Death taker, p.22
Death Taker, page 22
“The vampire lied,” I whispered. Setting the record straight wouldn’t change anything. I certainly wouldn’t bring Mom back.
“I wanted a family, and you destroyed it.”
“No, Cathy.” I shook my head. “You destroyed it. You killed that poor woman, Lily, not once, but twice and had her soul destroyed the second time. You did the same to Maria. Then you killed the object of your affection, and you also tortured a barghest with your actions. There were so many opportunities down this road of murdering mayhem for you to stop, for you to veer off the path of destruction, but instead you kept going. You put your head down and decided to double down and push through like a bulldozer and now you’re facing the consequences of your own actions.”
Cathy leaned back in her chair and draped her free arm over her stomach. “What do you want? An apology?”
“No.” I frowned. That was unreasonable. I didn’t really have a reason for coming. Not really. Hunting Cathy down and having the police arrest her had been therapeutic in a way, but I still dreamed of ramming my elbow into her face, of shredding her weak human body with my talons.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I’d wanted confirmation that I’d made the right decision to let the Canadian legal system handle the punishment.
The lack of closure was telling.
“I made a mistake.”
Cathy snorted and jerked out of her seat. She probably thought I meant I’d made a mistake coming here to visit her. That wasn’t it.
I’d made a mistake in sparing her life.
Numb, yet still so full of anger, I pushed away from the glass and stood. A shadowy outline of a spirit appeared in the corner of the room. Logan had snuck in with me after all, and now he waited for me to leave so he could finish what I couldn’t start.
I nodded at him and walked away.
Part of me should feel guilty. Heck, a small part of me actually did, but the rest of me felt calm sweep away the numbness as I made my way past the security checks and out of the prison. With each step, the anger dissipated.
I stepped out into the damp early spring air and took a deep breath. Cleansing. I loved springtime on the island. The cherry blossoms would be out soon, and the birds were already flittering about, hailing the summer months to come. The winter had been mild, but I’d spent a majority of the time on leave, hibernating at Connor’s place.
Our place.
I’d officially moved in last month, though I hadn’t spent a night out of Connor’s bed since he brought me home after the confrontation with Gregor. And if either of us had anything to say about it, I never would again. We hadn’t discussed marriage and I doubt we would any time soon. We were bonded in a way so complete and consuming, a legal document really felt like a technicality at this point.
Besides, this spring was all about the boys.
After my leave from work ran dry, I’d returned part-time, slowly increasing my hours. Denise kept texting me funny gifs and I wasn’t sure who was more excited for me to return to work full time next week, me or her. Though I was looking forward to carrying a challenging workload again, I was also a little nervous, too. And I’d certainly miss meeting Brandon on his lunch breaks to discuss wedding plans. He and my brother were planning a small wedding this spring.
No one ever appeared on my doorstep asking about Cooper or Stanley—the two men I’d killed in an alley to save Denise. Connor had dug a little into their history and they’d apparently belonged to a no-name anti-vampire vigilante group. Based on Stanley and Cooper’s comments, and the group’s known activity, they could’ve been responsible for my paternal grandfather’s disappearance. We’d never know for sure. My concern was future interactions and the possible threat they posed to my safety, even though I no longer raised vampires for Gregor. Connor had shared the information with Pierre and the new master vampire had sent me a text to let me know the group would no longer pose a threat and that all evidence supported Denise’s statement that she wasn’t involved. I decided not to look into or think about that message too much.
In addition to assuring me of my relative safety from vigilante groups, Pierre had also reached out to check in with me. Apparently, I wasn’t so subtle in my dislike of the prejudiced hiring policies of policing agencies, and he had decided to take it up as one of his new projects. Maybe I’d see change before I retired. But it was nice to know the vampires were on my side. So far, I’d experienced no retaliation for my involvement in Gregor’s death and Pierre assured me I never would. He also confirmed that whatever Levi told Gregor about the vampires from the Book of the Dead, died with Gregor that night. The master vampire hadn’t trusted anyone inside his inner circle with the information.
As for the werewolves, they had only suffered minor losses in the fight, and after they healed from their wounds, they’d brokered peace with the vampires. My family was fine, Denise was fine, the werewolves were fine, and the vampires were fine. No one had heard from Estelle, but rumour had it, she’d returned to France. I realized she may have been a friend, or friendly, but her loyalty had always been to Gregor, and I understood that. I didn’t fault her for her pain and loss. I hoped she found peace wherever she ended up.
I took another deep breath and turned toward the man waiting by the car.
Connor smiled at me and opened the passenger door. “About fucking time, Morgan.”
