh, how
PART IVDecscentFebruary, 1878CHAPTER TWENTY-NINEMorphosisAs soon asI saw Salem, I knew that I had failed.His expression was not one of wild rage, but rather smoldering hatred. He lifted the side of his upper lip, showing a hint of his teeth. His wings were rigid, like the hackles on a dog’s back.How could he be here? I’d worn my pentacle. Unless ...“Alkin ... ” I whispered. “Are you wearing a pentacle?”Alkin’s eyes glistened with fear. Slowly, he shook his head.Salem hadn’t been contacting me. He’d been trying to find Alkin.“I ... see how things are now.” Salem’s voice was very calm, stepping closer. “I see what you are. A minx. Yes, that’s it. A minx. Like every other succubus. Yet only a succubus would do ... ”I got up off of Alkin. “Salem,” I said, trying to keep my voice as calm as his. “I don’t know what you thought you heard, but let’s discuss this.”“And I knew it ... ” Salem whispered. “I
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTRuptureI awoke tothe sound of someone rapping on the bedroom door. The first thing I felt was the ring Salem had given me last night, cold and heavy around my finger.The second was Salem sitting up beside me, his wings pulling away the covers. He stared at the door, seething at this interruption of his long-delayed rest.“Do you want to be bound to the wall with the others?” he shouted. “Do you want to become a bloody music box?”“You have a visitor, Lord Sotirios.” The girl’s voice was hollow with fear.“Does it sound like I care? Tell them to come back tomorrow.”“It is the queen, Lord Sotirios.”Queen Isabelle had come here? No wonder the girl was terrified. If the queen demanded to see Salem, a maid who refused her would be killed. But so too would a maid who annoyed Salem.“It’s not her fault,” I whispered, clutching Salem’s hand. “Go see the queen.”Salem let out an angry sigh, and put on a pair of trousers. He shot the maid a nasty glare on
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