Today I have a recently released novel, Unholy Cause, book five in the Portals series by my friend P.L.Blair. The first chapter is here also for you to enjoy. This is a fantastic series and I highly recommend it.
Kat’s life hangs in the balance as she becomes a pawn in the game of the Unseelie Queen – a female who can jump from body to body and who now seeks an ancient device that will allow her to conquer both the Realms of Magic and the earth known to humans. Kat’s elven lifemate Tevis can save her, but only if he helps the Unseelie Queen find the device that she seeks.
The two detectives, elf and human, face their biggest challenge yet, and a choice that places not only their partnership but their very lives in peril.
THREE YEARS PAST
Anhlaf stared at the sleeping woman, and revulsion stirred in his gut. “Are you sure,” his voice a whisper that only his companion could hear, “this is the one?”
“I do not make mistakes.” Though the Other also spoke in a whisper, Anhlaf could hear the contempt that laced Its tone.
“But she looks so – ordinary,” he protested. “So – Human.”
“Yet the Ancient Blood flows in her veins, the Blood of the Queen. I feel it, even if you do not.”
Anhlaf Sensed that he had overstepped, and that amends were needed quickly to forestall the Other’s wrath. Only the fact that they both served the Queen kept him safe against the creature, and if he stirred the creature’s anger … “Forgive me.” Anhlaf added a slight bow for emphasis. “It is just that she is so … so …”
“Ordinary. Yes.” The Other barked a laugh. “And … no,” shaking Its head as though It Sensed the question the smaller male did not dare ask, “there is none closer to the Queen in Blood than this one.”
Anhlaf smoothed his face into a mask against his disappointment. No matter how intently he looked, he could not see the promise that his companion found in this … Human.
“Wake her,” the Other said.
He blinked at his companion – a creature scarcely more than a shadow, a vaguely humanoid shape darker than all but the deepest gloom in this night-shrouded room. Wake her …
But that was indeed his purpose here. He was the intermediary, the one chosen to speak to the woman, the one who would tell her of her Destiny, who would convince her to come with him to the Realms of Magic. She would never see the Other …
He stepped to the side of her bed, then stopped, and looked toward the Darkness hunched in the far corner. “Did the Queen tell you her name?”
Ch'kara SilverWolf 