Becoming Bad (The Becoming Novels)

by Raven, Jess

  She hummed in thought. ‘It’s no wonder people assume it’s a drug.’

  ‘The effects of the eitr are similar to a drug.’

  That she knew all too well. She remembered the violent, cosmic ecstasy of being bitten by him. It had been transcendent. ‘There were thralls in Fomor too,’ she said. ‘They don’t ever come back, do they?’ So many ‘Missing’ posters pasted up around Dublin, Ash doubted those girls were ever found.

  ‘No.’ His jaw was tight, his thumb stopped its stroking, and she knew he was bracing himself for an outburst. But the thrall weren’t his fault.

  Ash shook her head, her hair catching in the morning breeze and tickling her face. She pushed it back, thinking. ‘It’s not right. There must be some way to break the addiction.’

  ‘None that I know of.’ He raised her knuckles to his lips and she smiled. ‘I just tried to keep the numbers in check,’ he said.

  Ash frowned. ‘But if you’re not patrolling the streets any more, then come full moon, there’s nothing to stop Mac’s men from biting anyone they want. It’s going to be carnage.’ It would be more than that, it would be Dublin - Population: Thrall. Now she knew she was safe, her mind had opened up to worry for the rest of humanity.

  Connal’s head cocked, his lips pressed into a frown. ‘You want us to break the truce?’

  Ash’s head was shaking. ‘No. God, no more killing. You and your brother have just started getting to know one another. Surely there’s another way. I could speak to my grandmother, perhaps she could help ...’

  Connal’s growl cut her off in a harsh snap and she bristled. His features softened, his voice gentled and his apology was in the tender brush of his fingers through her hair. ‘I don’t want you to go to her, Ash.’

  Her face clouded in confusion, and his shut down. He looked fierce and Ash wished he would project just a little of what he was thinking. ‘But she already helped us,' she said, 'she let us be together.’ That was points in her grandmother’s favour, she thought. He didn’t agree.

  ‘Please.’ That voice. She’d never heard him sound like that. Low and fraught with pain, it was the kind of begging she never wanted to hear from him.

  Placing her hands flat on his chest, she leaned into the rough hold he’d tightened on her. ‘Okay, my love.’ She reassured him best she could in her bewilderment. ‘Perhaps we could persuade Mac to keep them under control. I think he’d listen to me.’

  His body went ramrod stiff, and in a blink, his eyes went from polished steel to crimson intensity. A street cleaner shuffled by them as Connal backed her to a wall and locked his arms either side of her shoulders. ‘What does MacTire mean to you, Ash?’

  'Does a clean slate mean nothing to you?’ she snapped. His jealousy got under her skin. Ash’s fingers curved into claws and she dug them into his hips. Branding. Assuring. Punishing. ‘I chose you, Connal.’ If her words were roughened by a growl, he couldn’t really blame her.

  ‘I’m sorry, Ash. I have to ask.’ The saving grace for him was that he did look sorry, but he wasn’t backing down.

  She let her anger bleed into her eyes. ‘You want me to ask where you got those bites and scratches all over you? And I don’t mean the ones from the fight.’

  Blood rushed from his tawny skin, leaving him pale and anxious, and her heart turned over. She wouldn’t push, didn’t think she really wanted to know, but she was reminding them both when she spoke again. ‘Clean slate, remember? I want you, Big Bad. You are my happily ever after.’ She saw nothing but him in her future.

  ‘And that’s why I’m asking, Ash.’ He exhaled heavily, dropped his forehead to hers.

  What? She blinked. ‘I don’t understand.’

  Connal shoved away from her and paced the quiet Dublin street. He was magnificent, even in his agitation. ‘The Morrígan has given me until the the next full moon wanes,’ he said, ‘or there is no ever after, for either of us.’ Agony strained the deep growl of his voice and she left the support of the wall to follow his tense back-and-forth.

  ‘Geez, Big Bad, will you stay still?’ He made no sense and was getting her dizzy. ‘What do you mean? Given you until the next moon to do what?’

  When he did stop, his gaze was direct, but wary. Brow knitted, the search for words was written on his face. She wasn’t going to like what he had to say.

  Connal’s breath left him in a rush and she braced as a mask fell over his features.

  ‘The Morrígan’s price is always death,’ he said.

  ‘No. She can’t have you!’ Ash railed. ‘I lost you once already.’

