A Matter of Death is LIVE!

Yep, folks! It's a release day! My fourth this year, which alone makes 2019 so much greater than the last five years.

Even better, I've figured out preorders on all the major retailers, so the latest Justice novel is available to everyone at the same time! Including the paperback! (Though you may have to get your local book store to order it from Ingrams for you.)

Below are the blurb and links. And just to warn you, you may need some hankies at the end of the book.

BLURB
Two skinwalkers controlling Tandor had been bad enough, but then a demon army waltzed up to the city gates…

Anthea, Luc and their allies are trapped inside the border city of Tandor. They’ve lost all contact with the rest of Issura and their neighboring countries. And if the demons get by Tandor, the entire continent will become their dinner table. But the city is low on food and more importantly, water.

Can Anthea and Luc find a solution? Or will they be forced to activate the final defense spells of Death to stop the demons, and kill everyone in Tandor and themselves in the process?

Magic and mayhem have never been this desperate. Or this fatal.

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A Matter of Death - Chapter 6

All right, everyone! Here's the last sample chapter before next Monday's release. Preorders are set up in all the major retailers!

And a final reminder, the posted chapters will not be in the same order in the book. Writers are weird that way. LOL

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By the time I reached the Neighbor's Gate, the demons had ceased their assault. They oozed back to their original positions in alternating rows. It was the only description I could think of for their movements.

I leaned over the parapet of the watch tower. Well, not all of them were back in formation. A dozen lay at the foot of the gate. Dead from the way the blackness spread from the corpses to the surrounding packed earth.

Except the odd contamination only I could see didn’t leach from one of the bodies.

“Reverend Father,” I called out.

He strode over from a consultation with priests from Conflict and Light. “What do you see?”

“The third demon from the right lying below the gate isn’t dead.”

He signaled for the Comanche Light priest he had been speaking with to join us. “We have a demon playing possum. Could you encourage them not to try this particular trick?”

The priest leaned over the parapet and launched a light ball at the demon. With a loud screech, it raced around as it burned. None of its fellows tried to help it. They remained as silent and as still in their ranks as they had before. The demon fell quiet a moment before it collapsed into a pile of red ash. No contamination spread from the cooling remains.

The Reverend Father frowned before he turned to me. “How does a dead demon look different to you than a live one?”

“They don’t look different per se.” I shook my head. “Eggs and grimoires tend to contaminate what they touch, so the item takes on the color of demons.” I peered down at the corpses. “These are the first demons I’ve seen that weren’t killed by Light magic.” I looked at the Reverend Father again and shrugged. “Maybe our brother of Light are the antidote to the contamination.”

The Reverend Father folded his arms over his chest. “Why those things, and not an actually demon?”

I shrugged. “That’s something we’ve been trying to figure out ourselves. The single egg smuggled into Orrin last fall turned the cask it was carried in, but the demon already residing with the imperial sorcerer in the Jing embassy didn’t leave any traces. In fact, it looked like a sash until it realized I was a danger to it.”

“And the grimoires?” the Light priest asked.

“The grimoires—” I couldn’t help a shudder at the memory of touching the one High Sister Gerd had tried to sell to the renegades. “The leather of the grimoires appears to be made of demon skin, except the one I confiscated felt…” I shook myself to drive away the whispers I still heard in my dreams. “I would have sworn it was still conscious.”

“But you still aren’t sure if it’s a difference between the demons summoned to our plane and those that are hatched here?” The Light priest cocked his head as he regarded me.

I shook my head again. “How did you know?”

He grinned. “Some of us have paid attention to High Brother Luc’s reports from Orrin.” His attention turned back to the Reverend Father. “May I dispose of the rest of the demon corpses, sir? I wouldn’t want anyone trying to make them into books.”

“Do it,” the Reverend Father ordered.

While the Light priest burned the rest of the demon corpses lying at the base of Neighbor's Gate, the Reverend Father tilted his head. We retreated away from the edge of the parapet.

“Brother Bumblebee relayed your recommendation of keeping a guard at the tunnel entrances inside the Temples,” he said quietly. “I’d like to hear your account of the demon’s attempt to breach Balance.”

I laid out our actions, including the odd behavior of Elizabeth during my rewind of time. “I’m not sure what to think concerning her behavior anymore,” I finished lamely.

“Yet you are still suspicious that she may be part of the original conspiracy?” He eyed me.

“Or the skinwalkers could have broken her.”

“I recall hearing her voicing the same concern when I eavesdropped on your conversation.”

“I don’t know if a truthspell could even work if she isn’t aware of her deception.” I hugged myself. There were simply too many unknowns in this equation. If any of the clergy from Tandor’s Temple of Knowledge were still in the city, surely they would be driven mad trying to calculate the outcome.

“Do the truthspell anyway to relieve both yours and Justice Elizabeth’s minds.”

“Yes, sir.” A little part of me was glad someone else was making the difficult decisions for once. My body literally ached from shouldering so much responsibility. I turned to leave.

“And, Anthea?”

I faced the Reverend Father again. “Yes, sir?”

“Get some real rest before you do the truthspell.” He grinned. “I don’t need you and Luc accidentally cooking your brains because you’ve been too busy following a certain other mandate issued by Light.”

I should have been embarrassed or furious at the Reverend Father’s overly familiar jocularity. Instead, it just reminded me how exhausted I was.

And thanks to my birth mother, I’d never be able to conceive a child even if I had wanted to. But there was no sense in rehashing the pain of my past.

