Blood and Fire
Authors: Ally Shields
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Romance, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Fantasy, #Urban, #Vampires, #Witches & Wizards, #Paranormal & Urban, #urban fantasy with romantic elements, #Paranormal
Table of Contents
~ Look for these titles from Ally Shields ~
~ More Fantasy from Etopia Press ~
~ Acclaim for Ally Shields ~
Praise for
Awakening the Fire
(Guardian Witch #1)
“I can't wait for the rest of the series from this exciting new author because I will definitely be reading them all.”
5 Stars from
The Romance Studio
“If you love paranormal and a good mystery, then I can't recommend this book enough.”
5 Stars from
Paranormal Romance Guild
“Vampires, werewolves, and witches oh my! In a journey through a magical world...a witch named Arianna will have you lost under her spell.”
5 Stars from
I Heart Books
~ Look for these titles from Ally Shields ~
Now Available
The Guardian Witch Series
Awakening the Fire (Book 1)
Fire Within (Book 2)
Burning Both Ends (Book 3)
Blood and Fire (Book 4)
In Print
Awakening the Fire (Book 1)
Fire Within (Book 2)
Burning Both Ends (Book 3)
Coming Soon
Blood and Fire (Book 4)
To Print
Blood and Fire
Guardian Witch Book Four
Ally Shields
Copyright Warning
EBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared, or given away. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is a crime punishable by law. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to or downloaded from file sharing sites, or distributed in any other way via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 (
http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/
).
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Published By
Etopia Press
1643 Warwick Ave., #124
Warwick, RI 02889
Blood and Fire
Copyright © 2013 by Ally Shields
ISBN: 978-1-940223-41-4
Edited by Nancy Cassidy
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Etopia Press electronic publication: October 2013
~ Dedication ~
To the wonderful readers and fans who keep Arianna’s stories alive. I’m grateful to every one of you.
Chapter One
Ari’s long hair whipped in the wind, the pale strands stinging her cheek as she looked down from the cliff top at the scene below. Three cops, two in tan uniforms, huddled around a sprawled figure. She recognized her human partner from his tall frame and fair, curly hair. As usual, Lt. Ryan Foster wore casual jeans. His position as head of the Inter-Community Division (IDC) of the Riverdale Police Department gave him latitude in his attire. His khaki windbreaker jacket, optional on a late March day, was tightly zipped, indicating he’d been there since before the sun came out. Four uniformed officers appeared to be searching the Mississippi River bank, poking among the rocks and sparse weeds.
Ari turned her attention to the dead body lying face up, one masculine hand out flung as if he had sought to grab something to break the downward plunge. The body lay too far out from the bluff for an accidental fall. Had he jumped? Been thrown? From this distance, she couldn’t identify his injuries. Ari sniffed the air. No unusual scents. And yet her witch senses told her something wasn’t normal even for a death scene.
Ryan looked up and waved at her. Ari started down the rocky path, feeling a vague disquiet. The closer she got to the body, the more her magic reacted. Her unease grew to an eerie foreboding, sending quivers across her neck and shoulders by the time she reached the huddled cops. At her nod, the officers stepped aside to give her access. Ari’s nostrils flared.
Black magic
. Negative vibes swirled around her. Had the victim been an illicit practitioner, or the target of one?
“Hope I didn’t get you out of bed.” Ryan glanced at her face and handed her a steaming Styrofoam cup. “You look like you could use a pick-me-up.”
After working together several times over the past two years, Ryan knew her habits well. She functioned a whole lot better when running on caffeine. Ari quashed her reaction to the dark vibes, reached for the cup with a steady hand, and mumbled an inattentive “Thanks.” Her green eyes never left the corpse.
Ryan watched in silence as she did her initial assessment.
Human. White male, early forties, full head of sandy brown hair. Tanned, sun-weathered face. Jeans, heavy flannel shirt over a T-shirt, wool socks peeking out of laced hiking boots. No unusual injuries, only the abrasions on his hands and head that were consistent with a fall. “What do we know?”
Ryan’s jacket tightened across his broad shoulders as he shrugged. “Not much. The body was found like this about six o’clock by an early-morning fisherman. Medical examiner says rigor’s set in, so he estimates death occurred sometime around midnight, probably a little before. As usual, Doc’s refused to give a cause of death until he can do the autopsy, but a fall is the obvious conclusion.”
Knowing Ryan couldn’t sense the magic, she threw him a questioning look. “So why did you call me?”
“Olde Town district. Unknown cause of death. My gut, maybe. The cause of death might be too obvious.”
“Smart call.”
“How so?” He frowned at the body. “Did you notice something I missed?”
“Sorcery. Black magic is rolling off him in waves.”
“You don’t say?” Ryan looked at the victim with renewed interest but backed up a half step, as if tainted magic might be contagious. “I thought he was human.”
“He is human. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t attacked by a rogue magic user. Or that he didn’t dabble in things he couldn’t control. Do you know who he is?”
“No. Although his face seems familiar, like I might have seen him somewhere. No wallet or ID on him. I know,” he added, when she made a small sound in her throat, “that’s suspicious by itself. Unless some petty thief found him and relieved him of his identification before our good Samaritan came along.” Ryan waved a hand toward the searchers. “We’re looking for the wallet. If somebody wanted the money and cards, they might have tossed the rest.”
“Did he leave a parked car or truck in the area?”
“A cruiser is looking. So far, nothing. What do you think he was doing out here? Don’t see any fishing or rappelling gear.”
“A trail hiker, maybe. I’d think a tourist would have a camera, although he might have dropped it during…whatever happened. He’s dressed pretty warmly.” She pointed to the wool socks, then looked back up at the cliffs. “More like a caver, but again, we’re missing equipment. He’d need at least a flashlight. I’ll take a look up there. See what I can find.”
Ryan shifted his feet and followed her gaze to the cliff tops. “Let’s hope he wasn’t in the caves. The vampires would raise hell with anyone nosing around, maybe guarantee he didn’t return. They’re damned territorial.”
She shot him an appraising look. “Are you suggesting they threw him off the cliff? More likely, they’d scare him, chase him back to town.”
“Maybe they chased him right off the edge.”
Ari held back a retort. Ryan had come a long way in his thinking about Otherworlders, especially in the time he’d been partnered part-time with a fire witch, but he still had lapses into old thinking. Most humans, out of fear or bias, had ignored supernaturals until they were brought back into the limelight by the McFarland treaties in the 1990s and the Civil Rights Acts, which had set up protections for both communities. Pockets of humanity still clung to the old superstitions. Nevertheless, murder and bloodletting had been outlawed and the practices abandoned by Otherworlders. If a vampire did this, it was a rogue.
But black witchcraft wasn’t a vampire thing.
Ari crouched beside the body. Not as much blood as there should be, raising the question of whether he’d been dead before he went over the edge. This might be a dumpsite. She reached out a hand to touch his face. The instant she made contact, she snatched her hand back. “Bad mojo,” she muttered, rising to stand.
“Don’t go all spooky on me.” Ryan scowled, exhibiting typical human discomfort with the unknown.
“OK, but this death isn’t going to fit into human medical experience.” And for that reason, she intended to confer on the case with her friend Gillian at the Otherworld forensics lab. “Your ME is going to find something internal he can’t explain.”