Praise for the Nightkeepers Series
“This series goes right to your heart! Jessica Andersen is a must read for me!”
—#1 New York Times bestselling author J. R. Ward
“I love the whole Nightkeepers world.”
—Night Owl Romance
Magic Unchained
“[Andersen’s] storytelling talent has been honed to a fine art.”
—Romantic Times
Storm Kissed
“A superb thriller . . . fast-paced and character-driven. . . . Fans will relish this exhilarating tale.”
—Genre Go Round Reviews
“Thrilling. . . . With this tale of prophecy and curses, Andersen really shakes up her series. Love, loss, passion, and drama are all here. You won’t be able to put this one down.”
—Romantic Times
“Andersen’s tight writing style and ability to build tension on both the romantic and action sides of the story lines is never better.”
—Fresh Fiction
“Storm Kissed is a fantastic part of the Nightkeepers journey. I can honestly say that it rendered me absolutely speechless.”
—Romance Novel News
Blood Spells
“For readers with a hankering for a fascinating and intricate foray into the Mayan world, the Nightkeepers series is just perfect.”
—The Romance Readers Connection
“Andersen has created a compelling cast of characters whose personal travails add richness to these highly entertaining novels. Another excellent job.”
—Romantic Times
Demonkeepers
“Andersen ramps up the danger . . . mix[ing] action and elements of Mayan myth—from a voyage to the underworld to a fantastic high-stakes ball game—with soul-searching, lust, and romance. Jade’s inner journey is particularly engaging, and while the background makes more sense to returning fans, even new readers will find plenty to latch onto.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Intense . . . thrilling . . . a world that fans of any genre will enjoy.”
—The Romance Readers Connection
“Fabulous . . . will have the audience appreciating the skills of master magician Jessica Andersen.”
—Midwest Book Review
Skykeepers
“An exciting, romantic, and imaginative tale, Skykeepers is guaranteed to keep readers entertained and turning the pages.”
—Romance Reviews Today
“Will knock you off your feet, keep you on the edge of your seat, and totally captivate from beginning to end.”
—Romance Junkies
“A gripping story that pulled this reader right into [Andersen’s] Final Prophecy series.”
—Romance Reader at Heart (top pick)
“The Final Prophecy is a well-written series that is as intricate as it is entertaining.”
—The Romance Readers Connection
“The world of the Nightkeepers is wonderful, and I love visiting it. It is intricate, magical, and absolutely fascinating. . . . Step inside the Nightkeepers’ world and prepare to be swept away!”
—Joyfully Reviewed
“If you’re looking for a book to read, one that has an intricate, inventive, and well-researched world with characters that are fully realized, might I suggest Skykeepers?”
—Romance Novel TV
Dawnkeepers
“Prophecy, passion, and powerful emotions—Dawnkeepers will keep you on the edge of your seat begging for more!”
—Wild on Books
“This strong new series will appeal to fantasy and paranormal fans with its refreshing blend of Mayan and Egyptian mythologies plus a suitably complex story line and plenty of antagonists.”
—Monsters and Critics
“This exhilarating urban romantic fantasy saga is constructed around modernizing Mayan mythology. . . . The story line is fast-paced and filled with action as the overarching Andersen mythology is wonderfully embellished with this engaging entry.”
—Genre Go Round Reviews
“Using the Mayan doomsday prophecy, Andersen continues to add complexity to her characters and her increasingly dense mythos. This intense brand of storytelling is a most welcome addition to the genre.”
—Romantic Times
“Action-packed.”
—Romance Junkies
Nightkeepers
“Raw passion, dark romance, and seat-of-your-pants suspense all set in an astounding paranormal world—I swear ancient Mayan gods and demons walk the modern earth!”
—New York Times bestselling author J. R. Ward
“Andersen’s got game when it comes to style and voice. I loved the kick-ass series . . . a fun mix of humor, suspense, mythology, and fantasy . . . a series that’s sure to be an instant reader favorite, and will put Andersen’s books on keeper shelves around the world.”
—New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann
“Part romance, mystery, and fairy tale . . . a captivating book with wide appeal.”
—Booklist
“[A] nonstop, action-intensive plot. . . . Ms. Andersen delivers a story that is both solid romance and adventure novel. If you enjoy movies like Lara Croft . . . or just want something truly new, you will definitely want this.”
