Fate’s Kiss
Daughters of Saria Book 2
Elysabeth Grace
Midsommer Publishing
Copyright © 2020 by Margo Hendricks
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Characters, places, and incidents, are the production of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design by Dreams2Media
For Mary Neale, “Queene of Morocco”
Contents
Glossary
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Epilogue
To My Readers
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Elysabeth Grace
Copyright © 2020 by Margo Hendricks
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Characters, places, and incidents, are the production of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design by Dreams2Media
Created with Vellum
For Mary Neale, “Queene of Morocco”
Glossary
Demons - Offspring of the fallen angel Mephistopheles and human females. Demons possess minor telepathic abilities, mostly illusion-making and limited mental control over humans, and teleportation.
Djellaba - Linen or woolen outer robe worn by male Imohag to protect against the harsh climate of the desert. The djellaba is worn over shirt and trousers and designed to allow quick access to a sword or dagger.
Enclave - Birthplace of and home to all angels. When Satan is expelled, he attempts to replicate the Enclave on Earth.
Fallen - Archangels and angels who rebelled with Satan and initiated the first angelic civil war. Like Satan, these angels were expelled from the Enclave.
Fate - Guardian of all life and the genesis of life threads. All life possesses a life thread; the path a living being’s existence will follow from beginning to end. Fate’s decision to never interfere with a life thread is tested with the birth of angelic twins Lucifer and Satan.
Guardians - The elite group of archangels chosen to protect Seraphim. Lucifer’s Guardians are Gabriel, Raphael, Saraquel, Michael, and, until her incarnation as the human Saria, the archangel Lilith. Before and after the expulsion, Satan’s guardians are Uriel, brother to Gabriel, Mephistopheles, Azazel, Abaddon, Belial, and Beelzebub.
Hierarchy - The elite group of Seraphim who establish and oversee angelic laws, customs, and social life. Membership in the Hierarchy is based on primogeniture. The group is led by the First Seraphim who is always of the bloodline Deiani.
Imohag - A proper noun used to refer to the male Amazigh (also known as The People). The Amazigh are a semi-nomadic Saharan people living primarily in Algeria, Mali, and eastern Morocco. The name Imohag was chosen by Lilith’s second human mate (whom she freed from demonic captivity) to describe himself and his male descendants.
Life thread - The living essence in all creatures that governs the beginning and end of life. For human beings and angels, the life thread responds to free will and choices, Fate’s gift to both races. At birth, all angelic and human life threads are uniquely colored and unmarked. Changes in color are gradual and most take place over a lifetime except for life mates.
Lilith - Archangel in love with Satan. Lilith believes she and Satan are destined life mates until the Hierarchy names her Lucifer’s Consort. Fate reveals to Lilith her destiny and what will happen if she chooses Satan. Lilith accepts the Hierarchy’s decision.
Lucifer - Firstborn twin son of Seraphim Ser and Rapha. When Ser chooses to step down as First Seraphim, Lucifer will assume the role. Like all Seraphim, Lucifer’s Consort is chosen for him. Lucifer does not challenge the Hierarchy’s decision and accepts Lilith as his Consort despite knowledge that she and his twin are life mates.
Order of Angels - Seraphim, archangels, and angels. Angelic social order is hierarchal, birth-determined and immutable.
Rapha - Consort to Ser and Keeper of the Archives. Mother to Lucifer and Satan. Lucifer and Satan’s birth is an anomaly within the angelic race. Until Rapha gives birth to the siblings, no twins existed.
Satan - second-born twin son of Ser and Rapha. Satan’s life thread is the first one to come into existence flawed. As Satan matures, his thread darkens. When Lilith is named Lucifer’s Consort, Satan challenges the Hierarchy’s decision and claims her as his life mate. The group’s unanimous refusal to retract their decision infuriates Satan and he incites a rebellion to overthrow the Hierarchy’s rule. For the first time in angelic history, there is civil war.
Ser - First Seraphim and father to Lucifer and Satan. Fate reveals Satan’s potential darkness and the civil war he will cause to Ser in a dream. Fate also reveals what Ser must do to ensure the safety and well-being of the angelic race.
Shifters - A category of human beings believed to be capable of assuming animal form. A very small percentage of those classified as shifters are true shifters. These humans trace their descent to the original Saria (the archangel Lilith) and her human mate Imohag. True shifters live in the Ahaggar Mountains of Algeria.
Supernaturals - The first supernaturals to appear on Earth were demons. Over time, other forms of demonic supernaturals come into being as a result of planned breeding programs created by the Fallen.
