Deceiver's Bond: Book Two of A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life (62 page)
Read Deceiver's Bond: Book Two of A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life Online
Authors: Katherine Bayless
PYROKINETIC
—an individual who is capable of generating ambient heat. Also known as a
firestarter
.
ROWAN
—a member of the Rowan
witchcraft
sect.
RUNESTONE
—a stone marked with a runic inscription, often used in
witchcraft
to focus and enhance the
magus’
spell-casting.
SAM
—Seattle Art Museum.
SCU
—supernatural crime unit.
SEER
—see
divinor
.
SENSITIVE
—an individual who can detect (and often identify) specific types of magic and/or individual spells.
SHAPE-SHIFTER
—a being that can change its shape and hold its new form, either by virtue of magic or curse. A werewolf is a type of
shape-shifter
.
SIDHE
—a race that is arguably the most humanoid of all the magical beings that inhabit the
Otherworld
. The sidhe are known by other sobriquets—aos sí, aes sídhe,
daoine sídhe
, daoine síth, and (perhaps least liked by the creatures themselves)
fairy
and
elf
. Humans who are reluctant to name them directly often refer to them as ‘the good neighbors’, ‘the fair folk,’ or ‘people of the mounds.’` They are an
elder race
. Their Earth-bound
gateways
are typically encapsulated by a mound of earth or encircled by stones or mushrooms.
SKIN-SUIT
—a thin bodysuit crafted from
psi-free
, moisture-repelling fabric, used to prevent contact between a
clairvoyant
and other individuals or objects.
SORCERER/SORCERESS
—a
magus
who uses gestures for casting spells, they are typically restricted to a certain field of magic.
SORCERY
—magic.
STAKE-BURNER
—a derogatory term often applied to
magi-phobic
individuals, especially those in judicial or law enforcement positions.
STRIGOI CURSE
—the curse that causes
vampirism
. An individual afflicted by this curse is granted immortality, superior strength, and, in a limited fashion, the ability to shape-shift. Countering each of these boons is an equally powerful weakness. The cursed individual’s existence is restricted to the night—during daylight hours they are helpless and virtually comatose. To maintain their strength, they must drink human blood. Precious metals cause great pain and weakness.
SUMMONER
—a magic user capable of summoning a being from another dimension.
SUPERNATURAL TALENT AND COMPANY
—paranormal talent agency located in Seattle, owned by Jack Beaumont and Lire Devon.
TELEKINETIC
—an individual who is capable of
levitation
. A type one can move only inanimate objects, type two can move only animate objects, type three can move both animate and inanimate objects.
TELEPATH
—an individual capable of reading human thoughts without skin contact. Some (but not all) are capable of inserting memories into a human subject’s mind. Fewer still are able to assume enough control to direct their human subject’s actions.
THERIANTHROPY
—a term used to describe the curse of human to animal transformation. An individual afflicted with this curse is granted the ability to transform into a particular animal. Only rigorous training and self-discipline allows the cursed individual to retain their human consciousness during transformation. Depending upon their skill, this transformation can take place at will, however, during nights of the full moon, the transformation is compulsory.
THREEFOLD PRINCIPAL
—the belief that the energy a
magic user
(or
psychic
) dispenses, whether it be positive or negative, will be returned threefold. You reap what you sow.
TK
—a slang term for telekinesis.
TOUCHY
—a crass term for a
clairvoyant
.
TRUE NAME
—a being’s intrinsic name, one which is bound so closely that it’s tied to their
essence
. When pronounced with intimate familiarity, it can be used in a ritual to summon the being between worlds.
TRUTHSAYER
—an individual capable of detecting whether a person is lying.
VAMPIRE
—a human affected by the
Strigoi Curse
.
WARLOCK/WITCH
—a
magus
who can only employ spoken or chanted magic, they use runestones and/or other objects (such as wands) to power or strengthen their spells.
WERE
—someone who is cursed with
therianthropy
.
WHICH WITCH
—the paranormal talent agency owned by Judith Kitchell.
WILD HUNT
—see
Wuldrífan
.
WILL-O’-THE-WISP
—a diminutive spirit-like being from the
Otherworld
, often seen glowing like a lantern at night, that are known to lead travelers astray.
WULDRÍFAN
—the
sidhe’s
phantasmal, spectral hunting party, complete with horses and hounds, outfitted with the regalia of the chase and led by the
Master of the Hunt
. It is said the
Wuldrífan
is comprised of fallen
sidhe
who died fearlessly in battle. Their leader, the Master of the Hunt, heeds only the
sidhe
King’s command and is often depicted wearing a great horned helm. Also known as the wild hunt.
WITCHCRAFT
—spoken or chanted magic.
ZOMBIE
—a human or animal corpse that has been raised from dead and animated by magical means.
About the Author
Day-dreamer and committed late-sleeper, Katherine Bayless writes paranormal fantasy and romance for fun and occasional profit. When she isn’t adventuring vicariously through her stories or playing wrangler to her three children, Katherine crafts hand-made greeting cards, lays waste to the Scourge in World Of Warcraft, and indulges various addictions to cooking shows, science documentaries, and digital photography.
Katherine’s writing career began when she wondered what a clairvoyant’s life would be like, an idea that sparked her imagination and added ‘creative writing’ to her brimming list of hobbies. In her pre-Mommy life, Katherine worked as a software engineer in the game industry, where she not only met her awesome husband but also discovered her passion for fantasy stories and role-playing games.
Over the past twenty years, she has moved eleven times, calling California, Oregon, Washington, and Illinois home states at one time or another. She currently lives happily in view of Central Oregon’s ancient volcanoes with her husband, three children, and a sweet but shamelessly spoiled whippet named Patches.
Although Katherine freely admits she’d rather live inside her head and write stories instead of blog posts, she always makes the time to respond to emails and blog comments.
She hopes you’ll visit her at
www.katherinebayless.com
.
Acknowledgments
Aside from posing a significant health risk, writing in a vacuum means zero growth for me as a writer. It would preserve my thin skin, but without feedback—without readers who share their thoughts with me—I’d never improve as a storyteller.
To that end, I roped severalguinea pigstest-readers into telling me not only where I’d succeeded (which never loses its charm) but, more importantly, where I fell short. This story is better because of their willingness to give it to me straight. Trish, Mina, Michelle, Sarina, Nat, Doris, Scot, Dave, and Moo (aka Christina), I owe you heaps of gratitude and more than a few hugs. Free time is a precious commodity and you all spent it freely to give me your two cents. Thank you.
It’s safe to say that without my husband Scot’s time and encouragement, not to mention his creative and editing talents, I doubt any of my novels would have been published. Certainly, there’d be more clichés. And possibly pirates. Alliterative ones, even.
Thanks to my newest friend Mina (who wasn’t shy about taking me to task over my translation errors in Deadly Remains), Lire and Claude’s dialogues will no longer make native French speakers tsk-tsk in my direction. Merci beaucoup!
Dave, no matter how many times we read through my drafts before you get them, I can always count on you to find most, if not all, of the stupid errors Scot and I manage to miss.
Lori, your police background ensures that anyone in law enforcement won’t have themselves a good laugh at my expense after reading this. Well, at least not when it comes to police procedure. Thank you.
Novels in the
A Clairvoyant’s Complicated Life
Series
Deadly Remains
Deceiver’s Bond
Other Novels by Katherine Bayless
The 7
th
Tear
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