—Huntress Book Reviews
“Intense action, sensuality, and danger abound.”
—Romantic Times
“If Nightkeepers is any indication of her talent, then [Jessica Andersen] will become one of my favorites. . . . [The book] brought tears to my eyes and an ache in my heart. I read each word with bated breath.”
—Romance Junkies
“[A] terrific romantic fantasy . . . an excellent thriller. Jessica Andersen provides a strong story that . . . fans will cherish.”
—Midwest Book Review
Also Available in the Nightkeepers Series
Nightkeepers
Dawnkeepers
Skykeepers
Demonkeepers
Blood Spells
Storm Kissed
Magic Unchained
SPELLFIRE
A NOVEL OF THE NIGHTKEEPERS
JESSICA ANDERSEN
SIGNET ECLIPSE
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published by Signet Eclipse, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, November 2012
Copyright © Jessica Andersen, 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
SIGNET ECLIPSE and logo are trademark
s of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
To Greg:
It wasn’t until I read back over this last Nightkeepers story that I realized I had written you into it. David is you—he’s positive, dedicated, open-minded and generous, and he has a huge heart that’s just waiting to find his match. And when he does, watch out, because (like any good fisherman) he’s not letting her get away!
So this one’s yours alone. Thank you for being mine, and for making me hope that the world continues on for a long, long time.
Love,
Jessica
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My heartfelt thanks go to Deidre Knight, Claire Zion, Kara Welsh, Kerry Donovan and others too numerous to name for helping me bring these books to life; to J. R. Ward for being my sounding board; and to my family, friends, and many e-friends for always being there for a laugh or (cyber)hug. And most of all to my husband, Greg, for showing me that soul mates, spontaneous combustion and true love do exist, and that they’re so very worth waiting for.
Finally, as we reach the finale of the series, thank you, dear reader, for being part of the Nightkeepers’ world!
CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SPECIAL PREVIEW OF SUMMER AT MUSTANG RIDGE
In three weeks, the barrier that separates the earth and underworld will fall and the vicious Banol Kax, lords of the underworld, will emerge from millennia of torture and damnation with one goal burning in their blackened blood: to destroy mankind. Our only hope rests with the Nightkeepers, a group of magic-wielding warriors who live among us in secret and who have—maybe, hopefully—enough skill, power and conviction to defeat the Banol Kax and restore the barrier between the earth and the underworld.
With their numbers decimated, the last dozen surviving Nightkeepers and their allies have managed to defend the barrier so far. Now, though, they are at a crossroads . . . and the strongest and most unpredictable among them has done the unthinkable: in a world of magi who draw their greatest powers from bonding with the other halves of themselves, he has cruelly betrayed his lover. In the end he sacrificed himself to save her, but that has put him in the demons’ clutches and destroyed his magic.
As the days count down and he suffers the tortures of the damned, the Nightkeepers widen their search, hoping for a miracle . . .
CHAPTER ONE
December 1
Three weeks until the zero date
Somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico
Red-Boar had always said that someday Rabbit would get what he deserved . . . and it turned out the old bastard had been one-hundred-per-fricking-cent right. Shit, Rabbit could practically picture his father standing in the arched stone doorway, glaring from beyond the grave with a big-assed “See? I told you so” plastered on his mug.
Then leather whipped through the air and the brined lash cracked across Rabbit’s back, laying open another bloody ribbon. The image exploded into white-hot pain, and he twisted against his shackles as if it was the first time he’d been whipped rather than the thousandth. He might even have screamed. Maybe not, though. He wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure of much these days; his world had gotten condensed down to the circular stone prison, and Phee, the pale-haired bitch who kept tormenting him, torturing him, trying to make him give up something that was already gone.
“Turn him around.” At Phee’s order, talons scraped on stone and he was hit with a foul stench as claws swung him on his chains, and he went from having his battered face pressed against the putrid wall to staring into the equally putrid visage of a camazotz.
Nearly eight feet tall, with the body of an overendowed man and a face cursed with ratlike red eyes, a smashed-in nose and a triangular mouth that held way too many fangs, the bat demon was ugly from a distance, and really fucking gnarly up close. It kept its ragged wings and barbed tail curled around its body in the narrow confines of the cell, but the oily drool and the way its beady-assed eyes went over Rabbit’s body said it was thinking about taking what little was left of his skin for wing patches.
