I cringed as Valentina made a spectacle out of thanking Lucien for his help. There was a strange energy between them. The way their polite courtesies dangled between icy handshakes and loaded glances. Dragos used to tell me it was the words that we didn’t say that spoke the loudest. I didn’t understand until now.
“Farewell, Gray. I have no doubt you will find what you are looking for.” His lips pursed like his mouth was full of bitter fruit. Spinning on his heel, his guards encircled him, and they disappeared down a dark tunnel.
Gulping back stale air, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. With dirty hair and cheeks, I scrambled up the sewer drain like a hungry rat.
My hands hit the cold pavement and I breathed a sigh of relief. The crisp London air filled my lungs, easing the ache in my chest. The silence was welcoming, but I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer. “What’s the story with you two?”
Valentina shrugged. “Not much to tell. We had an arrangement that worked for a while, and then it didn’t. So, it ended.” Her tone was sharp and final.
I decided not to push the issue. Some cards were better kept close to your chest. We all had our burdens to bear. Especially in the world we lived in.
Valentina placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Gray…you all right?”
They will all be dealt with.
I was far from all right. The Consilium had taken everything from me. My humanity when they turned me into a Dhampir. My only family when they converted my mother. They even turned the man I loved against me. They stole three years of my life that I could never get back. But I was done being their pawn.
Valentina waved a hand in front of my face. “Gray…?”
My chest heaved, adrenaline coursed through my veins. “They should have killed me.”
Don’t stop now. Keep reading with your copy of BLOOD AND MAGIC available now.
Want even more from Melissa Sercia? Try the Blood and Darkness series!
With supernatural powers and an insatiable need for blood, her existence is cursed.
When Gray awakens from a three-year spell induced coma, she not only discovers her lover as the one responsible, but that he has joined with a dangerous organization, the Consilium, to help them create a new breed of hybrid demons.
Humans and Witches are being taken against their will, and fear is growing throughout the covens.
Gray never had a choice—forced to become a monster, the Dhampir. Yet after four hundred years, she still yearns for her humanity, like a long-lost echo from another life.
She cannot allow the Consilium to do this to anyone else.
With a renewed lust for vengeance, and a target on her back, Gray must use the one thing she swore never to in order to stop them—blood magic.
Armed with a magical pirate ship, an immortal monk, and a flower plucked from the Underworld, Gray will stop at nothing to start a war.
Yet in her quest to track down her enemies, she uncovers a dark family secret that threatens to destroy the last shred of humanity she has left.
BUY NOW!
Want More City Owl Press Books?
Click here to sign up for the City Owl Press newsletter and be the first to find out about special offers, including FREE book days, contents, giveaways, cover reveals, and more!
Sign up now and become a City Owl Reader today! And join our City Owl Reader-Author group here for even more deals and a whole lot of community and fun!
Acknowledgments
I never thought in a million years that I’d be writing this from quarantine amidst a global pandemic. However, these strange and difficult times make these acknowledgements even more meaningful to me. So first and foremost, I’d like to thank all of the first responders, nurses, doctors, and everyone on the front lines in the medical fields, the grocery stores, gas stations, and pharmacies. Everyone who is out there working to keep us safe and to keep the world going. Thank you for your service. We will survive because of you.
I’d like to thank my publishers. Tina, Yelena, and the entire staff at City Owl Press—you are all fantastic and I am so grateful that you have welcomed me into your owl family and nurtured my career these past three years. I couldn’t have done any of this without you. I look forward to all of our future projects and I am so excited about what we are going to create next!
Tee Tate, the best editor an author can ask for. You are a word goddess and I have grown so much from working with you. Thank you for believing in me and my stories. And for putting up with all of my late night texts and ramblings! You are so gracious, supportive, and awesome.
Thank you to all the authors at City Owl Press. We have truly become a family. Each and every one of you has made this journey so worthwhile and I literally couldn’t do it without any of you. Love you all.
Thank you to MIBL Art for giving me my gorgeous covers. You always get it right.
I’d like to thank the incredible artist Nate Taylor for creating the most beautiful map for the world of Beautiful Dark Beasts. I am humbled and honored that you contributed your talent and time to bring my dark witchy world to life.
Thank you to Cassandra Penticoff and everyone at A Novel Connection, for your wizard like skills with my website, graphics, and book launch parties. You are a rock star and I am so lucky I get to work with you.
Thank you to all the bloggers, indie bookstores, and libraries who have shown me endless love and support. I am so grateful.
Thank you to David Marzetti and Shag Bag Radio Show for your kindness and generosity. I always have so much fun on your show. Thank you for your support!
To my family, there are not enough words to express my love and gratitude. Mom, you are my rock and my inspiration. No matter how old I get, I will always be your little girl and I will always need you. Dad, thank you for all of your love and support and always making me laugh. Jen, you are amazing. Thank you for being the best sister a girl could ever dream of having. I love all of you so much.
Thank you to my Aunt Charlene, Uncle John, and cousin, Kathleen for your unwavering love and support.
Thank you to the Driels, my second family. Love you all.