“If we ever have the energy to get around to fulfilling the Light mandate, we’ll be sure to use the private facilities inside Love and lock the door,” I said wryly.

The Reverend Father chuckled behind me as I climbed down the ladder.

* * *

I repeated the Reverend Father’s odd conversation to Luc when I returned to Light. We sat in the high brother’s quarters and picked over our rations. The innkeepers were cooking for the entire city, and they did the best they could with the ingredients on hand. We’d be looking at this meal differently in another couple of weeks when the water ran out.

Luc blew out a deep breath. “All the ladies of Tandor, civilian and Temple, are taking the mandate seriously. I fear that’s why Bumblebee is hiding inside Balance. He begged me not to tell anyone where he was.”

I winced as I tore off a bite of flatbread. “He’s not interest men, is he?”

Luc shook his head. “The problem is he’s an attractive young man.” He waved a hand. “With the destruction and deaths here, the women of child-bearing age could use the stipend for producing a child with a Temple talent. He’s had an overabundance of offers, and some weren’t exactly subtle.”

While I had a bit of sympathy for poor Bumblebee, I had difficulty swallowing the bread in my mouth. Luc was ignoring our obvious problem, but one of us needed to address the issue.

“You should be taking advantage of the women’s hospitality in that regard.” I stared at my plate. “Especially with the Spring Rituals only a few days away.”

He held out his hand. “I couldn’t do that to you, no matter the reason.”

I looked up at him. “You don’t have a choice, Luc. You need to produce children with your talents. I can’t give you those children.”

“Since when have you cared about edicts from the home Temples?”

“Since we didn’t ride for Cant after the Samael DiRoy affair.” Maybe he really had thought I was joking after the Reverend Mother of Balance sentenced me to the Balance seat of Orrin. I wasn’t sure how serious I was until this moment. Luc pulled back his hand. “If we’d done that, we’d be demon fodder by now. And that’s assuming we weren’t tracked down and executed for defying your sentence.”

“It doesn’t change the fact you’ve been given specific orders from the home Temple.”

“I am not arguing with you about this.” He seized his crutches and headed for the door to his quarters.

“Where are you going?”

“I have to deliver a research report to Reverend Father Nizhé'é'.” Before I could reply, he slammed the door behind him.

It was so rare for Luc and me to argue, especially over a personal matter. And yet…

Was this my fault? Did I really want a declaration of his undying devotion in the midst of a demon invasion? Or was I simply a jealous lover?

The survival of human race might very well depend on what happened in Tandor. And here we were fighting, over him laying with other women. Which he’d been ordered to do.

My birth mother’s attempts to end her pregnancy left me blind and unable to bear children. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t angry with her. She had been a selfish fool. My grandmother Thalia had been just as much a selfish fool in her own way for pursuing her illegal affair with Kam bearing Gerd.

Here I was, acting just as selfishly and foolishly. Maybe it was a good thing I couldn’t have children after all. I’d only be cursing them with my family’s idiocy.

A Matter of Death - Chapter 5

My apologies for not posting a chapter last week. I was literally awake for twenty-six hours straight in order to finish the book, edit it, and send it to my formatter.

Just a reminder--these chapters will appear in a different order and some in a different form in the final book.
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The bells tolled Third Evening. Shi Hua’s stride slowed as she approached Jeremy’s quarters. She thought she was ready for what they were about to do.

“You don’t have to do this, Sister.” Mateqai, ever her shadow, stood at her side.

“We’ve been ordered—”

“That’s not what I meant.” He took her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Love making should be a pleasurable experience for all participants. Right now, you are upset and anxious—”

“And we may all die in four days.” A bitter laugh erupted from her.

“That, too,” Mateqai remarked dryly. “What I meant was it might be better to wait until you’re in a better frame of mind. Like in five days.”

She shook her head, and her second laugh was much lighter. “If I don’t do it now, I’m afraid I never will.”

He nodded and an odd expression flashed so fast she thought she imagined it. It almost seemed like regret.

Warden Tadhg stood watch at Jeremy’s door as they approached. He inclined his head before he knocked out a specific pattern. The deep thunk of the bolt sliding back set Shi Hua’s nerves dancing again. The door opened, but instead of his normal sleepwear, he was still dressed in his uniform.

“If you need anything before morning, summon me, Sister.” While Mateqai’s words were directed at her, he aimed a very pointed look at Jeremy.

“I will,” she promised before she sucked in a deep breath and stepped across the threshold.

* * *

When the sun peeked over the eastern mountains the next morning, Shi Hua’s horse pranced nervously beneath her thighs as she stood in formation outside Government Gate. Jeremy’s steed stood contentedly and munched on an apple from last fall. The animal’s mood probably had more to do with the idiotic smile Jeremy wore.

“Would you please change your expression?” she hissed to her senior.

“What’s wrong with my expression?” If anything, his grin grew wider.

“You look like a boy who’s been deflowered by the entire population of Love.” She glared at him.

“Well…” He shrugged. “The first part is true.”

She rolled her eyes. “Would you like the magistrate to post a formal announcement?”

His smile faded. “Wasn’t it…nice for you, too?”

“It was…fine.” So she had to imagine she was with Sister Claudia of Love in order to finish. The last thing she wanted to do was to hurt Jeremy’s feelings.

“Fine? It was only fine?”

“Can we not talk about this right now?” she begged.

“You were the one angry because I smiled,” he snapped.

“Because someone shouldn’t be smiling like a fool when they’re about to march into a war!” She said the last part louder than she meant to. The priests and wardens around them stared at them.

