Our Destiny Is Blood
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‘I thought you might come here,’ the man said, pulling up another chair to the fire. He didn’t turn around. He just stared into the flames as the hooded figure walked slowly towards him.
‘I’d say it’s good to see you, Rako, but it’s not. I never thought I’d come back.’
‘And yet here you are. Is he really gone, the master?’
‘Yes. The girl destroyed him.’
He sighed. ‘Grom came back, his tail between his legs, defeated in battle.’
‘They were strong. He underestimated them.’
‘You got your wish. He turned you after all.’
‘And you? I never took you for wanting this life, Rako.’
‘Well, the master gets what he wants regardless. Were you followed?’
‘No. I am in no fit shape to threaten anyone. It will take time to heal.’
‘That we have in spades,’ Rako said. ‘How is your dear brother?’
‘I should rip your head from your spine for asking.’
‘Don’t do that. At least not on an empty stomach. Not when I have just the thing for you. The master gifted him to me. Gave me one of his own blood slaves, one he’s kept alive a long time. I can remember the day I gave him to Woltacht, so perhaps it’s only right he returned him to me. Do you remember Caleb Tamersk?’
‘I came to see you not long after he was sacrificed.’
‘That’s right. One taste and you will feel like a new man.’
Vladimir lowered his hood.
‘Will I look like one too?’
He turned his face to the light. Half of it was burnt black, the skin disfigured, twisted around his features. His eyelid was closed, sealed by fire. The fingers on his hand had melted, each one glued to the next, a hardened crust around them. He had used them to tear open his own throat and pull the sun stone from his body. It had done enough damage to end the life of any fledging but he had something else on his side and he rested his hand to his chest feeling Woltact’s power inside him. He would need time to harness it, to heal, the words of the spell coming again to his mind. He thought nostalgically of his study and his books. To read, he thought, is to learn the secrets of the world.
Clare Daly lives in Kildare, Ireland with her husband and two children. A former film publicist, Clare worked in the Irish film industry for twenty years before deciding to follow her dream. Our Destiny Is Blood is her first novel.
www.claredalyauthor.com
You can follow her on Twitter @cdalyireland
or on Facebook at claredalyauthor
Our Destiny...is to return Spring 2018
Acknowledgements
Firstly my thanks goes to you, the reader, for taking the time to read my book. When I started it in 2012, it was but a tiny seed and to have you read it now is beyond my wildest dreams. I hope you liked it.
Getting it into your hands was a long fought battle of self belief and I couldn’t have done it without the people who supported me and encouraged me to keep going, particularly in tough times. Nicola Costello - you pledged your support from day one and never faltered - thank you and to my friends and willing readers along the way, Stephanie Dickenson, Caroline Lynch, Jane Rooney, Gilly Clarke, Maud Halferty, Lisa Peyton, Jennifer Finegan, Ruth Ivory and Trish Long. Your feedback and support has been invaluable. You have no idea.
On the editing front, my sincere thanks to Esther McCarthy for your keen eye and also to Robert Doran, for your generosity and sound advice that helped me see the wood for the trees. Thanks also to David O’Callaghan and David Stevens for letting me bug you for your always essential advice. To the rejections I’ve received over the last two years, I thank you. You taught me a valuable lesson in perseverance and gave me the grit I needed to actually make this thing happen, by hook or by crook.
And lastly to my family, my dad Peter, my sister Carol and my brother Colin for your never-ending support, not only on this adventure but the whole shebang. To my children, Adam and Grace, who can at last hold Mammy’s book in their hands (you see there was a book!) and lastly to my husband Vincent, who told me to chase my dream no matter what and is still telling me.