Thank you to my family all over the globe—the Sercias, the Maioranas, the Le Fevres, the Lyons, and the Campbells. I look forward to seeing you all soon.
Renee Infelise, my bestie. Thank you for always knowing what to say and when to say it. Thanks for being there for me no matter what. You know me so well and your friendship means more to me than I could ever articulate properly in order to do it justice. You are like my sister, my twin soul, my favorite person to play board games with and go to ComicCon with. The only other person on the planet who loves sour cream as much as I do. You have been in my corner since day one. You’re an incredible and one of a kind woman. I love you. Thank you for being in my life.
Negeen Papehn, my owl sister. I am so happy we met and became fast friends. Your words of encouragement and support mean everything. I love our daily chats, venting to each other about life and this crazy industry. Thank you for reading Smoke and Ritual in its early stages and giving me your feedback. And as I sit here and write this, during this strange time in history, I so look forward to the day when everything goes back to normal and we can share a bottle of wine (or two) together in person again. Thank you for being there for me and always having my back.
Thank you to my squad. My amazing friends who literally make me the luckiest woman alive—Brennan Kennedy, Joe Manuguerra, David Protelsch, Serena Maclean-DeWinter, Julie Brooks, Katie Fisher, Tatjana Papic, Art Lomboy, Tiffany and Randy Werner, and Ben Lawley. I can’t wait to sit down and have a drink with each and every one of you.
Thank you to my Portola family, especially Stacie Tarantino. I’m so grateful you have allowed me to be me and always give me the freedom to pursue my dreams.
I want to give a huge thank you to all of the readers and fans of my books. I created a world that I hope you can escape to when reality is not where you want to be. Thank you for taking this journe
y with me.
And finally, I’d like to thank my partner in life, my love, Chris Driels. Thank you for supporting my dreams, always encouraging me to keep going, and for your unconditional love. In the ten years we’ve been together, through good times and bad, you always make me laugh and make me feel loved. Thank you.
About the Author
MELISSA SERCIA is an Urban Fantasy author with a passion for philosophy, mythology, and all things supernatural. She is the author of the series, Blood and Darkness, and Beautiful Dark Beasts. Melissa lives in California with her man and her cat. When she’s not building dark fantasy worlds and slaying demons, you can find her in the kitchen cooking with a glass of wine in her hand.
www.melissasercia.com
About the Publisher
City Owl Press is a cutting edge indie publishing company, bringing the world of romance and speculative fiction to discerning readers.
www.cityowlpress.com
Additional Titles
BLOOD AND MAGIC
By: Melissa Sercia
Gray is a Dhampir—a woman alive, but also dead. With supernatural powers and an insatiable need for blood, her existence is cursed.
FLESH AND BONE
By: Melissa Sercia
Gray’s dark magic has grown stronger and threatens to consume her. But when her partner Aldric mysteriously disappears, she must rely on her powers to find him.
GODS AND DEMONS
By: Melissa Sercia
Will Gray send the demons back to the Underworld or watch her world burn to the ground?
A TOUCH OF DARKNESS
By: Yelena Casale & Tina Moss
USA Today Bestselling Authors
Cassie Durrett dreams of the darkness. And lives the nightmare.
Award Winning Urban Fantasy
BLACKBIRD SUMMER
By: Em Shotwell
When the world fears you, being Gifted is a curse.
BLOOD KING
By: Amber K. Bryant
While Sybille’s ability to summon and guide spirits of the undead to the afterlife pays the bills, it comes with colossal risks, including becoming undead herself.
CODE BLACK
By: Tina Moss
USA Today Bestselling Author
Gossip mag reporter Sera Benenati knows a thing or two about unearthing secrets...and burying them.
FREYJA’S DAUGHTER
By: Rachel Sullivan
Well behaved women seldom make history, but they still end up as the monsters of folklore.
FROSTBITE
By: Joshua Bader
Getting hired to be a personal wizard for a billionaire may just become a death sentence.
HEART OF MALICE
By: Lisa Edmonds
The first time Moses Murphy’s granddaughter killed on his orders, she was six years old.
HOUSE OF ASH & BRIMSTONE
By: Megan Starks
Hell has come to collect, but Gisele Walker has no plans to pay the debt.
MIDNIGHT DESIRE
By: Shari Nichols
Danger and desire collide to form an unlikely alliance between a witch with a sordid past and a special agent who might be her future.
PURGATORY’S ANGEL
By: B. Hughes-Millman
We all have a dark side where inner demons roam. When devils of our nightmares murder in their sleep, only she can stop them.
SOUL OF THE UNBORN
By: Natalia Brothers
Can you call yourself human if supernatural forces control your every breath, every emotion, every desire?
TIDES OF TIME
By: Luna Joya
A witchy good girl hiding secrets from her family…
A reformed bad boy who doesn’t know his family’s hidden secrets…
TRUTHSIGHT
By: Miriam Greystone
Rowan and Amy must join forces with the creatures who were once her patients and fight to uncover the one secret that may be powerful enough to save them all.
WAKING THE DEAD
By: D. B. Sieders
The road to hell begins when the reaper darkens her door.
Smoke and Ritual (Beautiful Dark Beasts Book 1) Page 26