Mateqai nudged his horse between theirs. “With all due respect, can you two save the lovers’ spat until after we deal with the demons?” He backed his steed to resume their position in the ranks.

Shi Hua’s face heated. Her warden was right. This wasn’t the time or place to be discussing such things. But then, they shouldn’t be discussing them at all. There shouldn’t even be a reason to discuss them.

And here, she believed her life had become complicated when she was recruited as Ambassador Quan’s bodyguard.

No pennants or banners flew like they would at home in Jing. No banter or challenges to each others’ weapons prowess either. In fact, the Issuran forces were terribly quiet. To them, there was no glory in killing the enemy.

There was even less glory at the possibility of killing their own people. Surprisingly, Crown Princess Chiara agreed to Light’s mad plan.

The clergy from Knowledge stayed up the entire night to calculate materials and trajectories for the modified fireworks. Thief drafted anyone from the other orders who weren’t accompanying the army to help with the production.

Well, anyone except the priests of Light and the priestesses they took to bed.

Shi Hua glanced behind her. Her fellow clergy from Standora all had idiotic smiles similar to Jeremy’s. Sister Dragonfly was right. Men did go insane when it came to bedplay.

A blast of a ram’s horn echoed from the direction of the National Road. Tension rose at the signal. An itch tickled the back of her mind.

Bring them home.

Shi looked over her shoulder. Sister Dragonfly’s height and scarlet robes stood out at the top of the watch tower. But it was the smaller black-cowled figure huddled next to her who had spoken. Chief Warden Little Bear stood on the other side of Yanaba. The young justice must have thrown a major fit for the healers to allow her out of bed.

We will.

The troops in front of them began to move, and Shi Hua nudged her horse into motion. She sent up a silent prayer to her patron deity she hadn’t just lied to her friend.

A Matter of Death - Chapter 4

As I've said in the other samples, I'm posting in the order of how A Matter of Death originally began two years ago. Cthulu! I can't believe it's been that long already. 😄

This series is much more ambitious in scope than anything I've written before. There's things I need to layer in that will make sense in the next three books. So the changes you'll see in the published version expand the original story. But it'll give you a taste of the craziness a writer goes through to produce a readable book.

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If the demons were in the tunnels, that meant—

“Oh, sweet Balance!”

Luc’s expression was equally shocked before he roared, “Go!”

I jerked on my borrowed boots, grabbed my sword, and ran. Tyra appeared out of the cross hallway.

“Send clergy to the vacant temples!” I ordered as I passed her. “Demons are in the tunnels!”

She whirled and started shouting the Diné words for “demon” and “tunnel”. If nothing else over the past few days of the siege, we’d learned the important terms in order to communicate with each other. With the alarm bells ringing, people raced to their assigned posts, some in a half-dressed state.

One of the Diné Lights priests caught up with me at the cracked marble steps into Balance. Elizabeth would have been a better choice to augment my efforts, but my doubts about her loyalty would have leaked through our link.

The bones and debris had been cleaned out of the main courtroom and the hallway to the sleeping quarters. Magic tingled behind me as the priest ignited a light ball. In my hurry, I’d forgotten it was dark inside the Temple to normally sighted folk.

ANTHEA! Reverend Father Nizhé'é' silent speech echoed through my head.

Whatever is happening at the gates are a feint. I sent a wordless impression of what Luc and I had felt. The demons are in the tunnels.

He issued orders through silent speech, ones that were echoed by a high brother of Conflict from each of the four nations trapped inside Tandor in their native languages. I had to tune out the noise inside my head.

Elizabeth’s former quarters were as bare as High Brother Dav’s had been when we arrived in Tandor. We’d destroyed anything organic in the Temple with our efforts to take out one of the skinwalkers. I skidded to stop before the sandstone block that served as the Balance entrance to Tandor’s tunnel system. My sword clattered to the floor when I dropped to my knees and held out my palms.

Alien magic scratched on my psyche from the other side of the wall. It seemed…hesitant.

“Does the energy seem odd to you, Justice?” the Diné Light priest asked in the Peaceful Sea trade tongue as he knelt beside me.

I frowned. “It’s too much to hope they’ve learned to fear me.”

The Light priest chuckled. “I pray to Thief you’re wrong. They should fear you.”

The magic within the block was nearly as low as it had been after I activated the Balance defenses. The demons must sense the weakness here.

We were fools. We should have charged this entrance once we’d retaken the city. We should have brought down the tunnels with flashbangs when we had the chance. If only we could prime a light ball like a flashbang—

A memory went off like the Jing device inside my head. I turned to the Light priest.

“There’s spell in the Light library that can produce the same effect as flashbang. Do you know it?”

He looked at me as if I were mad. Maybe I was.

“Yes, but it won’t do us any good on this side of the wall, Justice.”

“I’m going to put it on the other side of the wall, only seven days ago. The last time this passage was opened. Can you delay the spell’s activation?”

“I can’t.” A sly look appeared on his face. “But you could.”

Three spells enfolded on each other. Well, it couldn’t be any more difficult than the layers of a truthspell, the blocker, and the counter to the blocker. Balance help us if I was wrong.

I frowned and looked around the bare room. “Once I’ve frozen your flashbang spell, get in the bathing room.”

“Why?”

“In case this goes very badly.” I grinned at the Light priest. “You can tell High Brother Luc I was an idiot if you survive.”

The demon magic scratched more insistently at the weak essence of Balance. We needed to hurry. I motioned for him to start the flashbang spell. On his last two syllables, I concentrated and murmured the time freeze spell.