Lark Morgan’s Rules to Necromancy
Lark Morgan’s Rules to Necromancy
Never use your own blood
Never meet the Lord of the Veil
Never run into a barghest
Never reveal your lineage
Never take more than you need
Characters
Alice Zheng: Lily’s Mother
Bernice “Bernie” Olsen: Maggie’s previous owner
Brandon Callahan: Logan’s boyfriend
Connor Kang: Detective with the Victoria Police Department
Cooper: One of two men associated with Denise
Denise Ray: Lark’s friend, co-worker, and fellow necromancer
Estelle Beaumont: French. Gregor’s human servant
Felix Colburn: James Miller’s attorney
Frances Sharrock: Connor Kang’s maternal grandmother
Gregor Fissore: Italian. Master vampire of Victoria
Harper Morgan: Lark and Logan’s mom
Hudson Harrison: Client
James Miller: Mason’s father
Jane Kang: Connor Kang’s sister
Officer Rodriguez: VicPD officer
Oliver Jacobs: Detective with the Victoria Police Department
Leviathan: Lord of the Veil
Lily Zheng: Murder victim. Chinese name: Zheng Mei Hua
Logan Morgan: Assassin, Lark’s twin brother
Lark Morgan: Necromancer
Maggie: So much more than just a cat
Maria Espinoza: Mason Miller’s fiancée
Mason Miller: Lily’s boyfriend
Pierre Deveau: First baby vampire Lark rose for Gregor
Rebecca Miller: Mason’s mother
Rose Harrison: Deceased. Witch. Previously possessed the
Book of the Dead
Spiral: Popular club downtown
Stanley: One of two men associated with Denise
Steve: Barista…and an awful human being
Tony Zheng: Lily’s father
Acknowledgments
There are so many people to thank for the creation of a book, and I always worry that I’ll forget to mention someone. To anyone who’s ever picked up any of my books and divested your time to immerse yourself in the world(s) I’ve created…thank you.
I’d like to thank my friend Megan for checking my French and offering suggestions to ensure I wasn’t butchering the language. Luckily, you don’t have to hear me pronounce any of the phrases found in this trilogy (your welcome).
Thank you Nicole, Wendy and Karen for beta reading. Your feedback is invaluable and I can’t thank you enough for offering all the critiques that made this book stronger.
I’d like to thank my ARC team who are just as (if not more) excited for my books to release as I am, and spend their valuable time with my stories.
Also a big thank you to Lara Parker for editing, Book Nook Nuts for proof reading, Tricia Beninato for the gorgeous cover and Kalynne_Art for the stunning character art.
And to my friends, family and readers who continue to support me and offer words of encouragement, thank you.
Barghest Mating Guide
Warning: Do not try to apply Mendelian genetics or any other pattern of inheritance to this. *Magic* makes anything possible.
Male barghest + female barghest = barghest babies
Male barghest + female necromancer = necromancer babies (and possible reapers)
Male necromancer + female barghest = barghest babies
Male necromancer + female necromancer = necromancer babies (and possible drabs)
Male necromancer + female drab = fifty percent chance of necromancer babies
Male barghest + female drab = no babies
Male drab + female barghest = barghest babies
Male drab + female necromancer = fifty percent chance of necromancer babies
I might be marked, but I’m not dead yet…
As the last guardian of forbidden woodland creatures, I thought my biggest challenge in life was protecting mystical animals from greedy poachers. And it was...until I got saddled with the most arrogant recruit.
Ace isn't just arrogant, though. He's talented and beautiful and just happens to be the man I loved once upon a time.
Honestly, that's bad enough.
But then a well-known immortal turns up dead, killed with the same poison used on my loyal familiar, and I have to work with the man I despise to prove I'm not part of a heinous plot to overthrow our immortal leaders. As events chaotically unfold, a number of things become abundantly clear--a merciless killer is on the loose, Ace isn't who or what he claims to be, and I've been marked.
Don't miss this addictive dystopian contemporary fantasy with fae and fighting by international bestselling author, J. C. McKenzie.
Purchase book today!
http://www.books2read.com/cotiMARKED
About the Author
J. C. McKenzie is a book loving, gumboot-wearing, unapologetic science geek. She predominantly writes urban fantasy and post-apocalyptic dystopian fantasy with strong romantic elements. When she’s not spinning tales, she’s in the classroom sharing her passion for science and mathematics while secretly warping the young, impressionable minds of our future to carry out her evil plans for world domination. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family.
Visit her at jcmckenzie.ca
Life as a necromancer is never easy, but when the body of a ghost from my past turns up, inexplicably whole, very dead, and without a soul, I seriously reconsider my chosen profession. What good am I as a necromancer if I can’t raise the dead?
I might be a failure, but I’m still in high demand. The vampires want me to raise their progeny. The Lord of the Veil wants me to help him escape the veil. The police want me to continue solving their murder cases without giving me a pension.
And Detective Connor Kang wants me, too. Just me. He makes the magic in my blood sing and now I know his true identity and what’s in his heart. But as it turns out, Kang isn’t the only person in my life harbouring a secret.
I need to rescue a supernatural hostage, figure out who or what is capable of destroying souls, and somehow stay alive and out of the clutches of those who would seek to kill or use me. Mom raised me to follow five sacred rules to necromancy, and I’ve faithfully followed every single one.
Until now.
A deliciously dark Urban Fantasy tale with a flawed necromancer trying to survive a harsh supernatural world by International Bestselling Author, J. C. McKenzie.
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Connecting independent readers to independent writers.
Did you love Death Taker? Then you should read The Night House by J. C. McKenzie!
Taya must find a way to survive a new, volatile world after a portal to a parallel universe opens and destroys everything she loved. Arkavians are vicious, lethal and filled with magic, but Taya has a few unique skills of her own.
When she's caught stealing supplies by a powerful Arkavian Lord, Taya's days of surviving among the remnants of Earth are over. Lord Thane offers her the chance to avenge the dead, save her home world, and win her freedom. But can she afford the price of Lord Thane's deal?
**The Night House is a standalone.**
J. C. McKenzie, Death Taker
