Blood Metal Bone: An epic new fantasy novel, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo

by Lindsay Cummings

  But as Azariah moved… Sonara moved, too.

  She reached out, with a wet, shadow-blood covered hand.

  And slammed something into the heart.

  Karr had only a moment to see what she’d done, as his gaze focused on the amulet. The amulet he’d spent his whole life wearing, that had once belonged to Soahm. It fit perfectly into a small hole on the side of the heart, like it had always belonged there.

  The heart thumped once.

  Twice.

  Then the ground began to shake. The entire cave rumbled, like it was going to collapse and fall inwards on itself. Karr could sense it, feel it in the earth all around him as his magic picked up on the motion. Rocks tumbled from the ceiling, crashing down around the place.

  “Get Sonara!” Karr shouted.

  Azariah dragged her out of the way as the heart began to recede, sinking back into the ground. It swallowed everything in its path.

  “No!” Cade screamed.

  He threw his rifle and dove, reaching for the hilt of Gutrender as it sank with the heart.

  His fingers grasped it, pulling him forward into the oncoming black as the ground shook, and Karr’s magic told him that soon, it would all close in.

  Karr dove and grabbed Cade’s wrist.

  “Let go!” Karr screamed.

  Cade looked back at him, over his shoulder. His body trembled as he held onto the blade, still sinking slowly with the heart. “I must have it. I must have something to take from this place.”

  “You don’t need it!” Karr said, tears in his own eyes, his body shaking as he tried to hold onto Cade. His magic lashed out, trying to hold back the heart. But it was sinking, too quickly, too strong, the space no longer responding to his magic. Against the heart, he would always be too weak. “Just let go, Cade. Let go of it all.”

  “I can’t,” Cade said.

  His eyes found Karr’s and for a moment, he looked like his old self again. Before the job, before their parents were gone. Before Geisinger and Jeb… before everything.

  “I can’t let go,” he whispered. “But you can.”

  Any further, and they would both be sucked beneath the ground with the heart.

  Together, they would cease to exist.

  “Please, Cade,” Karr begged him. “Please don’t leave me.”

  “It’s too late.” Cade’s hand gripped Gutrender so tight his fingertips turned fully white. Karr’s fingers were slipping from Cade’s other wrist, no longer able to hold him, to fight back as the heart sank and sank and sank. “If you’re him… if you’re truly him,” Cade said. “Then let go, Karr. Live.”

  With a final cry, Karr’s grip faltered.

  “NO!” he screamed.

  Cade fell, tumbling over the edge into darkness with the heart and the sword, as it swallowed them whole. The ground closed, swirling in on itself until it was solid again, the heart gone. Not even a mark to show that it had once been there inside the cave.

  Gone.

  Cade, and the heart of the planet… gone.

  Chapter 43

  LATER

  Sonara

  There was a Devil in the Deadlands, seated on the back of a once-dead steed as she rode towards the gates of Stonegrave, an army of freed prisoners at her back and a prince’s sword hanging at her hip.

  The past many weeks had been like a bad dream.

  But Sonara had never feared the realm of nightmares.

  It was the world of the living she shied away from, for the people and things in it were tangible. And dreams were not.

  Dreams, like the idea that she could bring home a Soreian prince who’d been stolen by a Wanderer ship.

  The very same ship that had once come to her planet, bringing with it a boy who bore that prince’s heart. And inside of it, a piece of the very first Shadowblood’s soul.

  Sonara looked to the side, where that Wanderer rode now. Not on a steed like her own, but on a two-wheeled machine. A ripper, he’d called it. A bike that he trusted more than any worthy steed. He’d taken it from the ship that now sat in the desert sand, a relic. The engine, melted by lightning.

  With the doors of the ship open, soon the desert beasts might move in. Or perhaps raiders would come and strip it down, sell the metal that made up its every part. The other Wanderers in Cade’s army had been taken care of, sent to Deadwood to die.

  The ship with the flaming bird on its belly was a threat no more.

  Sonara had found her answers, not inside of it, as she’d thought she would. But in the heart of the planet itself.

  Soahm was gone.

  Sonara knew that now.

