by Maria Lima
Praise for Maria Lima’s Blood Lines series
BLOOD HEAT
“Lima has created a highly intriguing cast of characters and set them in a world filled with dangerous magic and deadly power struggles. Join the excitement today!”
—Romantic Times (4 1/2 stars)
“Werewolves, vampires, and Texas football… a hell of a great read.…”
—Fresh Fiction
“This was a great addition to the series, in which we see a much more mature Keira dealing with her new obligations as an heir. After the way the book ended, I can’t wait to read the next one!”
—Fiction Kingdom (4 stars)
“Another brilliant book in a well thought-out series.”
—Amberkatze
BLOOD KIN
“A special romantic suspense fantasy on a par with the best works of Laurel K. Hamilton and Kelly Armstrong.”
—Genre Go Round Reviews
“Maria Lima certainly knows how to keep her readers begging for more.”
—Best Fantasy Stories
“The truly exciting thing is Lima’s ability to top herself in each subsequent title in the Blood Lines series. Any novel I read and want the next in the series because I don’t want to leave the world that’s been created around me is truly amazing to me.”
—Preternatural Reviews
“With each book the world gets richer in texture and detail.”
—SFRevu
“Another top-notch paranormal thriller.… A complex plot, superb world building, and phenomenal characters spin Blood Kin into a dark and sexy urban fantasy. Maria Lima is a great addition to the paranormal genre.”
—Romance Junkies
BLOOD BARGAIN
“Maria Lima captures the essence of urban fantasy, mystery, and romantic elements in Blood Bargain.”
—SF Site
“A real pager-turner.… Ms. Lima has created a wonderful blend of paranormal, mystery, and romance. She has a real knack for building characters you get to know and care about, and the setting she paints seems so real. She is also darn good at building suspense and keeping you guessing.”
—Bitten By Books (5 stars)
“Urban fantasy fans are going to love this—especially the Kelly clan, an extended family of supernaturals living within human society.… A strong tale that fans of Kelly Armstrong and Kim Harrison will want to read.”
—Worlds of Wonder
“I couldn’t put it down. Maria Lima’s second Blood Lines novel is even better than the first, a fun and sometimes poignant paranormal treat.”
—Fantasy Literature
“Grabs you from the start and keeps you turning pages until you solve the mystery.… I certainly will be watching for more books by Maria Lima.”
—Fresh Fiction
“Ms. Lima spins a suspenseful tale and packs it with paranormal elements that will hold the reader’s attention to the end… fast-moving.”
—Darque Reviews
MATTERS OF THE BLOOD
“Dark, seductive, and bitingly humorous.…”
—Heartstring
“Fast paced, take-no-prisoners action… grabs you by the throat from the go and doesn’t release its grip until you’re done.”
—Preternatural Reviews (4 stars)
“An absolutely spectacular addition to the paranormal landscape.… A classy, teasing tale riddled with intrigue and paranormal bliss.”
—BookFetish
“A complex plot with the requisite twists and turns of a mystery, the passion of a paranormal romance, and the unearthly elements of urban fantasy.”
—SF Site
“A brilliant tale of supernatural power, revenge, and the excitement of newfound love.”
—Darque Reviews
“Refreshing.… I loved the story’s vividly drawn rural-Texas setting.”
—FantasyLiterature (4 stars)
“A superb paranormal whodunit with a touch of romance and with plenty of interwoven subplots… but the center holding this superb tale together is the likable Keira, who makes the abnormal seem so normal.”
—Alternative Worlds
Don’t miss the four previous adventures in the Blood Lines series by Maria Lima!
Matters of the Blood
Blood Bargain
Blood Kin
Blood Heat
Pocket Books
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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 Maria Lima
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 Juno Books/Pocket Books paperback edition September 2011
JUNO BOOKS and colophon are trademarks of Wildside Press LLC used under license by Simon & Schuster, Inc., the publisher of this work.
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Cover design by Laywan Kwan
Front cover photo by shutterstock
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 978-1-4516-1269-1
ISBN 978-1-4516-1271-4 (ebook)
For Queue You help keep me sane. A fo ysgawn galon, ef a gân. The lighthearted will sing.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To Tanya Kennedy-Luminati, for her l33t and mad beta skilz. You are awesome, chica!
To Janna Marks, whose patience is legendary as I prattled on and on about writing and plotting and just stuff.
To David & Keith of Literature & Latte, because getting Scrivener 2.0 out m
ade the final bits of the writing MUCH easier.
To my mother, Yolanda Bodine, for encouragement, faith, and help in Spanish translations.