Tagelmust - A length of dyed cloth, usually cotton or linen, used to protect an Imohag male’s head and face against the harsh climate of the desert. Traditionally, the tagelmust is a symbol of adult masculinity and therefore not worn by male children.
Tahaggart - The language of the Tamahaq and Imohag.
Takoubas - Traditional Imohag sword.
Tamahaq - A proper noun used to refer to women who are direct human descendants of the archangel Lilith. Repudiated by her first human mate, Lilith becomes the human Saria and chooses the name Tamahaq for her female descendants. In each successive generation of Tamahaq, one female is destined as the Guardian of Fate’s gifts.
Undead - The offspring of a demon and a witch. The number of undead is extremely small since very few survive the birth process, most often killed by their mothers. The undead are capable of mating, although to reproduce they must be mated to a descendant of Lilith. The undead require human blood to survive.
Witches - The offspring of female fallen angels and human males. These births are extremely rare since there are very few females among the Fallen. Witches are the only fema
les capable of producing the undead.
Prologue
Barbados March 1678
* * *
“It’s far too quiet. What are they doing?”
Anne Willoughby gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth. Had the loss of blood made her careless? She knew better than to use her voice while she moved through the thick forest. Was it her pride that made her less vigilant? Her successes, the enslaved freed, the demons killed, her ability to escape detection? Had it all led to a lapse in judgement?
She didn’t want to think it might be true but a niggling part of her awareness wouldn’t let her deny any of the possibilities. Nor did the sound of the hunters who pursued her. The relentless white men who thought it their God-given right to enslave others hadn’t given up, which surprised her. She shouldn’t be fleeing from a threat easily handled, which meant something about this night was different, as if Fate wanted to remind her of the lengths her enemy would go to possess her.
The moonless night did add a layer of protection as she snaked her way through the forest. Without the dogs, the men would have to beat the bushes to try and drive her out and the noise instantly would betray their position. Something definitely was wrong.
Anne’s bottom lip tingled as her teeth scraped it. Things were definitely not going as planned and she sighed before tilting her head in the direction of Bridgetown. The quiet was unnerving and she shivered. The soft chirps and hums of insects and nocturnal birds comforted her each time she left Willoughby planation on a rescue mission. On her return home, the night sounds were reassurances of her success. That she would live another day to thwart enslavers. That her brother wouldn’t have to witness her hanging or see her sold as a slave to some planation on Jamaica or as far away as Virginia.
Where are you?
The sound of her brother’s voice inside her head, despite its clipped tone, was reassuring. Nearing the grove at the southwest corner of our land. I should be home soon.
The beacons are lit and I heard the dogs. What happened? Can you shift?
Anne glanced behind her and gasped. The bright flames of search beacons dotted the forest. The searchers were getting closer and she had very little time before they released the dogs. As Fate would have it, the baying of mastiffs broke the silence. At least the noise betrayed the trackers’ position.
When I returned to Bridgetown searchers were gathering near the warehouse. I thought I had more time.
Your excuses can wait until you get home. Can you shift?
Kit’s exasperation rankled but she understood his feelings. They were the only family each of them had on the island. She inhaled and released the air. Not easily. I need to heal an injury first. I’m almost to the grove. I’ll be home soon, don’t worry.
Anne reached up and wiped the sweat from her brow. Her injury came when she shifted into a dog and one of the hunting dogs attacked her, slamming her into the side of a building. Before the dog’s teeth closed around her throat, the sharp whistle of its master ended the attack. For once, she was grateful for a tracker’s interference. She watched the dog trot back to the pack and the group of men headed towards the forest.
Biting her lower lip to silence her pain, she slipped away from Bridgetown and headed toward Willoughby plantation. Once it was safe, she shifted back to her human form and moved as rapidly as her damaged hip permitted. The exertion had left her clothes sticky with perspiration and they clung to her skin with every step. Silencing a groan, she stepped over a fallen log and wondered who had betrayed the runaways.
The only ones who knew about tonight’s mission were she and Ruth, a soft-spoken but fierce opponent of enslavement. When she walked into the secret priest hole in Ruth’s cellar, Anne had worried that only seven of the eight people she was to aid sat huddled in a dark corner. The eighth runaway, a pregnant woman, failed to show. When safety of the three men and four women couldn’t be jeopardized any longer, Anne guided them through the forest and to the waiting sloop. She hoped the woman had decided against traveling until the child was born. Then she could help both mother and child seek their freedom.