  But pieces of him still remained. They resided in Karr, with his heart that beat as strong as the heat from the desert suns overhead. And in the leather journal Sonara kept in her duster pocket, heavy as it thumped against her hip with each beat of Duran’s hooves against the sand.

  Soahm lived on in her name, the one he’d come up with. And in the spirit of Duran, who Soahm had given her the gift of claiming, long ago, on a storming Soreian day.

  And then there was Soahm’s amulet. That was gone, too, though Sonara didn’t truly feel as if she’d lost it. For when she’d lain wounded beside the planet’s heart… she’d noticed a hole in the side. Another piece of it, cut out ages ago. It matched the shape of the amulet that sat upon her chest, hanging from a golden chain around her neck.

  Soahm’s amulet.

  She’d pressed it in, the answer too simple, that act itself feeling like a dream.

  But it had worked. The heart sank, receding into the earth, carrying the two pieces of itself with it. The sword and the amulet, both with their own stones. A bit of darkness had kissed Sonara’s skin, healing her bullet wound… and giving her an extension on her second life.

  A gift, perhaps, for returning Soahm’s amulet to the heart.

  Sonara had never known the full story of the amulet, only that it had been passed down from generation to generation, and started with the original Soreian queen. A young woman that had been kind and generous and strangely gifted in healing.

  Sonara suspected now that she was Eona’s daughter. That perhaps Eona had taken a piece of the planet’s heart herself, and given it to her daughter to protect her, long ago.

  The original Shadowblood. The chosen one, who’d balanced precariously between the realms of darkness and light. Not fully good, just like all Shadowbloods were. Perhaps Eona was just bad enough to steal a sliver of the heart she’d given all of herself to protect, and passed it on to her daughter.

  Somehow, it had ended up right where it started again. It had saved Dohrsar, when the heart became whole. Some part of Sonara could still feel the heart’s presence, deep beneath the planet’s surface. It would always be there, alongside the mighty golden sword. Keeping Dohrsar safe.

  “How long will you be mad at me for trying to steal the heart?” a voice asked beside Sonara. “You know I can’t resist a prize.”

  Sonara glanced to her other side, where Azariah rode upon the back of a pale mare, glorious in the morning sun. Behind her, his arms around her middle, sat Markam.

  “Not much longer,” Azariah said.

  Markam frowned. He wore his hat on his head, his duster soaring behind him.

  “And I swear, Markam,” Azariah said. “If you don’t stop asking, I’m going to melt the eyebrows right off your face.”

  Their new respect for each other—perhaps even a mended relationship—was strange, and not what Sonara would have picked for a partnership. But somehow it worked, for the princess had a storm in her very veins. It would serve her well, if she were to spend her life once again loving the Trickster. Perhaps she’d never stopped loving him at all.

  “We’re nearly there,” Azariah said. “Look.”

  She pointed.

  And in the distance, beyond the looming statues of the great desert felines, the walls of Stonegrave awaited.

  Her voice drowned out as a great screech sounded overhead. Sonara looked up, sen
sing the presence of Razor before she saw the mighty wyvern soar past, wings flapping in the hot wind.

  Razor banked, landing before them, and Sonara smiled at the rider perched on the beast’s back. It had taken a great deal of selflessness for Markam to allow Jaxon to borrow the wyvern.

  That… and perhaps a small bit of coin.

  “What is it, Jax?” Sonara asked.

  He smiled as he stopped and removed his hat. A hat Sonara had kept safe for him, while he was prisoner to the Wanderer ship.

  “Nothing,” he said. “I only came to make sure the Devil is going to play nice when we get inside.”

  “Nice?” Sonara raised a brow. “I don’t know the word.”

  Jaxon laughed, and his aura carried across to her, sweet as the suns setting over the evening sea. She breathed it in. Felt her heart flutter, as something inside of her shifted, and perhaps changed. “Jira doesn’t know the word either.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Sonara said. She swallowed those feelings away, saved them for a time when she could try to understand them more. “Because before the day is done, he’ll sign the Decree.”

  Markam removed a sword from his side. “Well? How does it look?”

  The sword balanced perfectly in his gloved palms. Golden, catching the rays of the sun as they winked down upon it. The Hadru on the hilt looked dangerously menacing, ready to kill.