Earlier in his captivity—a month ago? two months?—he would’ve told it to fuck itself, and maybe even described the process. Now all he could do was groan as his spine grated against the stone.
“Back off,” Phee said from behind the creature, and the camazotz ducked its head and gave way, returning to its post beside the door with a hiss that was its version of Yes, mistress. Anything you say, mistress. Which left Rabbit with a view that—to him, at least—was worse than a chorus line of camazotz doing The Pirates of Penzance.
He didn’t know what the demoness’s natural form looked like—the Banol Kax could take on many shapes, from humans to three-story-tall winged monsters that breathed fire. This one appeared to be a woman in her twenties, with light, almost colorless hair, high cheekbones and blue-gray eyes that were unnervingly like his own. She had the trefoil mark of a dark-magic user on the inside of her right wrist, and wore a long silvery-white robe.
All that was the same as it had been before, when she had slipped through the protective wards around Skywatch to speak to him in visions. Back then, though, she had seemed ethereal and ghostly. Now she was flesh and blood, or at least pretending to be.
It was all a lie.
As she approached, he forced a sardonic smile through split lips that hadn’t even bothered swelling, as if his body had given up on any hope of repair. “Hello, Mother.”
She wasn’t, of course, but she had played the hell out of the role, getting inside his head and offering him what he’d most wanted: a mother who had loved him and a reason to think that his old man had given a shit at one point in time. She had sold him on the fantasy of having a real name—Rabbie—and a real family. She had cooed over him, coddled him . . . and then she had turned him, gradually and irrevocably, until he believed with every fiber of his twisted being that she was his only ally and all the others were his enemies. Even the one person who had loved him.
“Rabbie . . .” Phee tutted sorrowfully. She stayed in character even now, with him imprisoned and the charade unnecessary. He had a feeling she liked the pretty shell. She might not be able to get inside his head anymore—his mental powers had vanished along with his magic—but she had to know it was a bitter reminder for him to see her like this. Cruel enjoyment gleamed in her eyes as she leaned in close, brushed her fingertips along his swollen jaw, and whispered, “My poor, poor Rabbie. Why are you making me do this? You’re hurting us both, you know.”
His flesh quivered, triggering muscle spasms that had him twisting away and then swinging back when he hit the ends of his chains. He groaned as the shackles bit into his wrists an
d ankles, and his shoulders and arms screamed from having supported him for too long. His healing powers might not have deserted him entirely—some things, it seemed, were coded into his DNA—but the longer this went on, the slower he healed.
Her eyes were falsely warm, her voice a purr. “Just give me what I want, and all of this stops and I set you free.”
If he’d been another guy, in another place and time—some other Rabbit who lived in a parallel universe that wasn’t a few weeks away from D-day—he probably would’ve taken the deal, even knowing that freedom was her word for “death.” Anything had to be better than this . . . except that he wasn’t a different guy in a different place and time, and in this universe with him being who he was, death wouldn’t put him out of the demon’s reach. Given his track record, he was headed straight for hell. Xibalba. Whatever the fuck you wanted to call it. So he was keeping his ass alive and stonewalling the demoness, figuring that if he couldn’t escape, the least he could do was stall.
His former teammates would never know about his sacrifice, but it brought a spark of grim satisfaction to dredge up bloody saliva and spit in her face. “Kiss my ass, bitch. You want what’s inside my head? Come and fucking get it.”
She hissed, her eyes flaring briefly demon-red, and the air around them crackled with the oily rattle of dark magic. The power was useless against him, though, at least for her purposes. Turned out he would have to give her his magic voluntarily for this particular spell . . . if he still had any magic, that is. She didn’t realize the gods had already taken back their gifts.
Biting off a vicious curse, she snapped, “More. I don’t care what it takes—I want him broken, damn you. We’re running out of time.”
Rabbit braced himself, knowing the first few blows were going to hurt like a bitch. He didn’t close his eyes, though—it was worse not knowing when the whip was going to hit. Instead, he glared at Phee, hating her for what she’d done to him. And hating himself for what he’d let her turn him into.
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