  ‘Not me,’ he said gravely, ‘I have to finish what I started. I have to kill him, Ash. MacTire must die. Or we do.’

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  GLOSSARY

  A leanbh - Gaelic for ‘my child.'

  Blood eagle - An ancient Norse method of torture and execution, performed by cutting and breaking the ribs of the victim and forming them into a semblance of bloody wings. The lungs would be pulled through the wounds and salt poured into the chest cavity. A punishment reserved for the worst traitors to the Fomorian race.

  Blód-brother - Blood brother or sworn brother. See félag.

  Blód-Samhain - A Fomorian feast day when the full moon coincides with the Celtic feast of Samhain, which coincides with modern day Halloween.

  Dubh Linn - The old Norse from which Dublin got her name. It translates to 'black pool or lake'; the ancient site adjacent to Dublin Castle where the Vikings decided to settle. The actual black lake was filled in during the late seventeen/early eighteen hundreds.

  Eitr - The blue-tinged, opalescent venom in a Fomorian’s bite, it has an adverse effect on humans (see Thrall). In Fomorians, the exchange of eitr heightens sexual orgasm in a biological incentive to mate and reproduce.

  Elatha - A Fomorian moon god, whose blessing of the red fog permitted the Vargs to walk the earth during full moon.

  Félag (pleural félagi) - Old Norse word meaning ‘fellowship’ or a ‘bringing together of strengths’. On reaching maturity, Fomorian male litter-mates born to different fathers undergo a ceremonial branding and contest one another in battle to establish dominance. Thereafter, the blood-brothers are sworn, one to the other, in a lifelong bond of allegiance, which included the sharing of a single mate.

  Form - A nightclub built on the site of the original Dubh Linn. Neutral territory (see Haven Law).

  Fomor - A mythical, subterranean world, in which the Fomorians have been condemned to dwell forever by the Morrígan’s powers. Fomorians retain their immortality only as long as they maintain contact with Fomor. If they walk the earth outside of the full moon, they age instantly and die a slow, agonising death.

  Fomorian - A mythical, semi-divine race that were the first inhabitants of Ireland. Gods of chaos and wild nature, they have been variously described as grotesque beasts and as beautiful men. Defeated in battle by the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Fomorians were driven beneath the sea, never to walk the land of Ireland again. What is not written in the myths is that over millennia, cracks appeared in their underground prison, the Tuatha Dé were forgotten, no longer worshipped, and fissures, conduits to the surface, developed, leading to black lakes, through which the Fomori began to escape and terrorize the human people in the form of giant, wolf-like creatures. The people of Eblana kept wolfhounds as protection and stayed clear of the known dangers of the black lake where the wolves appeared at full moon in a haze of red fog. But one fateful night, a large fleet of Viking settlers arrived and moored their longboats on the black lake, unsuspecting of the dangers. That full moon, something happened. The Fomori possessed the souls of every man, woman and child on board the boats, using the power of the full moon to cleave themselves to human forms in an attempt to finally free themselves of their curse and roam the land they considered was rightfully theirs. Thus began the second great reign of the Fomori, into which our characte
rs were born, a reign that was to last until a terrible battle once again drove them below ground, cursed to live out their immortality in their subterranean prison, or die an agonising death above ground.

  Haven Law - An ancient pact, agreed between the Ancient gods and the Fomorians, establishing the sacred ground of the Dubh Linn as neutral ground, following the Morrigan’s prophecy that to spill Fomor blood on the site would bring about an apocalypse for all humanity.

  Laeknir - Old Norse term for a healer.

  Latent - A human female believed to be a carrier of Fomorian bloodlines. Identified by the presence of the genetic anomaly of tapetum lucidum, or eyeshine. On reaching maturity, latent females develop a sensitivity to the full moon and are drawn to sites on the surface of the earth where the male wolves appear. Rumoured to be the offspring of thegn who have broken their vows of celibacy and mated with human women.

  MacTire - Gaelic word meaning wolf, literal translation, son of the earth. The King of the Fomorian race. Pierced nipples denote his royal status. In ancient Ireland, suckling the King’s nipples was a demonstration of submission.

  Mo ghrá - Gaelic for ‘my love.’

