by Linsey Hall
He roared and fell, stiff as a board.
I neared the first demon that I’d paralyzed. He lay face down on the ground, frozen. I drew a sword from the ether, using a bit of handy magic that I’d bought rather than owned myself, and stabbed him in the back of the neck. The cut was quick, and I felt no guilt. Demons were evil, usually taken from hell by black magic and hired to do awful deeds on earth.
I wasn’t even technically killing him. When a demon died on earth, their body disappeared and they woke up back in whatever hell they’d come from. Eventually, he’d probably make his way back to earth.
In a way, this was a win-win for both of us. Or at least, not a major loss for the demon.
In the sky, Bree and the giant beast fought, darting around and clashing violently. I looked back to the ground, where my fight was happening.
Two of the demons had grabbed the young men and were holding them, but they weren’t actually hurting them. I frowned. Were they holding them for the monster that Bree was trying to drive off?
Another demon lunged for me, sword raised. His skin was a pale gray, and he was about six inches taller than me. His horns were a pale white that matched his long fangs and claws. I dived low, narrowly avoiding his steel, my reflexes practiced and quick. I’d worked my ass off at this when I’d realized my magic was gone. If I didn’t have power, I’d sure as heck be the fastest, most skilled fighter.
On the ground, I rolled onto my back and popped up onto my feet, swinging my sword for the demon. It sliced toward his middle, but he sucked his stomach in, dodging my blow.
“Lucky bastard.” I grinned, darting toward him.
I moved so quickly that his yellow eyes widened in surprise. Then I swiped my blade across his neck. Blood sprayed, and I ducked.
Still, it hit me in the forehead, warm and sticky and gross. I was fast, but not magically fast. Avoiding arterial blood spray was almost impossible. It was one of my least favorite parts of the job.
I kicked the demon in the chest so he fell backward, then whirled to face the fight.
The shadow at the edge of the square moved.
A man stepped out.
Power hit me in the face, magic so strong that I gasped.
And his face.
He looked like a fallen angel. One who’d gotten in a brawl as soon as he’d hit earth. Dark hair waved around his face, and his lips were full, his eyes a brilliant blue. His perfect nose was just slightly crooked, as if he’d broken it once or twice. The flaw should have made him look less divine, but somehow, it didn’t.
And his body. Holy crap, with those arms, he could break a semitruck in half. He had to be six and a half feet tall, if he was an inch, his shoulders broad and his waist trim.
Time seemed to stop as I looked at him, shrouded in shadow. His magic rolled out from him in waves, complete with every signature in the book. It lit up all five of my senses, something so rare that only a few supernaturals possessed it. It meant he was strong. Really strong.
His magic tasted of fine whiskey, burning the back of my throat. It smelled of cedar, fresh and bright, and sounded like the roar of a waterfall. Rarest of all was his aura. Supernaturals almost never had auras, but his was gold, and shaped vaguely like ancient armor, covering him from neck to knees. It shimmered in front of him, there but not, one of the strangest and most fabulous things I’d ever seen.
But strongest of all was the feel of his magic. It felt like a caress against my skin. Almost like a kiss. I shivered, trying not to lose myself in the feeling.
This was a fight. One that I wouldn’t lose.
I turned away from the man, ignoring the tugging sensation I felt pulling me toward him.
He could be a bad guy—he might be fighting on the side of these demons, after all—but I’d have to deal with him after I took out the massive red demon who was bearing down on me like a freight train. The monster was at least seven feet tall, and covered in so much muscle that I wondered how he wiped his own butt.
Ew. Gross. Focus on the fight, Rowan.
The demon’s magic smelled of blood and gore and felt like needles piercing my skin. From the feel of his signature, he was as evil as they came. He raised a hand, magic sparking around his massive claws, then hurled a blast of fire at me.
I dived low, feeling the heat streak across my cheek, and drew a potion bomb from my sack. It was bright green, the glass gleaming in the light of the street lamps. I rolled onto my back and hurled the bomb at him just as he threw another fireball.
I scrambled right, taking a hit to my left hip. Pain flared hot and fierce. But the demon shrieked.
Nailed him.
I rolled over to see him flailing, the acid eating its way to his heart. It was a nasty potion bomb, one that I wanted to keep perfecting until it killed more quickly. I didn’t like the suffering, even though I used them on demons, who probably ate kids or something horrible like that.
Well, maybe if he was a kid-eater, he should suffer.
I shoved the ridiculous thought away and scrambled to my feet, searching the square. Bree continued to fight off the giant monster, while the two demons held their human captives.
More demons had appeared from the rooftops, but the man from the shadows was taking care of them quickly. As I watched, he strode up to one, not a single weapon in his hand. Was he an elemental mage? Maybe he’d hit him with lightning or something.
But nope.
He got close to the tall gray demon, who swung a wicked-looking sword at him. The man dodged the blade, then reached up and tore the head right off the demon.
“Holy fates!” The words escaped before I realized. He fought like a freaking gladiator.
“I know, right?” The words sounded from out of the blue, but I couldn’t see anyone.