Very carefully, he set the contained explosion on the floor beside me and scrambled into Elizabeth’s bathing room. I tried not to think about the possibility of my freeze spell failing before I finished, but I couldn’t freeze the whole room. Nor could I put it in a container since I couldn’t guarantee I could pass a three-dimensional object through time. Balance take me, I wasn’t sure I could pass energy through time, but I was out of options.

I sucked in a deep breath and concentrated on seven days ago when Elizabeth and I came in to close the passageway to the tunnels. Time rewound. I shoved the writhing ball of Balance and Light magic through the block that was there and not there.

Footsteps in the hallway sent a trill of alarm through me, and I jerked back. There were voices. I shuddered when I recognized my own and Elizabeth’s. We were coming to seal the passage.

I knew how cynical and suspicious I could be. If I saw myself, I could quite literally destroy my own spell. I scrambled to the bathing room, yanked my cowl low over my face, and folded my hands into my sleeves.

The faint outlines of the time ghost versions of Elizabeth and me entered the room. We didn’t appear to notice the spells on the floor of the tunnel. Of course not. The magic was literally a few minutes behind them unless or until I yanked it forward.

Elizabeth cocked her head as if she heard something. She looked over her shoulder, and her eyes widened.

She was totally blind. She couldn’t possibly see me, either as a real person or a time echo. It was the whole reason our order needed someone to recite events when we rewound time. But her mouth opened, and she reached out toward the past me beside her.

I held my index finger to my lips and prayed to Balance Elizabeth would take the hint. Finally, she nodded. I relaxed and let the timeline run forward. When time synched again, I yanked on my other spell.

A crack of thunder pounded against the wall. It was followed by screech of angry and injured demons. However, the scratching of their magic against the Temple stopped.

“That was impressive.”

I jumped at the voice. The Diné Light priest. In my panic at Elizabeth being able to perceive me, I’d forgotten he was in here, too.

“I hope the demons were impressed as well.” I marched over to the wall, knelt by the block once again, and placed my palms on the sandstone. The alien presence of the demons seemed to be receding. Despite their efforts, the weak seal on the passage was intact.

For now.

“The Reverend Father will need to assign watches on all the Temples.” I rose to my feet and picked up my scabbard.

The Light priest nodded. “I’ll stay here and keep guard. He will want your report, and he’ll need your vision if the demons still assault the city gates.”

“Thank you—” I cocked my head. Despite real effort on my part, I still had trouble with people’s names, but I was fairly sure the priest and I hadn’t been formally introduced.

He smiled. “My public name is Bumblebee.”

“Bumblebee?”

He shrugged. “It was a childhood nickname. My grandmother said I was destined for Light because I could not stay away from sunflowers.”

“Thank you for assistance, Brother Bumblebee.” I bowed and strode from the room.

The instance of Elizabeth seeming to see me through time bothered me more than I cared to admit. She wasn’t a skinwalker. That I was certain of. But if she were a demon dressed in a human skin, why did she try to warn the past me instead of the demons?

I had too many questions and not enough answers. If we held back the current offensive wave against Tandor, I needed to truthspell Elizabeth. I couldn’t put it off any longer.

A Matter of Death - Chapter 3

This was the original third chapter. Sometimes, a writer finds the beginning doesn't work the way she wanted it to and needed to revise a few thing. I'll let you compare once I've finished with the book.

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Shi Hua jumped to her feet. “Your Highness, give us a chance to try to resume contact with the Temples in Tandor before we resort to such measures.”

Crown Princess Chiara narrowed her eyes. “Do you always allow your juniors to speak out of turn, High Brother Jeremy?”

“With all due respect, Your Highness, it’s Acting High Brother,” Jeremy replied coolly. “And my predecessors Kam and Luc encouraged their juniors to find and offer solutions to problems. I follow their wise lead.”

However, he tugged on Shi Hua’s robes out of sight of everyone but the magistrate. She took the hint and resumed her seat.

“I must agree with Sister Shi Hua,” Han said in his deep, booming voice. “If Tandor had fallen, the demons would already be here. Since the city lies at the crossroads to Diné and the Cliffdwellers, their own Temple alarms would have echoed Tandor’s, not just those in Issura.”

Shi Hua couldn’t miss the way his avoided any mention of Cant. The demon army had come from that direction. Unfortunately, they had so few distance speakers these days no one knew the real status of the Cantish clergy, or if another demon army headed southeast to the Mecas.

Han reached over and tapped a gap in the mountains north of Orrin on the map. “If the Diné have followed our joint procedures, they will be marching west to Tandor. They will have also sent word north and east to the Cliffdwellers and the Plains Nations. The Commanche will spearhead a force through Kulshra’jek Pass.”

Crown Princess Chiara shook her head. “We’re assuming the winter snows have melted enough the pass is open. According to the villages we marched through on the way to Orrin, no traders from the east have come for the Spring Rituals.” She settled back in her chair. “For now, we must assume the worst—that Issura is on her own.” She turned to Bertrice. “You still haven’t given me an answer, High Sister.”

Bertrice closed her eyes as if in prayer. When she opened them, her gaze was bleak. “I can trigger the defenses remotely but not from here. The demon spells that block communication also block my link to Tandor’s Temple of Death from here. I would need to be closer.”

“How close?” The crown princess’s eyes narrowed.

Bertrice blew out a deep breath. “At best, ten leagues. Possibly closer.”

