BooksBarbecue
Back Rituals Save as PDF
Chapters (65)
  1. Cover
  2. Other Titles
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. CHAPTER TWO
  8. CHAPTER THREE
  9. CHAPTER FOUR
  10. CHAPTER FIVE
  11. CHAPTER SIX
  12. CAPRICIOUS
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. IN THE CARDS
  20. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  22. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  26. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY
  28. LOVE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  37. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  38. PHONE ISSUES
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY
  40. BONDING
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  47. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  48. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  49. SACRILEGE
  50. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  57. DEATH BY HELL-BIRD
  58. THE DARKNESS
  59. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  60. FINALLY
  61. THE PACT
  62. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  63. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  64. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  65. About the Author

I walked to the hole and looked down at Gabriel and Ricky. “The Cŵn Annwn and the Tylwyth Teg want Matilda, whatever form she may take. Gabriel and Ricky want me. That’s not arrogance. It’s confidence. They want to be with me. They love me for who I am—the good, the bad, and the incredibly annoying. Then there was James. He wanted me symbolically. He wanted me for the role I would play in his life. I was, to him, the perfect wife—smart but not a genius, attractive but not gorgeous, cultured but a little bit wicked, too. When I left, he couldn’t handle that. Not the loss of me, but the loss of the idea of me. He felt as if he’d lost me to Gabriel and to Ricky. He was like a child watching two other boys argue over a toy and wanting it, too—not because he gives a damn about the toy, but because they want it.”

“I’m presuming there’s a point to all this reflection?”

“You’re that third little boy, watching the other two fight over the toy. You don’t actually want me. You just want to take me away from them. You want to win. And then, presumably, use me as leverage to gain whatever it is you really want, which I suspect is nothing more than power.”

“Nothing more? What is there if not power?”

“Not a single thing that you’d understand. You are the darkness. You are the unforgiven. You are the end point, the conclusion to all things. There is nothing more. You take life. You consume it. And you do nothing with it except add to your ranks, increase your power. Power for the sole purpose of gaining more. That’s all I am to you. A source of power.”

“Do you honestly believe you mean more to the others?”

“In my way, I do. The Cŵn Annwn were with Gabriel earlier, and they protected him. Ricky has been in and out of Cainsville for months, and the Tylwyth Teg has made no attempt on his life. That would hurt me, which would be counterproductive. You don’t give a shit. Your only goal is to break me. Break me. Claim me. Use me. So go ahead. Take my cure. As for making me choose between Gabriel and Ricky? That’s the other thing I learned. We need to stick together. If you want them, you have to take them, which will only make me all the more determined to see that you never win.”

“Pretty speech, Eden, but I don’t actually need you for this part. You’re about to have a front-row seat to the conclusion of this silly romantic drama.”

I opened my mouth to respond…and she disappeared in a swirl of shadow.

FINALLY