She cursed silently and pressed her palm against her thigh when she tripped over an exposed tree root. Darkness was both a blessing and a curse even with her familiarity with the land. She needed to focus on reaching safety and the warmth of her bed. Despite her woolen trousers and thick jacket, she felt the cold bone deep. Barbados’ usual warm tropical air had given way to an icy wind rising from the Atlantic side of the island. Her lungs ached and her fingers were numb from the cold. She hadn’t thought to bring gloves. Another careless stupid mistake.
The knotted vines dangling from tree limbs impeded her steps as she entered the grove that marked the southernmost boundary of her brother’s plantation. She glanced over her shoulder and saw torchlight growing brighter. Her footing already unsteady, she stumbled over a fallen log. Her body slammed into the ground and the jagged edge of a broken limb tore a deep cut across her right thigh. A sharp pain shot through her. She pinched her lips tightly to stifle her cry and her hand immediately went to the cut. Her ripped trousers were soaked. Blood. In a few minutes the dogs would pick up the scent and her chance to escape would be over. She pushed herself to her feet and forced her body into the thick grove of trees. As much as she hated the idea, she had to stop and heal. If left unattended the bleeding would weaken her.
She stiffened when the crackle of dry leaves echoed in the grove. She couldn’t run, not with her injuries. Tilting her head toward the sound, she listened and waited for the rush of footsteps and the hushed panting of dogs ordered to silence. Her dagger drawn, she slowed her racing heart and swore hers wasn’t the only blood to be shed that night.
Whoever tracked her realized his mistake and cloaked his movements in stillness. While she could sense his encroaching presence, his stealth had her nerves on edge. Only a supernatural could do so without revealing their presence. She dare not attempt to heal herself, especially if her pursuer was demonic. The moment she tried to repair the cut, he’d know what she was and where.
As quietly as she could, Anne dragged herself to the closest tree and leaned back against it. She switched her knife to her right hand and her left hand reached across her right shoulder. A cool heat tickled her palm and she closed her fingers around the hilt of a sword. She felt the power of the sword as she straightened her body as much as her pain allowed. She wouldn’t be taken without a fight.
“I can smell your fear, Tamahaq.”
Like a lost child whose mother abruptly appeared, Anne squealed her joy. She released the hilt of her sword and pushed herself away from the tree. “Kit.”
A pair of strong hands caught her as she pitched forward. “Sometimes you’re more trouble now than you were at ten years.”
“But you love me anyway,” she murmured before the black fog of unconsciousness descended.
“Her fever has broken.”
Anne’s dark eyelashes fluttered open at the unfamiliar voice. It was a woman’s but not one she recognized. Though the voice was gentle, it did nothing to ease the throbbing ache rippling across her forehead. She groaned and a cool calloused hand tenderly stroked her brow until the pain faded. Her eyelids lifted and she stared at her brother’s worried face.
Christopher Willoughby caressed his sister’s cheek and flashed her a smile. “Welcome back, twin.”
“Kit,” she said weakly. “How long have I been ill? How did you find me?”
“It wasn’t difficult given the noise you were making, and you’ve been feverish for two days. How are you feeling?”
“The way I feel after a lesson with Master Abdullah or Raphael. Did the cargo get safely away?”
Her brother hesitated, his gaze flicking to the woman on the other side of her. He shook his head. “The sloop was attacked and deliberately sunk. No one survived.”
Anne squeezed her eyelids to stop the pain and the tears. This was the first time she had failed. What had she done wrong?
&
nbsp; “You did nothing wrong,” Kit said, reading her thoughts. “You were betrayed. I promise I’ll discover who is responsible and they will pay.”
She nodded before opening her eyes and looking at the woman seated next to her bed. “Who are you?”
“Someone you’ve saved,” the woman said. “The enslaved name given to me is Bella. My mother named me Fatimah. You are free to use either one since I owe my life to you and your brother.”
“Heal yourself, sister. You and Fatimah can become friends later,” Kit interrupted. “I need to get both of you on a ship leaving tonight.”
Anne closed her eyes. “You failed to ask, brother. Your arrogance is remarkably like your guardian.”
Laughter made her head ache as he teased, “It’s matched only by your obstinance. Heal yourself please so I can get you to safety.”
“I need to tell you something but please don’t think me mad,” she said, grabbing his hand. “I was there.”
Kit peered at her. It was the first time he’d heard such terror in his twin’s voice. He laid a hand on her forehead. She brushed it aside. “I was there, with Lilith when she died.”
“You suffered from fever, Anne. You know the mind plays tricks when we’re ill. You haven’t left this bed since I brought you home two nights ago. Fatimah cared for you, never leaving your side.” He stared at her. “What you claim is impossible. Lilith died hundreds of years ago. Besides, I would know if you shifted and left Barbados.”
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