  “Passable,” Sonara said. She looked to Azariah, who nodded.

  “Oh, he’ll consider it real,” Azariah said. “Real enough to name me as his true heir in return…”

  “And once he signs?” Jaxon asked. “What will it be, Devil? How exactly will we choose to kill him?”

  Sonara shrugged. “Not my choice, actually. It’s hers. She’s the one who will take his throne.”

  Her half-sister, Azariah.

  The Princess looked at Sonara, eyes widening.

  “I…” she swallowed, pushing a dark curl behind her ear. Markam squeezed her waist gently and whispered something into her ear.

  Sonara sensed an aura of revenge, carried upon the wind.

  An aura she knew and loved, for once they were done with Jira, she’d turn Duran south. Towards Soreia, and the queen who’d shared secrets in order to set herself and her Soreians free.

  “The Hadru will be hungry,” Azariah said. “I think we should feed her a very kingly snack.”

  Sonara smiled with all of her teeth.

  It was a plan.

  And though plans did not often go as she wished… that was the point of being an outlaw. A Devil. That was the point of living truly free.

  “Let’s ride,” Sonara said. She smiled, catching Jaxon’s eye.

  He winked at her, and something inside of her clicked back into place.

  He took to the skies, Razor screeching, the others racing after. But Sonara held back, Duran stamping his hooves eagerly.

  “Hold on, Beast,” she whispered, patting his neck. Breathing in his aura, like fresh wheat stalks and sand grains and sweat. She would never be able to thank Eona enough, for calling upon her own steed’s spirit to bring Duran back from death with her.

  Sonara waited as Karr returned, his bike rumbling as he pulled it to a stop in the sand.

  He lifted his helmet, revealing his eyes.

  She’d never realized until recently that they were a true blue. Blue like Soahm’s. Blue like the sea that he’d once called home.

  “Something wrong?” Karr asked.

  Sonara nodded, casting her gaze out across the horizon, where she could have sworn she’d seen a metal Gazer. An eye in the sky, watching, as it always had been.

  “Will he be back?”

  “Geisinger?” Karr asked. He stared into the distance as if he could see all the way back to his home planet. “Maybe someday.”

  “And when he does?” Sonara asked.

  Karr chuckled softly. “I suppose by then Eona’s soul will have forced us to keep gathering together our army of Shadowbloods, and we’ll be ready.”

  Eona’s soul was insistent.

  Obnoxious.

  A little voice that spoke to each of them in her own ways, for even though the heart had sunk, she’d never quite gone silent.

  “Unless you want me to go,” Karr said. “There are plenty of places across the stars that I could explore…”

  “No,” Sonara said. “Dohrsar is your home now. Or… it is your home again.”

  A look passed between them, because they both knew.

  For a time, there would be something broken inside of her, when she looked at him. And broken in him, when he looked back at the Bloodhorns’ hulking shadow in the distance, the place his brother had sunk deep beneath the surface, chasing the endless dream for a future that he desperately wanted to call his.

  It would take time for Karr to discover who he was. Who he used to be.

  The dreams had plagued him. Sonara could taste the confusion on him, each night, when he woke screaming, the ground quaking beneath him, until she came to his side and reminded him to breathe.

  Until together, they spoke of Soahm. And he fell asleep again, temporarily at peace.

  Sonara smiled sadly down at Karr now. “I was just thinking… he would have liked the bike.”

  “Do you want to try it sometime?” Karr asked. Awkward, stiff conversation, but in time she hoped it would flow with ease.

  Sonara laughed. “No.” She patted Duran, as she pointed her gaze towards Stonegrave. “No, I think Duran would not be pleased with that.”

  With a smile, and a wink at Karr, she clicked her teeth.

  Duran sprung into motion, the sand spraying behind him, blocking Karr’s path as they galloped into the distance.

  Onwards, towards the palace that sat waiting.

  Towards a king that would sign the Decree to set Shadowbloods in the Deadlands free. And when they were done with him, they would turn south. They would fight, with outlaws and outcasts and prisoners set free, until the Decree was signed there, too. Then the north.

  But for now, Sonara looked skyward, chasing the shadow of the wyvern as she rode.