And of course, to all my readers, without whom these stories would just be living in my head.…
Thank you
Muchisimas gracias
Mille mercis
Diolch yn fawr
We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.
—Tom Stoppard
CHAPTER ONE
“How you expect to run with the wolves come night when you spend all day sparring with the puppies?”
—Omar Little, The Wire
For a breath, for a moment suspended in disbelief of what I faced, I seriously and without a doubt, considered matricide. Homicide of all sorts, really, except for the premeditated kind, raced through my stunned brain.
I don’t do guns, but right now, what I wouldn’t give to have a Kalashnikov rifle or, at the very least, a couple of Browning 9mm semi-autos just to see how fast I could re-create the final scene from that episode of that old TV series Dynasty. This wasn’t a wedding, but it was damned well close enough—a blood-bonding: Adam and me; my brothers with Liz; Tucker and Niko; all of the aforementioned to Adam and me as our Protectors. Not exactly a typical Alamo Heights wedding party; in my world, it was practically the same thing. We’d received our guests, one at a time, representatives from all over the Southwest—wer and sprite, brownie, hamadryads, every manner of fey and Other acknowledging our leadership, pledging their fealty in return for our support. Only there was a Balrog in this woodpile. My former lover, my cousin, Adam’s half-brother, Gideon, arrived, representing the Unseelie Court, with a pregnant wife in tow; herself heir to the High Queen Angharad, the Seelie Queen. It didn’t take the formal declaration of Challenge to see how things stood. Gideon, also heir to the Kelly clan, as was I, was throwing down. I guess he didn’t much care for having his status as heir ignored by our matriarch.
My muscles tensed, hands immediately forming fists, ready to throw down, to toss fire, fury and lightning. I was very good at the lightning—and mage fire, the kind that burns forever until its fuel is no more than ash. My great-great-granny and her minions had taught me well.
A cool palm against my forearm slowed me down. I didn’t have to look to know it was Adam—his saner head prevailing.
“What does this mean?” He wasn’t addressing me. I knew that. I settled a bit, my ruffled feathers smoothing as I listened to his voice—deceptively calm and quiet. Underneath, his true anger seethed.
He’d gone allover vampire, outward expression blank as a bare concrete wall and as emotional as a porcelain doll—and just about that creepy. Didn’t bother me though. I’d seen it, was used to it. The fact that he’d stopped me irked a bit. Though, in reality, I knew I couldn’t actually let loose. We had a reception hall full of people who’d just sworn oaths to me, as Kelly clan heir and to Adam as my Consort and ruler in his own right as vampire king and heir to the High King of the Unseelie Court. Shit. Almost incestuous if you looked at the myriad ways we were all connected. Those connections were exactly what my scheming clan chieftain had intended. Minerva freaking Kelly, great-great-grandmother and matriarch of the Kelly clan and my mentor.
On the other side of the family equation: my mother, Branwen ferch Arianrhod, whom I damned to whatever levels of hell I could imagine. She was the one who’d triggered this beauty of a dilemma by handing me a rolled up parchment. Innocuous in itself, but chock-full-o’nuts—if nuts were a traditional Sidhe Challenge. Exactly what it entailed, I still didn’t know, but it couldn’t be good. They never were. At my mother’s side, Gideon, once a person I’d loved, until he’d shown me his darker nature—and no doubt the actual instigator of said Challenge. Adam’s father, Drystan ap Tallwch, High King of the Unseelie Court, also father to Gideon—unknown quantity. Did he side with his younger son or his heir? Gideon’s new wife, the very pregnant Aoife ferch Angharad, daughter and heir to Angharad, High Queen of the Seelie Court—safe to bet she’d support her husband. A smattering of courtiers, most of them nameless, but all from my mother’s court. People I vaguely recognized.
All about us stood our guests, assorted fey from all over the Southwest: ariels and hellhounds, werewolves and sprites. Even Old Joe, a changeling I’d run across recently who’d been returned to his fey family. Most of them just watched us, a few smug expressions acknowledging the absolute deliciousness of this standoff. Others mingled around the ales, wines, and other spirits freely given and shared. Fucking politics. A pox on all our bloody houses for this… this whatever this was.
I remained silent, staring. Adam removed his hand from my arm as I relaxed a bit. None of us spoke. None of us moved. Niko and Tucker’s tension felt like high-tension wires strumming a song of violence, just waiting to be released.
My mother took a step back, her outstretched hand wavered a smidge as she realized I wasn’t planning to take the parchment from her hand.
