Tangled Bonds (Shadow Gods #1)

Prologue

Three years ago

“I found you,” the stranger sing-songed in a low, lyrical voice that directly contradicted the menacing glow in his earth-brown eyes. Dark malice curled his lips.

His smile widened. “That wouldn’t do, Kara. What needs to be done requires privacy.”

“I feel at a disadvantage. You know who I am, but I have no idea who you are.” I took in the stranger’s dark hair, shorn close to the scalp.

His tall, lean build displayed catlike agility with the most insignificant movements.

Unconcerned by the firearm trained on him, he gazed steadily at my face, an off-putting look of familiarity lingering in his eyes.

His casual attire of black joggers and a light-blue long-sleeve tee was the only thing modern about him.

A distinct, wizened aura surrounded him that reminded me of vampires.

No matter how hard vampires tried, it was obvious that they belonged in another era.

But this man was breathing at a steady rate, the flush of his skin indicated a steady heartbeat, and humanity existed behind his mercilessly cold eyes.

I culled my mind for any hints of recognition.

My attention was quickly drawn to his slowly moving lips.

The air in the room shifted, becoming oppressively thick as my gun’s grip heated into molten metal.

Dropping the gun, the pain barely registered with me before he launched with a preternatural speed that signaled magic.

Strong magic. Just as he devoured the distance between us, I threw up my left arm to block a strike aimed at my temple and drove my right fist into his jaw with everything I had.

Bone jarred against bone. He staggered back a step, blinking hard, working his jaw from side to side.

With a feral snarl, in a burst of movement, he charged me.

I twisted out of reach of his strike targeted at my nose.

Taking advantage of his unprotected torso, I hammered a rapid series of punches into his ribs and gut.

He sucked in a broken breath, pain flashing across his face. I was almost certain I’d cracked a rib.

Catching his hand before he could land a counterblow, I saw curved claws extending from his fingertips like ivory daggers.

His thin lips curled into a triumphant smile as I shot an instinctive glance at his other hand—too late.

Those hideous claws plunged into my side with the cold precision of surgical blades.

He dragged them across my stomach. Warm blood turned my shirt crimson.

His glacial stare held mine, and he tore from my hold.

I pressed my hand to the wound; it pulsed with heat.

Everything ached. Moving through the magically charged air was impossible.

Planted in place, I willed my legs to move when the man’s lips moved fervently, words unfamiliar to me tumbling over each invocation.

He pressed a torus-shaped object against my wound as the spell flared to life.

Our ragged breaths fell into sync, his eyes dimming from a fierce blaze to molten black before he stumbled back and crumpled to the floor.

I collapsed. My body convulsed, and I struggled for every breath.

His spell was wreaking havoc inside me. Paralyzed, I could feel the unfurling of the spell and its purpose.

To claim a life. My life. I wondered how much longer the pain would tear through me before it succeeded in claiming it.

“Save her.” My best friend Amelia’s desperate plea was a distant echo as my world kept plunging into shadowy grays. “Please, Vina.”

“Vina?” Her mother’s blistering scoff broke through the silence.

My eyes fluttered open to look at Amelia.

She leveled a rightfully deserved defiant glare at her mother.

Vina had chosen the pursuit of power and stronger magic over Amelia and had left her child when Amelia was four.

It had to be a desperate situation for Amelia to contact her.

My stomach burned; my eyes fluttered. The effort to keep them open chipped away at the little energy I had.

I don’t want to die. I parted my lips to say it to Vina, but the words got lost in my ragged breaths.

“What happened?” Vina leaned over me but directed the question to Amelia.

The scent of clay from her cloaking spell accompanied the warmth radiating from her skin.

Her fingers gently brushed my cheek. They were cool over my skin, which had turned into an inferno.

The cool towels Amelia had placed over me were now tepid.

Hope washed over me when Amelia found me before I lost consciousness, and the only thing I could manage to whisper was “spell.” I feared it was too late, but I was wrong. It wasn’t a spell, but a curse.

“I found her like this. None of my spells worked to help her.”

“Of course they wouldn’t, because this is the work of a draveth.” Vina’s voice was becoming more distant. “Our magic doesn’t compare to theirs. Well, your magic doesn’t.” It was a terrible time for Vina to gloat about the sacrifices she had made to elevate her magic.

“Where is the draveth?” Vina asked Amelia.

Through the fogginess, I reviewed everything I knew about magic and witches. I’d never heard of a draveth.

Amelia instructed Vina to follow her, and moments later, I heard their remote conversation but couldn’t make out whether they were far away or I was slipping out of consciousness again.

