Cities of the Gods, Book Two of The Unbreakable Sword series
Also by S.M. Schmitz
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Other titles by S.M. Schmitz
The Resurrected trilogy, a science-fiction romance (also available in The Complete Resurrected Trilogy Box Set)
Awakened from death. Herself but no longer alone in her own body. Two lives merged into one.
A mistake. An aberration. A miracle.
And a company that wants her dead for existing.
When Dietrich’s fiancée, Lottie, is killed in a car accident, he descends into his own personal Hell until he runs into her in a café two years later. Claiming she isn’t really Lottie but only possesses some of her memories, the young woman offers him an unbelievable story then disappears.
Using his position as a CIA agent to track her down, Dietrich quickly discovers Lottie remembers far more about her past life than she’d originally let on. But his attempt to learn more about the planet she comes from or the woman she is now is disrupted by a group of men from the company that transports people from their home planet to Earth when they find out about her resurrection and attempt to murder her.
Because for Lottie, something went wrong, and her existence threatens their entire business on Earth. And Dietrich’s ultimate second chance with the only woman he’s ever loved will be threatened as well.
The Chosen, a Resurrected series novel
They promised her happily ever after. Instead, they gave her Hell. Now, she's getting revenge.
When Bella agreed to travel to Earth to start a new life with the man she loved, she’d been promised two things: healing dead human bodies so they could live on this planet always worked, and they could have the happily ever after forbidden to them at home.
But soon after arriving on her new planet, she discovers both of those promises were lies. And the consequences for trusting the wrong people are deadly.
After six years of hiding from the company that helped her cross over, she is approached by a beautiful but mysterious stranger who offers her a different kind of promise: the chance for revenge. And Bella’s journey to end her own nightmare and to seek justice for the man she’d once loved is finally able to begin.
Genesis Rising (The Genesis Project, a science-fiction series)
I am not a man. I am not human.
When Drake awakens in an unfamiliar room with no memories, Dr. Mike Parker reveals the answer to Drake’s puzzling existence through a silent directive sent to the microchips in his brain intended to control his thoughts and behavior. The Genesis Project created him to be the perfect special operations soldier, but as the product of advanced genetic engineering, the lines are immediately drawn in his mind: he is not human. He is the property of the Project, incapable of free will, and he shouldn't have his own thoughts or reservations.
Five years later, those codes that made him believe he’s not really a man and that he’s not really human are tested when he meets Saige, the first woman who’s ever made him reconsider what it means to be human. Not only will he finally begin to question what he is, but he will discover that the transformative powers of falling in love are stronger than the fears that have kept him tethered to the Project for years.
But his love for her will have far more dangerous consequences than he could have imagined, and their only chance for survival may lie in Drake’s own ability to overcome the beliefs that have been so deeply ingrained within him.
The Immortals series, a fantasy & mythology series (also available in The Complete Immortals Series Box Set)
When demons refuse to play by the rules, all Hell will break loose.
Colin and Anna have been hunting demons for a long time. But something is different in Baton Rouge. The rules are being broken and they're powerless against some of the greatest forces Hell can assemble. If they can't stop these demons from manipulating every rule of this war, then Heaven may lose the only battle that's ever really mattered.
The Golden Eagle, a romantic suspense (also available at Barnes & Noble, Apple, and Kobo)
After a vicious second civil war in the U.S., the states that seceded are occupied, and the people there live by different rules.
Jon is the highest-ranking officer in an elite Task Force whose purpose is shrouded in mystery. Ava is just trying to survive the occupation after two years of brutal war. After meeting unexpectedly, they discover they are both willing to risk everything for the chance to love one another. But what those risks entail may be far greater than anything either could have imagined.
Dreamwalkers, a paranormal psychological suspense
My father used to tell me our pasts shaped our presents and our presents shaped our futures and that we could never really get rid of our pasts. The deeds of our fathers and grandfathers and their fathers before them lived on forever, and we would have to live with the choices they made as well as our own so he would warn me to choose wisely. But I never understood my father. Not until my thirtieth birthday. And then everything changed.
After losing his father to suicide, Gavyn Cooper becomes convinced that his dad’s odd ramblings were nothing more than the product of mental illness. But on his thirtieth birthday, Gavyn begins having vivid dreams that transport him into the world of Caleb Ellis, a young man who lived on a sugar plantation in 1835, and he is forced to question not only his own experiences but his father’s as well. Now, Gavyn will have to make a choice between following in his father’s footsteps or writing his own future.
The Cambria Code series, a science-fiction romance
When a mysterious spaceship appears above Cambria, Zoe remains skeptical that it’s anything but an elaborate hoax. By the time the first spaceship is joined by two others, Zoe reluctantly admits that Earth has been invaded, even though it’s a pretty lame invasion: the aliens look remarkably human and keep to themselves. From what humans are able to learn about them, they seem incredibly arrogant and boring anyway.
After meeting Peyton, one of Earth’s newest residents, Zoe feels an immediate attraction to him although she is reluctant to become involved with someone who isn’t even human. But she soon discovers that these aliens are far more dangerous than they’ve led everyone to believe, and the secrets they are hiding may signal the destruction of her entire planet.