What the heck? I looked around, but saw nothing.
Maybe I was imagining them. I was too busy watching the man, anyway. Somehow, he managed to dodge the arterial blood flow. I reached up and touched the demon blood that had now cooled on my forehead.
It was impossible to dodge arterial blood spray. It was too fast.
Not as fast as this guy, though, who clearly had to have some kind of magical speed.
He charged around the square, taking out demon after demon. More appeared, two of them so close to me that I had to turn my attention from the gladiator to fight off the monsters that would kill me as soon as look at me.
I spun to face an oncoming demon. He was too close for a potion bomb—no way I wanted to risk getting hit by the splash—so I raised my sword. “Come and get it, big guy.”
He grinned, his yellow fangs making my stomach turn. He’d have breath like dead bodies, I’d bet a crate of double chocolate cookies on it.
He raised his blade, and we clashed, steel against steel. I dived and parried, narrowly avoiding a slice that could have taken off my leg. He had strength and reach on me, but I had speed. I struck for his sword arm, cutting deep.
He roared and dropped his blade, his green eyes flaring with rage. He raised his other arm, revealing a hand tipped in massive claws, and swiped at me.
I jumped backward, feeling his claws swoosh past my face with only a centimeter to spare. I dodged forward, sinking my sword into his gut.
He gurgled this time, hissing an obscenity that sounded something like “-iserable -unt.”
I could only guess where he was going with that, but frankly, I didn’t care. Instead, I kicked him in the stomach to dislodge him from my blade and spun to face the fight again, triumph welling within me.
I was too late.
A demon was only feet away, moving so fast that I couldn’t get my sword arm up. He grabbed me by the neck, cutting off my air. I gasped, but the air caught in my throat.
Panic swelling in my chest, I raised my sword to strike. He knocked the blade away with his free arm, and the steel clattered to the cobblestones. It was the most terrifying sound I’d ever heard. Losing my weapon while in the grips of a demon. He raised me into th
e air. I kicked my legs, struggling to break free, and stared death in the face.
~~~
Rowan’s entire series is available now. Click here to check it out!
Dedications
Institute of Magic
For Lindsey and Andrew.
Crime of Magic
For Pam and John.
Celtic Magic
For The FireSouls, my awesome friends on Facebook.
Captured by Magic
For Janice, with love.
Doomsday Magic
For Jon McGough.
Author’s Notes & Acknowledgements
Institute of Magic Author’s Note
Thanks for reading Institute of Magic! If you’ve read any of my previous books, you may have noticed that I have a fondness for including historical places and mythological elements. I did the same with Institute of Magic. Sometimes the history of these things is so interesting that I want to share more, so I like to do it in the Author’s Note instead of the story itself.
Celtic myth plays a large role in Ana’s series. Several side characters are from Celtic myth. Cade is actually Belatucadros, one of the Celtic war gods from Great Britain. Another character from Celtic myth is Muffin, the Cat Sìth, a type of fairy creature. In actually Celtic myth, the Cat Sìth’s name isn’t Muffin (that was my own addition). According to legend, he is supposed to resemble a large black cat with a white spot on his chest. The myth of the Cat Sìth was possibly inspired by the Scottish wildcat. In one British folk tale, the Cat Sìth is considered to be the king of cats. They can even steal your soul, though the Muffin in my books is more interested in stealing fish and jewels.
Muffin is hairless, however, which makes him a bit different. In the fiction wold (as opposed to the one of Celtic myth) he’s the distant cousin of Magpie, a hairless cat from the Spellbound series written by Annabel Chase. I loved Magpie so much that I thought maybe my own series needed a hairless cat, and Annabel was kind enough to approve of Muffin. If you like fun paranormal cozy mysteries and you also liked Muffin, consider checking out Annabel’s series and meeting Magpie.
The rest of the book draws heavily from history. Paris is indeed called the City of Lights (as are many other cities), and long ago, it was founded by the Romans as they spread across Europe. The cemetery of Père Lachaise is the largest in the city and contains a storied history. In fact, it is the most visited cemetery in the world, though of course no one can visit the supernatural section. It was established in 1804 by Napoleon and has grown astronomically since. It has been so popular that bodies are often exhumed after decomposition and their bones stored in the ossuary, where Madame Alamedra performs her ritual.
In addition to having the most famous cemetery in the world, Paris also contains the most famous sewers. They date back to 1370, though it was a much simpler system then. In the years since, it has grown massively, particularly during the 19th century. The modernization of the sewer system at this time led to a decline in epidemics, since sanitation in the city was greatly improved. Starting in the mid 19th century, it became possible to tour the sewers, which you can still do today.
Another historical aspect of Institute of Magic is Pompeii. The famous city was entombed in ash and pyroclastic flow from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Today, it is an amazing place. I chose to set the Pompeii scene in the baths because they were such an important part of Roman history. The baths were a common meeting place for people—both men and women—and it was common to visit the baths daily if you could afford it. In fact, it was so important that the baths were often subsidized by the government and the price was very low. One of the most interesting parts of the baths was the fact that the Romans had developed heated floors. The technology involved a hollow floor through which hot air was forced.