  Morrígan - Mythological Irish Goddess of battle. Fought with the Tuatha Dé Danann against the Fomorians and prophesied the end of the world. Has been known to take animal form, as a raven or a wolf, and has appeared in Irish mythology as a beautiful young woman and as an old crone. Sometimes depicted as a trio of female Goddesses. She foretold the death of the hero Chú Chulainn (see Setanta), with whom she had a complicated love-hate relationship.

  Ól - Gaelic word for drink. An alcoholic beverage brewed from the ourobus roots that grow in Fomor.

  Rave - The human explanation for the addiction that has taken root in Dublin city is that a new, mind-altering drug, Rave, is circulating, one that causes nail discolouration and renders users sensitive to the effects of the full moon, leading to violence and rampant sexual activity. Users are referred to as C’ravers.

  Ravener - A hideous, harpy-like creature with a curved beak and razor talons, resembling a mutated raven. They are the piranhas of the skies, the Morrígan’s guardians keeping the Fomorians in line. They hunt from the Fomor skies.

  Skil - A mystical blade of severance, forged from Elatha’s steel and hardened with the blood of the Fomorian ancestors. It's cut is said to sever mating ties.

  Skuldalid - Derived from the old Norse word for family, the members of the Fomorian King's elite vanguard are collectively known as the skuldalid. Viciously loyal to MacTire. Originally six, Brandr, Fite, Rún and Tyr are the four remaining members. Crys was killed by the Morrígan’s slayer, and Knutr, his félag, driven insane, was imprisoned in Fomor for the safety of all.

  Tapetum lucidum - A reflective layer found behind the retina of many nocturnal, hunting animals. It improves night vision and causes a characteristic eyeshine when a light is shone on the eyes in the dark. The colour shows inter-species variations. Not normally found in humans. Red in fomorians.

  Thegn - Genetic runts of the Fomorian race, their human traits are dominant and they lack the ability to take Varg form. Not subject to the Morrígan’s curse, the thegn can walk the earth, independent of the full moon, and like the Vargs, they are immortal, unless they lose their heads or have their hearts ripped out. The defect becomes apparent at puberty, at which time the thegn are forced into a monk-like existence, living to serve the Vargs and endure a life of celibacy, in order to prevent the weakening of the Fomorian blood line. They can be freed from their oath and allowed to reproduce with humans, but all ties to the Fomorians are severed. They cannot return to Fomor.

  Thrall - A human who has been bitten and is addicted to the eitr in a Varg’s bite. Characteristically, Thralls are affected by the full moon, are attracted to the colour red and develop a black staining of the half-moons of the nail bed. The Thrall become subservient, sex-crazed slaves to their wildest urges. In some, especially bitten men, the eitr unleashes deep-seated, violent impulses. Many Thrall are driven insane by the addiction, which may have contributed to the lore of full moon madness and lunacy.

  Tír na nÓg - Translates from Gaelic as ‘land of the young’, a mythical land of eternal youth and beauty, without sickness, but if an inhabitant were ever to set foot on Ireland’s soil again, it would result in rapid ageing and death.

  Tuatha Dé Danann - Mythological race of pre-Christian Irish Gods, who defeated the Fomorians and drove them beneath the sea.

  Untame - Fomorian beasts in their most primitive incarnation. These are the creatures who did not merge their souls with those of humans, therefore they lack the humanity of the hybrid Fomorians and are feral. They were caged and pitched against one another in dog-fights for the amusement of the Fomorians.

  Varg - A Norse word for wolf, used to describe Fomorians in their beast form. Red-eyed, they have limited colour vision, but see the colour red vividly.

  Vargrliker - Old Norse for one who takes on or assumes a wolf’s body. An insult, with the implication that they are not a true wolf, but an imposter. Also used to mean a traitor.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Front cover image: Copyright Serg Zastavkin 2012

  Back cover image: Copyright Aleksandr Petrunovskyi 2012

  All images used under license from Shutterstock.com.

  Wolf image used with permission from Lupas-Deva on Deviantart.com

  With heartfelt thanks to our families, friends, twitter supporters and beta readers - for your encouragement, continued support and much-valued feedback.

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  The writing duo of Jess and Paula met online through their mutual love of paranormal and urban fantasy romance. They sparked creatively and have been writing together for the past three years. Paula lives in Dublin, Ireland with her family. She set aside a career in medicine to raise her three children. Jess lives in Manchester, England with her mother and dog, Simi. When she isn’t writing up worlds with Paula, she has a career in retail.