Sample Chapter from Cities of the Gods
Chapter 1
Cities of the Gods
Selena let go of Cameron’s hand and lifted her eyes to the towering pearlescent spirals of the palaces before them. She walked a few steps and the echoing of her footsteps brought her eyes to the ground, covered in gleaming marble pathways. Low cumulus clouds kissed the tops of the castles and the remarkably blue sky broke through the patches of cottony white.
“This way,” Badb directed. “I’ll show you around later. We need to talk to my sisters.”
“Yeah,” Cameron said, his voice still embittered by the betrayal of his friends, “they should know the Norse are a bunch of backstabbing assholes.”
Badb snickered and shook her head at him, long waves of golden hair falling over her porcelain shoulder. “They already know that, Cameron. I did try to warn you, but I’m sorry it happened, nonetheless.”
“We should convene a council with the Greeks soon,” the Dagda announced.
Selena looked around and only then realized Athena and Ares weren’t with them. “Where did they go? We didn’t leave them on Earth alone, did we?”
“Of course not,” Badb replied indignantly. “They went home. This is where all of the Tuatha Dé live now, Selena.”
“It’s one of your cities,” she whispered. One of the four magical island cities of the Tuatha Dé, and she and Cameron were standing in it. “Your palace… when Cameron and I
were brought to your palace before, we were here, weren’t we?”
Badb gave her a funny look then turned to Cameron. “Is she ok? Did she hit her head on the way over here?”
Cameron shrugged. “How should I know? I don’t remember traveling here. You’re much faster than Ukko.”
“Ukko,” the Dagda scoffed. “He was on the losing side of the war. He has been weakened by the loss just as all of the others have. Why do you think he’s trying to regain so much power on Earth?”
“Well,” Cameron retorted, “the old cranky Badb said it was because people stopped believing in his pantheon, and eventually, even forgot about it.”
The Dagda nodded and his long red beard bobbed against his thick chest. “That too. That’s why alliances are made and why we need to choose carefully.”
“I know you two are capable of walking and speaking at the same time,” Badb said. “Cameron, I’m pretty sure nothing can actually prevent you from talking so let’s move.”
She turned her back to them and headed toward one of the palaces in the distance with brilliant green and gold spires that reached through the clouds. “She’s still cranky,” Cameron insisted. “Even when she’s not old.”
“I can still hear you,” Badb called over her shoulder.
“Good, because I meant for you to hear that,” Cameron called back to her.
“Cameron,” Selena sighed, “you’re going to get us kicked out of… which island city is this?”
“There are three others, right?” Cameron asked. “I probably won’t get us kicked out of all four. Not in one day anyway.”
Selena walked a little closer to him and let her fingers brush against his hand. Now that she was away from the terrors of Quetzalcoatl and his army and the Norse unexpectedly showing up, away from the fear of losing Badb, she kept hearing his voice in her mind, repeating over and over, Didn’t anybody ever warn you never to piss off a man in love?
Cameron noticed her fingers brushing against him and smiled down at her, wrapping his hand around hers. He turned his attention back to the Dagda and asked, “So which island city is this? Anybody want to place bets on how long I make it before being shipped back to Earth?”
Badb made a grunting sound and shook her head. The Dagda laughed.
Cameron flashed his grin at Selena again and nudged her with his elbow. “See? He thinks I’m funny.”
“He thought Cú Chulainn was funny, too,” Badb said. She turned her head over her shoulder, sending those long waves of golden tendrils down her back, and winked at Selena. “He wasn’t funny either.”
“Bet she doesn’t like football or sandwiches either,” Cameron said, glaring at the goddess’s back.
The Dagda laughed again then clapped Cameron on the back. “Chin up, son. Badb was far fonder of Cú Chulainn than she’s letting on.”
“Ew,” Cameron responded. He pulled Selena a little closer and whispered, “Do they perform lobotomies on magical Irish islands?”
Badb finally laughed and stopped walking, facing her demigods again, though this time, there was something playful and mischievous in her eyes. “Don’t worry, Cameron. I won’t be hitting on you. If Selena weren’t part of our fates though, things may be different.” She smiled at him then turned around and kept walking toward the palace. Cameron looked down at Selena with a please-tell-me-that-didn’t-just-happen look on his face, but Selena just shrugged and pulled on his hand so he’d walk faster.
“Oh,” Badb called out, though she didn’t look at the demigods this time, “we’re in Murias and heading to The Dagda’s palace.”
“Murias,” Selena repeated. “If it hadn’t been stolen, this is where I’d find the Cauldron. I could become one of you now…” Her voice trailed off when she noticed Cameron slowing down, his fingers tightening around hers. He had apparently decided to deal with her decision to join the Tuatha Dé by not thinking about it.
Selena bit her lip and followed Badb quietly into the palace where she and her sisters had brought them before. Selena’s eyes immediately trailed the long green and gold banners adorning the walls. Badb stopped and pointed out a different green banner with a gold circular symbol in the center. Inside the circle, a single line twisted and weaved together to create the illusion of multiple infinity patterns.