I think that’s it for the history and mythology in Institute of Magic—at least the big things. I hope you enjoyed the book and will come back for more of Ana, Lachlan, Rowan, and Bree!
Institute of Magic Acknowledgments
Thank you, Ben, for everything. There would be no books without you.
Thank you to Jena O’Connor and Lindsey Loucks for your excellent editing. The book is immensely better because of you! Thank you to Eleonora for your idea to make Muffin the Cat Sìth, and to Richard for your eagle eye on typos.
Thank you to Orina Kafe for the beautiful cover art. Thank you to Collette Markwardt for allowing me to borrow the Pugs of Destruction, who are real dogs named Chaos, Havoc, and Ruckus. They were all adopted from rescue agencies.
Crime of Magic Author’s Note
Thanks for reading Crime of Magic! If you’ve read any of my previous books, you may have noticed that I have a fondness for including historical places and mythological elements. I did the same with Crime of Magic, but in this book, I drew primarily from old fairy tales. There are, of course, the mythological elements, like Ana being a Druid and Muffin being the Cat Sìth (a famous fairy creature from Scottish folklore), but most of this book drew from fairy tales.
It was tremendously fun to play with the old fairy tales in this book. If found that once I went back and read the original tales, that they were different than I’d remembered as a child. One of the strangest was the tale of Snow White. There are actually several old versions of this story, but once I read the version in which the Prince requests Snow’s dead body and then carries her back to his castle, I knew I had to use it. In that version, she really does fall out of her coffin as they are making their way through the forest. The shock causes her to spit out the apple and she wakes up. Then she immediately marries the Prince. He must have been one charming, good looking dude. I thought that Snow White deserved better than this (and she deserved a date with her future husband), so I switched it around a bit.
As for Hansel and Gretel, I thought it would be just fabulous for Ana and Lachlan to rescue them. Then I went back to revisit the story and realized that they take care of themselves quite handily!
It was the story of Jack and the Beanstalk that made me think twice, however. As I was reading the story, I realized that the giant really didn’t do anything wrong other than stomping around and yelling at Jack, who was stealing from him. Maybe he would have lived up to his promise and eaten Jack, but maybe not. Either way, Jack seemed like a guy who kept robbing the giant and then orchestrating (successfully) his death. He seemed like a bit of a jerk, really. As I read more about the evolution of Jack’s tale throughout time (as it was passed down through generations) I realized that other people had issue with this as well. Most often, they retold the story with a slightly different angle. In their modified versions, they made it clear that the giant was a bad guy. One version made the addition of the giant killing Jack’s father when he was young. I decided to take another angle on this all together and make Jack the bad guy.
And last—the Big Bad Wolf and the White Rabbit. Both of those were fun modifications that I invented.
I think that’s it for the history and mythology in Crime of Magic—at least the big things. I hope you enjoyed the book and will come back for more of Ana, Lachlan, Rowan, and Bree!
Crime of Magic Acknowledgments
Thank you, Ben, for everything. There would be no books without you.
Thank you to Orina Kafe for the beautiful cover art. Thank you to Richard for your keen eye on spotting errors, and thank you to Emma for your champagne facts. Thank you to Collette Markwardt for allowing me to borrow the Pugs of Destruction, who are real dogs named Chaos, Havoc, and Ruckus. They were all adopted from rescue agencies.
Celtic Magic Author’s Note
Thanks for reading Celtic Magic! If you’ve read any of my previous books, you might have noticed that I like to include historical places and mythological elements in my stories. Sometimes the history of these things is so interesting that I want to share more, and I like to do it in the Author’s Note instead of the story itself.
There’s a lot of mythology and history in Celtic Magic, starting w
ith the Kobolds. They are figures from Germanic mythology that have survived into modern times as part of German folklore. They’re interesting creatures who can take the shape of a person, animal, fire, or a candle, and they are often invisible. In many cases, they are ambivalent house sprites that perform chores. If they are insulted or neglected, they might play tricks. In some stories, they were so obnoxious that they drove inhabitants from their homes. Annoyingly, they sometimes followed those inhabitants, informing them that they would never leave them alone. In other cases, they’d set up shop in a place and never leave. These are the Kobolds that inspired the ones in Celtic Magic.
Now, moving onto Celtic myth. There was a whole of it in this story. One of the first things that I’d like to note is that the Celts did not build the stone circles that are famous throughout the UK. Most of these were built thousands of years prior by an entirely different culture. The Celts often used the circles for ceremonial purposes, however, and who could blame them? Modern Druids and Pagans still use them today.
The Oppidum where Ana’s mother lives is a traditional type of Celtic fortified settlement that was common during the 1st and 2nd centuries BC. They were built from eastern Britain all the way to Spain and Hungary. I debated whether or not to use the word Oppidum for this type of settlement because it is the Latin word, not the Celtic. The Celts certainly had their own name for this type of city. While some Celtic cultures did have written language, not much of it survived. Since we don’t know the Celtic word for this type of city, I decided to go with the Roman one.