All the clergy at the table gasped. Acid burned the back of Shi Hua’s throat. When the Death priestesses of Eire and Albion triggered their Temples, the spells not only decimated everything on those islands but all the surrounding smaller islands as well. Hundreds of leagues full of living things died in an instant of power. That was four centuries ago, and to this day, nothing could touch those islands and live. Even Duke Marco and the rest of the civilians looked queasy at Bertrice’s words.

Crown Princess Chiara rose and stared at the map. Her index finger traced a path along the National Road from Orrin to a point northeast of Tandor. “Here?”

Bertrice nodded.

“But what about High Brother Nantan?” Shi Hua exclaimed. “He and his surviving priests are still in the city. Can’t they override Bertrice’s attempt to activate the spell?”

The crown princess looked at Bertrice who shrugged.

“Nantan could by himself,” the high sister of Death said. “He’s been the high brother in Tandor for ten winters.”

“Would he?” Crown Princess Chiara asked.

Bertrice pressed her lips together and didn’t speak for three heartbeats. “No. When he realizes what I’m trying to do, he won’t impede it. If the demons stop me by spell or death, he will finish the task.”

“But the civilians!” Shi Hua shoved her chair back and stood once again. “The Temples at least evacuated the Isles of Britannia before they launched the spell of last resort! Empress Bao De gave her armies time to escape before she and her consort ignited the trap they laid for the demon army in Jing!”

Shi Hua! Sit! Jeremy’s silent command rang through her mind.

She looked down at him and forced herself not to shout her next words. “With all due respect, High Brother, I would make the same protest if I were in Jing, Toscana, or any other nation.” She turned back to the crown princess. “Our duty is to protect the human race, not fling lives aside as if they are nothing more than autumn leaves.”

“How do you propose to get the citizens of Tandor out under the noses of the demons?” Chiara asked. Surprisingly, she didn’t seem angered by Shi Hua’s outburst. “They are my people, and it sickens me that I have to consider this action.” She tapped the stylized parapet symbol for the city on the map. “This place is cursed. The entire Apache nation gave up their lives here to prevent the demon incursion from spilling into the Great Plains. Our queendom was born from the aftermath of that battle. I don’t want to sacrifice my people, but do I try to rescue a few hundred in Tandor, or I lose the tens of thousands more in Issura, Diné, or Pagonia who would be slaughtered if I let the demons past me?”

Shi Hua bit her lip. The question was the same type Brother Fang would have asked in one of his philosophy classes when she was a novice. Personal feelings must sometimes be set aside for the greater good.

She bowed to the crown princess. “My apologies for my outburst, Your Highness.” She resumed her seat.

Beneath the table, the magistrate squeezed her hand briefly. It was good to know someone else was as disturbed at the thought of abandoning their friends in Tandor as she was.

* * *

Between the preparations of the Orrin clergy and the duchy’s call to arms, Shi Hua never had a chance to consume a real meal. Her stomach growled in the middle of blessing Lord Antonio and his sons. While most of the nobles requested clergy from Conflict or Father to consecrate their men and women at arms, a few asked for her and High Brother Jeremy specifically.

Lord Antonio’s sons snickered when her stomach burbled again. Their eldest sister elbowed them both sharply though she kept her own head bowed. Even the nobleman and several of his retainers smiled.

“…and may the Lord of Light welcome you into his embrace for One is Twelve and Twelve are One,” she finished.

“One is Twelve and Twelve are One,” Lord Antonio and his people answered. They rose and drifted back to their campfires outside Government Gate, the main entrance into Orrin. Several hundred other fires dotted the darkening, grassy lawns outside of the walls. There simply wasn’t enough space in the city to house everyone.

Lord Antonio paused and bowed to Shi Hua. “Sister, your stomach indicates you haven’t had a chance to eat today. I’d be honored if you’d join us for the evening meal.”As if on cue, the Temple bells began pealing First Evening. And he was right. All she had eaten today was a couple of bites from a roll during the meeting at Duke Marco’s estate.

Shi Hua smiled and returned his bow. “Thank you for the invitation, m’lord, but as the bells are telling me, I’m already late for a meeting with Reverend Father Farrell.”

“Of course.” Lord Antonio turned to follow his people.

His request for her services gnawed on her more than the hunger. “Lord Antonio, would you answer a question, please?”

He stopped. Like many in Issura, he carried mostly Chumash features except for the prominent Toscan nose. His dark eyes flickered with curiosity. “Yes?”

“May I ask why you requested me for your blessing?” she said softly, stepping closer to him. “I’m not of Issura, and I’m all too aware of how Issurans feel about female clergy of Light.”

“You’ve survived several demon attacks, Sister. I’m hoping your good relationship with Thief rubs off on us.” Lord Antonio nodded before he turned and strode off in the direction of his encampment.

Warden Mateqai, who had been waiting nearby, led their horses to Shi Hua and handed her the set of reins for her own mount.

She cocked her head as she regarded the noble’s statement. “Why not ask for Thief’s blessing if that were Lord Antonio’s concern?”

Mateqai chuckled. “That was a compliment, Sister. It’s rare for so many of the Twelve to focus Their attention on one person.”

Shi Hua shivered at she mounted her horse. The vision she saw in the midst of Yanaba’s spell, whether it was Balance Herself or the long dead Chief Justice Thalia, bothered her more than she cared to admit. “Honestly, I’d prefer They turn Their attention directly to the demons.”

They rode toward Government Gate. Both Peacekeeper Jamie and Chief Warden Little Bear of Balance nodded and waved them through despite some grumbling from those who had been waiting for admittance most of the afternoon.