“This is the seal of Lugh,” Badb explained. “It represents his nature as a master of all things. When he arrived at the palace in Tara and asked to join the Tuatha Dé, do you remember how he gained admittance, Selena?”
Selena’s eyes kept roving over the intricate pattern of the banner, but she nodded. She’d known this myth well for a long time, even before meeting Cameron and learning about their own ancestry. For some reason, it had always been one of her favorites from Irish mythology. She had always assumed it was because she liked the idea of a god who possessed half the blood of the Tuatha Dé’s enemies, the Fomorians, being allowed to join their ranks because he proved his worthiness and skill to them. But perhaps she’d always had a deeper connection to this story and that’s why it had drawn her in.
“He asked if the Tuatha Dé needed a carpenter and was told you already had one. He then asked if you needed a smith, a bard, a harper, an historian, a warrior, or a magician, but the Tuatha Dé had each of these as well. So he asked if there was one among you who was a master of all of these gifts and there wasn’t one among you who could claim that he was. Lugh was allowed into the palace at Tara and joined your pantheon, even though he was only half Tuatha Dé.”
Selena finally looked away from the banner to make sure she’d gotten the story right, and Badb’s face, filled with a kind of maternal pride, told her she had. “Yes,” Badb answered, “and I think you have the potential to be a great historian for our pantheon, too. Now, I’m going to change my clothes since being speared through the stomach has a way of ruining a dress. The Dagda will lead you to your rooms. You can clean up, and we’ll eat before meeting with the Greeks.”
Selena and Cameron glanced at each other and the corners of his lips turned up just slightly. “This is so much cooler than the W in New Orleans. We’re moving up, Sweet…”
He stopped himself from calling her a goddess again and forced a wider smile at the Dagda. “So. Do we get a view? Room service? Free HBO?”
“I think Badb was wrong about you,” the Dagda chuckled. “You are Cú Chulainn reincarnated.”
Cameron leaned closer to Selena’s ear and whispered, “Is that possible?”
“No,” she assured him. “Not… technically.”
“That is technically not reassuring.”
“Don’t worry, Cameron,” the Dagda told him. “Cú Chulainn was beloved by all. Mostly.”
“Um… who are the unmostly then?”
“Medb conspired to have him killed, so I’m guessing she’s one of your unmostly, which isn’t a word, by the way,” Selena answered.
“No worries though, lad,” the Dagda added, a wide grin on his ruddy face, “Medb’s been dead for centuries. You’ve just got to watch out for the Norse, the Slavs, all of their demigods, and the New Pantheon.” The Dagda paused by an open door and gestured toward the interior. “Ladies first.”
Cameron let go of Selena’s hand but shot the Dagda a hard look and narrowed his eyes at him. “Just for that, I’m not leaving this Hilton. You’re on your own with all those guys.”
“You’re in the Big Leagues now, son,” the Dagda laughed. “Hiding out here won’t protect you. Gods can easily get here.” He looked inside the room toward Selena then smiled at Cameron. “And it won’t protect her.”
The Dagda gestured toward a room across the hall and told Cameron he could stay there then turned to walk away. Cameron scowled at his back and called, “That’s cheating!”
Selena stopped opening the drawers on the chest closest to the doorway and peeked into the hallway at him. “What’s cheating?”
Cameron pointed toward the god as he disappeared around a corner. “Every time I say I don’t want to do s
omething, they’re going to drag you into it.”
Selena felt the all too familiar sensation of her cheeks flushing and pretended to study the chest again. “But did you mean what you said earlier?” she asked quietly.
Cameron stood in her doorway and glanced around her room, nodding approvingly. “Nice. Much better than the W, though that was admittedly pretty swanky.”
“Cameron,” Selena sighed. “Are we just going to ignore what you said in the Basin forever?”
Cameron stared at his boots and nodded again. “Yes. Not because I didn’t mean it… it’s just. Shit, Selena, you want to become a goddess. You want a future that’s everything I never wanted. What am I supposed to do with that? And that’s even assuming…”
Selena swallowed and inhaled slowly. It was true then; he loved her but would never become anything more than her guardian, the man dedicated to allowing her to find the Cauldron. And along the way, he’d surely help her find the Unbreakable Sword and Nuada’s heir because he wouldn’t leave her without knowing she was well protected. But he would never be her lover. He would never accept a future with her because of the fate she wanted that represented everything he despised.
“Assuming what?” she whispered. She brushed her fingers along the smooth oak wood surface then trailed them along the intricate carvings that ran down the sides of the chest. Like the tapestries in the main hall, even the furniture in this palace was exquisite in its detail and perfection, as if the gods themselves had carved it.
“I don’t… I’m not assuming…” Cameron shuffled his feet and Selena looked up at him, the shy and nervous way he wouldn’t meet her eyes, his expression that begged any god to just get him out of this conversation.
Shadows of the Gods (The Unbreakable Sword Series Book 1) Page 19