I smirked as I did a quick mental calculation. Three of them against whom? All of us? But wait, perhaps others would side with them. Would Drystan side with Gideon? With Adam? Would he remain neutral?
“Father?” Adam seemed to read my mind as he prompted Drystan in the continued silence of my mother’s renewed haughty glare. Part of me was a little relieved to see it, to see what I’d so long recalled. I’d hated her my entire life, then visions I’d had this past spring seemed to indicate that perhaps she hadn’t been as evil or uncaring as I’d remembered. Was she who I thought she was? Who I’d remembered? Or was she truly sorry to have given me up?
Tonight’s actions so far seemed to indicate my long-held perception had been correct. She’d walked into our Reception alongside Gideon and claimed Challenge on behalf of my former lover and Adam’s half-brother. By doing so, she’d declared for him, had picked sides. Was this truly her stand or something required of her by her queen and cousin, ruler of the Seelie Sidhe court and the very person who’d sentenced me to a life Above—away from half of my heritage?
Drystan, tall, dark, and just as handsome as both his sons, stepped forward, pushing past my mother with a grimace on his face. “I knew nothing of this, my son.” He bowed, low to the ground, a gesture from one subservient to his superior. I nearly laughed aloud—not in joy but at the absurdity of his charade. Bows and scrapes galore like dogs baring their bellies to the acknowledged alpha? No, not so much. In this subset of the crowd, we were all Alphas—all rulers of some sort or another, or the designated Protectors of such. Oh wait, except for Gideon, who was only related by blood to us all. Okay, wow. Not even Dynasty got this twisted, did it? This was more Jerry Springer material.
“No, he most certainly did not.” Gideon, still pompous, crossed his arms, a petulant pout on his face. “I don’t need our father, Brother,” he sneered at Adam. “Nor do I need the Unseelie Court. My wife and our child—”
“Your child?” Drystan straightened out of his bow, his posture stiff. “She’s near eight months gone with child, Gideon. You’ve been Changed a scant four of those months. You expect us to accept—”
“Accept what you will.” My mother broke her own silence. “My cousin, the Queen acknowledges this child as his father’s blood and her daughter’s husband’s seed.”
“This kid is going to be her heir?” I made an attempt to step forward, once again stopped by a slight pressure from Adam’s hand, which had returned to my arm. “Lady, you’ve let your mother pass you over?” I directly addressed the beautiful woman who stood silent next to Gideon. In principle, a protocol faux pas as we’d not yet exchanged formal greeting, but whatever. My Kelly cranky trumped Sidhe politicking any day.
“Accepted? I requested it,” Aoife said, her voice bored as her expression denoted. “I wish no part of Sidhe politics.”
“And how’s that working out for you?�
� I muttered under my breath. My brother Tucker chuckled, his hearing too good not to catch my not-so-quiet asides. “You really think you can avoid it?” I rephrased my question and spoke louder. “Gideon as your husband, your child heir to the Seelie Sidhe throne? I’ve no doubt you’re already hip deep in politics and intrigue.”
Aoife raised a languid hand and made a slow waving motion, as if dismissing the very idea. “My husband may play Court to his heart’s desire,” she answered. “I shall retire with my ladies and spend my life away, secluded. I prefer a simpler life.”
Away? What the hell? She came to Texas to get away from her mother? Seriously not what I’d expected her to say, but hey, I could relate. I began to ask about the Challenge, hoping for some explanation, but Adam preempted me.
“Then why challenge us, lady?” he asked gently. “A simple request would not have gone unheard.”
Gideon took a step toward us. I did what I could to hang on to my raging emotions, trying not to give in to my instinctive urge to just beat the ever-living shit out of him. How dare he come here and do this? Simple jealousy? That didn’t make any sense.
His words echoed my thoughts. “Brother, do you truly believe that if I’d come here with my bride, my child about to be born, that our cousin, our lover would have allowed you to grant us access to the caves? To our lands Below this ground?” With a sweep of a hand, he knelt, his posture formal. “I beg of you, allow us this Challenge, so this may be settled within our traditions.”
I gritted my teeth against the outburst I felt trying to force its way from my lips. “Our lover,” indeed. “Challenge is a long way from a simple request, Cousin,” I said. “There are many territories within the Americas if you felt the need to be on this continent. Why this one?” Why my turf? is what I was truly asking. This just didn’t make sense outside of some twisted need for Gideon to best me. I don’t think he’d yet realized how little I cared what he did as long as he left me out of it.
“We wish to establish our base here,” my mother said. “Because the door to Faery in this location has been closed too long. We shall reopen it, revitalize it. Make our way in the new world.”