“He’s dead.”

“I know,” Amelia countered, irritated by the obvious statement.

“You know. But you don’t understand. They’re nearly as difficult to kill as vampires.

Only a Merac blade through the heart or decapitation can do it.

And their magical ability makes that nearly impossible.

A blade hasn’t penetrated his heart and his head is intact.

His death appears to be the result of magic.

Very powerful magic.” Vina’s voice moved closer.

“I believe this is the work of a protection spell. So, the real questions, my dear daughter, are these. Why does Kara have such a powerful protection spell on her, and what was done to trigger it?”

“I don’t know.” Amelia’s annoyance had been replaced by concern.

A shadow moved over me, and I forced my eyes open to meet Vina’s inquiring expression. I gasped for air, struggling to answer her.

“None of that matters. Just help her,” Amelia urged.

My labored breathing filled the heavy silence of the room.

“Mom, please save my friend.” Desperation had softened her voice to a whisper.

Vina, the powerful and renowned witch whose name incited reverence, fear, and disdain.

She was a cautionary tale of changing fate and using an unfortunate situation as a stepping stone into infamy, which she did when a battle between covens left her members nearly dead.

Instead of saving their lives, she stole their magic.

The power boost gave her the ability to defeat the other coven and to take their magic as well.

The tales of the battle always depicted her as choosing the theft of her coven members’ magic over saving them to guarantee a victory over the rival coven.

Many were convinced she’d betrayed her own coven, stealing their magic and leaving them unable to heal themselves or fight.

“You live without the burden of being judged by my actions because I’ve distanced myself from you. Calling on me like this will put your life at risk, and healing Kara will invite questions.”

“No one needs to know. Please.” Amelia’s voice broke. “She needs the help of magic—your magic. Don’t let her die.”

“Why does a draveth want Kara dead?”

“I don’t know, but if they make another attempt on her life, I can assure you it will be their last,” Amelia ground out angrily.

“You are indeed my daughter,” Vina boasted with a throaty chuckle.

“Prove there are more benefits to it than just my talent with spells. Give me more than just memories of a mother who chose magic over her daughter and who subjected me to a life of hiding who my mother is.” The pain in my best friend’s voice made her words a strained whisper.

Vina cradled my head in her hands. “Kara, open your eyes.”

It was a fight to comply. Fluttering erratically from the effort, my eyelids eventually parted.

Holding the bone-colored, torus-shaped object in her hand, Vina whispered, “What is this?”

My lips moved slowly in an attempt to tell her I didn’t know. But the words wouldn’t come. She examined it with interest before releasing me abruptly. My head dropped hard onto the pillow.

Her cool hiss of words to Amelia was barely audible.

“I believe this attack was warranted. There are few reasons a draveth would want a person dead. Fear is usually the root of it. And there is the matter of the protection spell on her. Who is being protected? Is she being protected from us or are we being protected from her? And this?”

Vina’s movements were a series of blurs through my eyelids. I gave up on the fight to keep them open.

The pain from my attacker’s claws wasn’t isolated to my stomach. My body was a furnace. Unable to gather the strength to lift my arms, warm tears streamed down my face. Vina and Amelia gave up their attempt to debate in a hushed tone.

“Amelia, be cautious in this request. Are you sure? I fear you will regret saving this life.”

Amelia didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Save my friend.”

Minutes ticked by before the shadow of Amelia’s mother fell over me again.

Placing a gentle hand above my wound, she spoke the invocation in a voice tight with reluctance.

Cool sensations replaced the heat. It coursed over my body.

Magic tunneled through my body. My skin tingled.

I assumed it was mending the injured skin.

Removing her hand, Vina studied my face before her attention went to my injury.

“She healed,” she said with a heavy sigh. “But the protection spell is gone. It’s only a matter of time before we learn who were the true recipients of this protection.”

Healed, but with my mind still clouded, I wrestled with unsettling questions. Why didn’t Vina want to save me? Who wanted me dead? And why?

To the world, I was a witch with meager power—the closest to a human without being one. No coven wanted me because my magic was so weak, I’d be more of a burden than an asset. Barely worthy of a second thought.

Apparently, I was.

Vina placed a hand on my upper arm and whispered another spell, placing me into a restorative sleep.

The last thing I heard was Amelia’s refusal to let Vina keep the torus for research.

I knew Amelia wouldn’t succeed in keeping Vina from it.

She could never appeal to Vina’s desire for more magic and didn’t have the power to stop her by force.

Vina possessing the object was the least of my worries. Her claim played in a loop in my mind.

“I fear you will regret saving this life.”