by Linsey Hall
I stiffened my spine and stopped in front of everyone, keeping my eyes off the red flags gripped in their hands. Lavender shot me a victorious look, and I wanted to kick her.
So I wasn’t a good loser. Sue me.
“Well done, everyone,” Jude said, but I swore her eyes gleamed with disappointment when she looked at me. Confusion, at least, since I was supposed to be an all-powerful Dragon God like my sister, but I was decidedly not. “You all did—” Her voice trailed off as her gaze drifted behind me, spotting something.
I turned, seeing the three cats who’d helped me along the way. They sat about fifteen feet behind me. This close, the hairless black one—a sphynx—looked like a beat-up old tom who’d seen a lot in his day. A white spot marked his chest, his whiskers were frazzled, and his green eyes blazed at me. A matching emerald earring pierced his left ear. Magic filled the air around him, an unusual signature of green grass.
“Meow.” You are gazing upon the great Muffin of the Highlands!
I shook my head. Was I hearing him in my head?
Of course you are, you ninny. Do you think magical cats just meow?
A magical cat.
“But…Muffin?” I asked.
What? Muffin is a fine name! He looked toward the white cat and muttered, I really thought she’d be more impressed.
“I am!”
He shot me a look that said he didn’t buy it, then nodded at the white cat. That is Princess Snowflake III.
Next to him, the fluffy white Persian licked blood from her chops. Her fangs were unusually long—perfect for tearing the throats out of demons. The fat diamond hanging around her neck was splattered with blood. She glared at me with an evil eye, belying her pretty face and fur.
At her side, the small orange cat licked his butt. He looked up, cross-eyed and goofy-looking. He wore no jewels, but then, he didn’t seem like the type.
Muffin meowed. And that is Bojangles.
For fate’s sake—Bojangles?
Who the heck were these three?
“Did you pick up some friends?” Jude asked.
I looked away from the cats and met her gaze. “I’m not sure. But I think they must be a local cat gang,” I joked, hiking a thumb at the black sphynx, Muffin. “He’s the leader.”
Muffin gave a deep meow, as if he agreed with me.
“Actually, those are the Cats of Catastrophe,” Angus said, his Edinburgh accent thick. He was the only local member of my class. “They are a local cat gang. They run a racket down by the docks, tricking the fishermen into giving them fish.”
“And stealing,” Jude said. “I’ve never seen the Cats of Catastrophe before, but I’ve heard of them. They run jewel heists on the Royal Mile.”
“Jewels?” That explained how they’d gotten the sparkles, but still….
Actual cat burglars?
I turned back to look at the gang. Muffin had taken up with the butt licking, and the orange one was now bouncing around, chasing a bug. Princess Snowflake III continued to glare at me.
Why had they helped me?
As if she could read my thoughts, Jude said, “They chose you.”
“I don’t know why,” I said. But I was grateful. I wouldn’t have made it past the demons.
“Either way, it can only be a good thing,” she said.
I hoped she was right, because I’d just totally biffed the obstacle course and come in last. That was one more mark against me, setting me even farther back from graduating. Right now, I needed all the good things I could get. And if that was the assistance of a magical cat gang—which sounded ridiculous, frankly—I was going to take it.
Thank you for reading! This adventure continues in Institute of Magic, which is available now on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited.
Author’s Note
Thanks for reading Death Valley Magic! If you’ve read any of my previous books, you may have noticed that I have a fondness for including historical places and mythological elements. I did the same with this book.
Unhcegila is a serpentine monster from Lakota Sioux legend. The Lakota Sioux live in North and South Dakota. The Unhcegila has several different forms depending upon the tale, and one can kill it in a variety of ways. Shooting a medicine arrow at it is one way, but Ana obviously wouldn’t have such an arrow. Another way is to take the red crystal from her head, which Ana does.
Achiyalatopa is a member of the thunderbird family who has feathers made of flint knives that he can throw at his enemies. The thunderbird is an important element in Native American indigenous people’s history and culture. Achiyalatopa is from Zuni legend. The Zuni live in western New Mexico in the Zuni River valley. Historically, flint was the most commonly used rock to make weapons and tools.
Wendigos are a terrifying beast from the northeastern United states and Canada, living around Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes. They are part of Algonquian folklore and are cannibalistic monsters. They sometimes have characteristics of humans, and in some cases, they are spirits that have possessed humans and turned them into monsters. They are often associated with murder, greed, and cannibalism. I state in Death Valley Magic that they were driven from their homes and ended up out in Death Valley, but that is not part of Algonquian folklore. They are just such excellent monsters that I wanted to put them in the story.
I think that’s it for the history and mythology in Death Valley Magic—at least the big things. I hope you enjoyed the book and will come back for more of Ana, Lachlan, Rowan, and Bree!
About Linsey
Before becoming a writer, Linsey Hall was a nautical archaeologist who studied shipwrecks from Hawaii and the Yukon to the UK and the Mediterranean. She credits fantasy and historical romances with her love of history and her career as an archaeologist. After a decade of tromping around the globe in search of old bits of stuff that people left lying about, she settled down and started penning her own romance novels. Her Dragon’s Gift series draws upon her love of history and the paranormal elements that she can't help but include.
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All reference to events, persons, and locale are used fictitiously, except where documented in historical record. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright 2017 by Linsey Hall
Published by Bonnie Doon Press LLC
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form, except in instances of quotation used in critical articles or book review. Where such permission is sufficient, the author grants the right to strip any DRM which may be applied to this work.
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ISBN 978-1-942085-58-4
