For the Love of Magic
Page 21
Panacea means “the cure.” These are the healers. This group widely varies in magical technique. Camilla is the Panacea Primo of the Austin branch.
Ingenium means the “nature and substance.” These are the herbalists or potion makers. Ingrid is the Ingenium Primo.
Animaverto means “to see and understand.” This is the seer of the group. They have visions of the future and there is a wide spectrum of types and strengths. Jolie is the Annimaverto Primo.
Renuntio means “to read and report.” These are the psychometrists. They can touch a thing and tell, to varying degrees, the history of the thing. Libby the librarian is the Renuntio Primo.
Iudex means “to judge.” These are the mind readers. Elle is the Iudex Primo. She must put her hands on someone’s skin to hear their thoughts, but she has little control over it. She hears only the thoughts the exact minute she comes in contact with another person’s skin.
Vinco means “to master or overcome or vanquish in regards to another person.” They are telepathic. These people can broadcast or push their own thoughts, words or feelings into another mind. Nathalia is a Vinco Primo.
Peregrinus is a traveler or pilgrim. They specialize in ethereal projection. They can leave their bodies and travel in an incorporeal state. This is a dangerous ability as once the spirit leaves the body, the body is technically dead. The spirit, without the body to anchor it, is a fickle and easily distracted thing. Alisha is the Peregrinus Primo.
These are not all of the possible titles, just the ones important for this story. Another title that only comes up at the end is Levitas. It means “the lightning.” It is the one power that is known to randomly pop up without a lineage, and often times, in males.
Nathalia was dead. She had to be: she’d committed suicide. She could remember dying, but just now she’d woken from a dream. In it, she stood high on a cold desert plateau. The sun was hours from rising. From every side she could hear falling rocks loosened by scrabbling claws and the feet of those who answered her call. They couldn’t resist. Their monstrous hands came into view first, then their heads and shoulders, until they stood in a ring around her. Their chests heaved. Their mouths, filled with stained but razersharp teeth, snapped at her.
They were hairy and swollen with the violence and blood they gorged themselves on every night. Complexions looked ruddy even in the dim light. They longed to flee the desert where there was so little shelter from the incinerating sun, but she was here. They craved her blood more than anything. She was life itself and she was totally unprotected. Or so they thought.
They did not know that she was the chosen warrior. Now that they were in her presence, nothing could save them from her. She was death. She was salvation. She would end the terrible plight of the betrayers’ reign over men. She rotated slowly, meeting each unredeemable in the eye.
She spoke silently, using her telepathic ability, “I am Ereshkigal, Atropos, Beletseri, and Morta. Having broken the promise and feasted on the blood of your brothers, you have lost the ability to control your cells. You are no longer Nephilim, Guardians of mankind, but Akhkharu, addicted to violence, and as such you will be the first to die.”
These were not the words they were expecting. Her charges against them brought many rushing toward her, but a few turned to run. Both strategies were useless. A white dagger, the DakuAhu, appeared in her hand, where there was nothing before. She called each of them by name, binding them and forcing their lifelines to the surface. The very earth held them fast as she sliced through each line and the screams of Akhkharu filled the desert. It was horrifying, but they did not deserve to live. She was the prosecutor and executor all in one, but it would not always be this way. The One would be of age soon and then Nathalia would have a partner. Eiran appeared behind her. She knew, rather than saw. He wrapped his strong arms around her and she leaned her head back to rest on his shoulder. Nathalia and Eiran vanished into thin air.
I hope you enjoyed For the Love of Magic. I’d love you to leave a review, no matter what you thought of my book, on your favorite review site. Reviews truly do help.
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Natalie Gibson
BORN AND raised in northeast Texas, Natalie Gibson adores the color green and reveres the forest and the tortoise. Get her too far from the pine tree farm she grew up on, and she can’t breathe. Natalie has always loved reading, but it wasn’t until her daughter was born in 2008 that she discovered the joy of writing. Her stories always have strong females who change the world, magical creatures that battle their baser natures, and seriously evil bad guys who don’t. Natalie’s fantastical worlds coexist with our own; otherworldly violence, sexuality, and the supernatural are hidden behind a thin veil.
Visit the author's website at:
www.authornataliegibson.com