She felt a bit sorry for Little Bear. It had to be driving him and the Balance wardens insane that the crown princess ordered them to stay in Orrin, especially with Chief Justice Anthea being one of those trapped inside the Tandor city walls. And here he was, assisting the peacekeepers with basic guard duties, instead of protesting his lot.

Orrin bustled with people dodging to and fro as they went about their errands. It would normally be this busy during the week before Spring Rituals. But instead of the usual boisterous joy accompanying the holidays, everyone carried a grim expression along with their supplies, weapons, and messages.

The rear yard was crowded when Shi Hua and Mateqai reached the Temple of Light. Henry, their stablemaster, appeared harried as he directed his own staff and Reverend Father Farrell’s.

“You two need to get inside,” Henry snapped. “You’re late.”

Even Mateqai’s eyebrows rose at the lack of manners in their stablemaster.

“Excuse me?” Shi Hua frowned at the man as she dismounted.

Henry’s cheeks turned beet red above his beard. “I beg forgiveness, Sister. I meant no insult.”

“None taken,” she replied as she lowered her voice and stepped closer. “Is everything all right?”

Henry’s lower jaw worked before he murmured, “We don’t have enough room for this many people or animals. I’ve resorted to picketing some of the extra horses in the meditation garden.”

In other words, their head of household was throwing a major tantrum about equines chewing on the grass and newly sprouting herbs and flowers. She glanced at Mateqai who stared at the tips of his boots. Smart man. She pursed her lips before she turned her attention back to Henry.

“Do you want me to speak to Istaqa?” she whispered.

“I don’t want him sent back to Standora.” Henry’s expression shifted to guilt and regret he’d even brought up the subject. When Istaqa had been going on about having a woman in the Temple, High Brother Luc threatened to dismiss Istaqa and send him to the capital for reassignment if he didn behave. Such a measure would leave an indelible stain on the man’s record.

And if Jeremy found out Istaqa was harassing the rest of the staff, he’d follow through on Luc’s threat.

“Neither do I,” Shi Hua whispered. Despite butting heads with Istaqa over the Issuran decision to only have men serve the Temple of Light, she had to admit he was damn good at his job. “Let me try to talk some sense into him before Brother Jeremy learns of the issue.”

Henry almost looked relieved when he nodded. No doubt having the Reverend Father in residence didn’t put him totally at ease. Or maybe it was the demon army to the south setting Henry’s nerves on edge.

Regardless, she needed to have a little talk with their head of household.

Shi Hua marched into the temple. Luckily, Istaqa was right by the kitchen entrance, inspecting every dish before the kitchen boys and the drafted civilians scurried out of the kitchen with their burdens. Their cook shot her a pleading look. So, Henry wasn’t the only one having issues.

“Istaqa, may I have a word with you?”

He turned to her and shook his head. “Not right now, Sister. You need to get cleaned up. The Reverend Father is waiting. And I placed your new bow in your chambers.” He turned back to the cook. “That broth needs more seasoning—”

Shi Hua dropped her voice an octave. “That was not a request, Master of the Household.”

He pivoted slowly back to her. It must have finally sank through the man’s thick skull she outranked him from the expression of raw fear on his face.

“Your office. Now.” She strode out of the kitchen, not waiting for any acknowledgement.

“B-but, Sister—”

She didn’t look back, merely raised her right index finger. Watching Chief Justice Anthea in action had been a boon. Istaqa shut up.

When she reached his small office, she made a point of sitting behind his desk and jabbed her index finger in the direction of the one visitor’s stool. Istaqa immediately sat. Mateqai silently closed the office door. He would stand guard in the hallway to make sure they weren’t interrupted.

Shi Hua narrowed her eyes and stared at their head of household. Istaqa’s gaze flicked everywhere but at her. “I’ve put up with your behavior toward me because I realize the cultural differences between Issura and Jing are disconcerting to you,” she said, keeping her voice even. “But I will not tolerate you treating the staff poorly.”

A sullen expression overtook his features. “You have no standing here,” he muttered.

“Until the Reverend Father assigns new clergy to Orrin, I am the acting second. Given that there is a demon army four days south of us, I will not be leaving Issura any time soon.”

Obviously, neither thought had occurred to Istaqa from his expression of shock.

“Modify your behavior now, or I will relieve you of duty. Is that understood, Istaqa?”

He bowed his head. “Yes, Sister.”

“And thank you for delivering my bow safely.” A little bit of consideration was due. Istaqa’s efficiency had never been in question. “You are dismissed.”

Istaqa scrambled out of his office as if demons chased him.

Mateqai peered around the doorjamb, his black eyebrows raised in inquiry.

She merely shook her head as she rose. “Keep an ear out for me.”

The warden nodded. He struggled to keep the amusement off his face. He was probably not the only person in the Temple of Light who thought their head of household needed to be taken down a peg or two.

“Shall we attend the Reverend Father’s meeting?” she said as she strode to the door.

“Yes, Sister.”

When they approached the high brother’s private dining room, two unknown wardens stood guard at the door. The one on Shi Hua’s right saluted.

“They are waiting for you, Sister.”

“I’ll return at the end of your meeting.” Mateqai started to bow to her, but the warden who had spoke held up a hand. “Your presence is required as well, Warden Mateqai.” The unknown warden knocked a certain pattern before he opened the door.

Shi Hua exchanged a look with Mateqai, but he appeared as confused as she felt. However, it would be nice to have a familiar presence besides Jeremy at this dinner meeting.