  Just like the kiss of the wind, just like the taste soaring from her steed, just like the cry she let loose as she threw her arms sky-high… the Devil of the Deadlands rode free.

  Acknowledgements

  FINALLY! I get to write the acknowledgements on a book I’ve been working on for years and years! First and always, I want to thank God for saving me and getting me through all things. You are first, I am second.

  There’s a massive list of people, as usual, that have had a hand in helping me complete this book, whether they realize it or not. To begin:

  My agent, Pete Knapp, and the entire team at Park Literary, for helping this book find a home. Pete, you’ve championed me and this book from the start, and I’m convinced there’s no better agent out there!

  To my editor, Sarah Goodey, for seeing what I see in this book, and helping me find the true heart of the story.

  To Cara Chimirri, thank you for the early eyes and insight on the manuscript!

  To the entire team at HQ, thank you for the hard work and dedication behind all that you do. I’m so blessed to have BMB in your hands!

  To KK, thanks for watching my son while I write and write some more!

  To my amazing husband, thank you for being the inspiration behind Jaxon, whose summertime smile first originated with you.

  To my family, I love y’all! Thanks for always buying copies!

  To my family at Lifeway Celina, thanks for loving me just as I am.

  To Craig Walker, thank you for coaching me into finding the best version of myself.

  And to my readers… thanks for following me from genre to genre, character to character and world to world. I’m grateful for you all. <3

  Pronunciation Guide

  CHARACTERS

  Azariah: Az-uh-rye-uh

  Duran: Durr-ann

  Eona: Ee-oh-nuh

  Eder: Ee-durr

 
Friedrich Geisinger: Free-drick Guy-zing-err

  Queen Iridis: Queen Ear-ih-diss

  Jameson: Jame-ih-son

  Jaxon: Jack-sin

  King Jira: King Jeer-uh

  Cade: Caid

  Karr: Car

  Queen Marisk: Queen Muh-risk

  Markam: Mark-um

  Jeb: Jebb

  Razor: Ray-zerr

  Rohtt: Rot

  Sonara: Suh-nah-ruh

  Soahm: Soh-awm

  Thali: Tah-lee

  PLACES

  The Briyne: Brine

  Dohrsar: Door-sahrr

  Soreia: Sore-ray-uh

  OTHER

  Antheon: An-thee-on

  Canis: Can-iss

  The Hadru: Hah-drew

  Lazaris: Lah-zuh-riss

  A Quick Chat With Lindsay Cummings!

  What was your inspiration behind the world of Blood Metal Bone?

  This book has been quite a journey. The concept first came to me in 2013, when an author friend encouraged me to write a book about horses—something I believe is hard to come by these days! I’ve had horses my whole life, but I truly fell in love with them as a young girl, when my mother was battling breast cancer. My horse became my escape during those times, and I particularly remember wishing I could just ride off into the sunset and leave my problems behind. Fast-forward to 2013, when Blood Metal Bone was born. I was sitting at a baseball game, of all places, boiling in the Texas summer heat, and the characters of Sonara and her loyal steed Duran just kind of came to me all at once. I wanted to place them somewhere different; a classic old western setting, with devastating heat, an endless desert, and girls who grew up wearing cowboy boots like me! A lot of Dohrsar, particularly the Kingdom of the Deadlands, was inspired by the classic cowboy western shows I used to see my dad watching as a kid, but I wanted to mesh the world with fantasy. I wanted to make the world itself more of a character than a setting, so Dohrsar became a sentient being: almost a true “mother earth” type of concept. Add in alien horses, and suddenly I was hooked!

  Who is your favourite character in Blood Metal Bone?

  I’d have to go with Sonara. I wanted to create a strong, fearless outlaw girl—I’ve always included strong female leads in my novels—but for Sonara particularly, I loved the idea that I could make her a person people fear on the outside… but they have no idea she’s quite literally afraid of her own power, of what lurks beneath her own skin. I love that she learns to trust herself and come into her own capacity as a heroine, even though she’s made mistakes and isn’t perfect. I love her painful backstory, her desire to have a true family, and her “no quit” spirit. Her bond with Duran is perhaps the most autobiographical thing I’ve ever placed into one of my novels (without the soul-connection, but alas, we cannot have it all in real life. Sigh).