There were fewer people seated at the oval table than she expected. Reverend Father Farrell sat at the far end, opposite from Jeremy. Three of the Reverend Father’s entourage of clergy were also in attendance. Chief Warden Nicolas and another warden she didn’t know sat to Jeremy’s left. The two seats to Jeremy’s right were empty.

The smile the Reverend Father favored them with wasn’t as broad as the one from this morning. From the dark smudges under his eyes and the deep lines around his mouth and eyes, he appeared to carry the weight of Issura.

Between the infiltration of his order by renegades and the demon army, he probably felt as if he carried the weight of the world.

“What’s the word amongst the nobles, Sister?” he asked as one of his priests poured wine for her and Mateqai. Her warden intercepted her goblet and took a drink before he handed it to her.

Reverend Father Farrell’s smile fell. “You don’t even trust us, Brother Jeremy?”

“How many demons have you killed, sir?” Jeremy’s tone was firm despite his insubordinate words.

The other three priests glanced at the Reverend Father and Jeremy before they exchanged worried expressions. None of them would even look in her direction.

After a long moment, the Reverend Father nodded. “I apologize, Jeremy. And to you, too, Shi Hua. Reading a report is not the same as experiencing something in life.”

She cleared her throat. “To answer your question, Reverend Father, the nobles and their people are nervous. It’s been four generations since the last demon incursion. We need to be mindful of the spiritual needs of the queen’s army.”

“What do you two think of the crown princess’s plan?” the Reverend Father asked as he dug into his meal.

Shi Hua looked to Jeremy. The anger he’d held in check earlier shone in his eyes. “I think the priests in Tandor have already considered her plan on their own. High Brother Luc is probably searching for a way to evacuate the civilians as we speak.”

“What would be his plan?” The Reverend Father tore off a chunk of flatbread and dip it in his broth.

“According to Chief Justice Anthea, only two of the tunnels in Tandor are passable,” Shi Hua said. “The north tunnel comes out too close to the demon army to be safely used. The east tunnel comes out in the Valley of the Lost far beyond the National Road. They wouldn’t able to move fast in the heat, and the dust raised by their passage would give them away. They’d have to find a third option.”

“So how do you two propose to evacuate the civilians?” The Reverend Father’s attention shifted between her and Jeremy. “The remainder of the Sea Peoples fleet, sir, and however many ships Duke Marco can muster.” Jeremy’s initial anger turned to bleakness. They’d run the calculations half a night with Titus, the captain of the duke’s flagship, and Captain Iakepa of the Sea Peoples. “However, there simply isn’t be enough ships to carry everyone out of Tandor, but we have to try.”

“Do you realize the panic we’ll cause when the civilians realize some of them will be left behind?” the Reverend Father said quietly. “Tandor doesn’t have anyone from Child left, and if we take anyone from Orrin—”

“That’s one less spot for a civilian on board.” Shi Hua nodded. “We know. There are a couple of ships still in Tandor’s harbor. If we take sailors with us to crew those ships—”

“It still won’t be enough.” The Reverend Father took a long drink of wine before he looked at them again. “This time of year, there should be plenty of ships plying this region of the Peaceful Sea to evacuate Tandor.” He shook his head. “The sinking of those trade ships and the murder of their crews off the coast hampers any rescue.”

“What if we send the ships south after the queen’s army marches for Tandor?” Jeremy said. “It’s four days by the National Road, but only two days by sea. We could trap the demons between the fleet and the army. You only need one distance speaker to coordinate between the two.”

“You’d give up Sister Shi Hua?” Reverend Father Farrell cocked his head.

Jeremy leaned back in his chair. “I thought that was why you brought Brother Elroy.” He waved a hand at the priest with orangish-red hair and freckles.

“How do you know—” The priest beside Brother Elroy started to rise, but he placed a hand on his friend’s upper arm. “Settle Long Wind.” Elroy grinned at Jeremy. “I didn’t think you remembered me.”

Jeremy shrugged. “It hasn’t been that long since I took my vows.”

Shi Hua desperately wanted to ask what was between Jeremy and the older priest. Well, he wasn’t that much older. He looked to be around High Brother Luc’s age. But now was not the time or place to ask such questions.

So, she steered the conversation back to the evacuation. “According to the histories, the demons haven’t mastered swimming. They are willing to sacrifice a small number of themselves to cross a river, but they can’t handle a large body of water. If we only bring one ship at a time into Tandor’s harbor, the other ships can launch spell-laced fireworks at the demon army.

“Fireworks?” Longwind frowned. “What are those?”

“A recreational use of flash powder in Jing,” Shi Hua replied. “We use them for celebrations, such as the Spring Rituals. With the right spells and ingredients, they can create pictures in the sky.”

Elroy snorted. “Pictures aren’t going to scare away a demon army.”

“No, but Jing flashbangs can hurt them,” Jeremy said. “We couple those with our Light abilities and we can extend the use of both flash powder and priests.” He glanced at Shi Hua. “And priestesses.”

The Reverend Father rubbed his chin. “Thief is working on flashbangs as we speak.”

“They already have the cask of powder Ambassador Quan donated before he left,” Shi Hua offered.

The Reverend Father eyed her. “I like the plan, but you realize the crown princess has the final say.”

“Yes, sir,” she and Jeremy both murmured.

“I still like to have some of these fireworks of yours with the main army regardless of what Her Highness decides.” The Reverend Father focused on Shi Hua. “Can you teach these men tonight? The crown princess plans to leave at first light.”

“Yes, sir.” Shi Hua nodded firmly.

The Reverend Father cleared his throat. He appeared totally discomfited. “The other matter I need to discuss is the recent order—”

“I’ve already spoken to Reverend Father Jin back home.” Her words come out in a rush. “I know my duty.”

An embarrassed smile appeared on Reverend Father Farrell’s face. “Given there is only one Light priest left in Orrin, you have your pick of any of the priests I brought with me.”

“I’ve made my choice, and I’m quite happy with it.” She lifted her chin and made a point of laying her hand on Jeremy’s arm.

“Well, then…” It was amazing the Reverend Father could look both mortified and relieved at the same time. Even odder was the disappointment in the other three priests’ expressions. What exactly were they expecting when they came to Orrin?

“What else was on your agenda, sir?” Jeremy sounded more sure of himself than she’d ever heard him.

“Garbhan will be staying here while you and the sister come south with me.”

The youngest brother in the Reverend Father’s entourage took a studied interest in his food at his senior clergy’s words.

Jeremy scowled, actually scowled, at the Reverend Father. “Are you sure taking both distance speakers with us is a wise course of action?”

“Under normal circumstances, no.” The Reverend Father poked at his stew before he stared at Jeremy. “But you and the sister are the only people I have who have actually fought any demon.”

The discussion went on to preparations for the coming battle, but all she could think about was what would happen after this day was finished. Something was going on with their visitors, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what crawled up the back of her neck.

Preorder A Matter of Death and Reality Bites!

In what is probably a massive amount of confidence (or overconfidence), the preorder link for A Matter of Death is up and running on Amazon. I'm planning to try other retailers' preorder links later this year.

BLURB

Two skinwalkers controlling Tandor had been bad enough, but then a demon army waltzed up to the city gates…

Anthea, Luc and their allies are trapped inside the border city of Tandor. They’ve all lost contact with the rest of Issura and their neighboring countries. And if the demons get by Tandor, the entire continent will become their dinner table. But the city is low on food and, more importantly, water.

Can Anthea and Luc find a solution? Or will they be forced to activate the final defense spells of Death to stop the demons, and kill everyone in Tandor and themselves in the process?

Magic and mayhem have never been this desperate. Or this fatal.

A Matter of Death will drop July 15th.

========================

I also set up the preorder link for Reality Bites.

BLURB

Being a regular human in the supernatural world is never easy, something Mai Osaka learned before she could walk. So when her boyfriend’s fairy ex strolls into the casino where Mai is head of security, she knows there’s more to the Seelie’s story than she’s telling. But can Mai figure out the real plan and who’s behind it before the fae pull the biggest heist in the history of Las Vegas?

Reality Bites will drop August 15th.

A Matter of Death - Chapter 2

FYI - I'm posting chapters as they are in the first version of the manuscript. I'm currently doing some rearranging of the storyline. Don't worry! I'm not taking anything out. Just changing the order and adding some scenes.

Why am I doing this? Because I found the notes I'd forgotten I'd written for the unresolved plotlines from A Modicum of Truth that needed resolving in A Matter of Death. I'd only added one of the subplots in the first manuscript version. Oops!

I'm usually not this disorganized, but it's amazing what surgery and opiates will do to your brain. LOL
==========================================

Bone-deep weariness dragged on my limbs. So much so, I leaned against the parapet of the Neighbor’s Gate watchtower. I wasn’t sure if it were night or day anymore.

“Anything, Chief Justice?” Reverend Father Nizhé'é' of Diné joined me in staring at the demon army camped outside the city of Tandor. Camped wasn’t the right word. They did not sleep or cook as humans did. They crouched in alternating rows. Not moving. Not even breathing from what I could see.

“No, sir.” I shook my head. “But they’re plotting out there. I can feel it.”

He lowered his voice. “Get some sleep, Anthea. You’ve been awake for nearly two days straight.”

“You don’t have anyone who can see them the way I can.” Normally, I would have shouted the words at anyone who questioned my abilities, but I couldn’t muster the strength.

“And the Twelve Temples have survived a thousand years without a clergy member with red eyes who can see demons through their glamours,” he almost sounded amused, but then, he always did when he spoke to me. “You’re of no use to me if you kill yourself, young lady.”

“Young lady?” I bristled. Maybe I had some energy after all.

“I have you by sixteen winters, so yes.” He smirked. “Young lady. Go back to Light and get some sleep.”

I gave up and nodded. The little bit of respite from my weariness had died under his logic.

As Luc had pointed out, all the clergy and wardens of the combined Diné, Cliffdweller, and Plains Nations army reported to Nizhé'é' as the seniormost priest of Conflict. Even though, the Reverend Father wasn’t Issuran, the surviving Temple seats of Tandor had followed High Brother Aduba’s lead in reporting to him as well. Therefore, Luc, our two wardens, and I acceded to the Reverend Father’s command, too.

The main purpose of the Temple of Conflict was to prepare for the exact situation we faced—a demon army on the loose. It merely made sense for the senior priest of Conflict to head our…

What in Balance’s name were we? A delaying action? A last resort?

High Sister Bertrice said our seconds in Orrin had destroyed the demons and eggs planted there, and the queen’s army was marching south from the capital in our last contact we had from home. Unfortunately, Bertrice depended on the only distance speaker we had in Orrin. And we hadn’t heard from Sister Shi Hua of Light in the last four nights.

Though I was fairly sure the demons’ spells blocked the young Jing priestess from talking to us, I prayed that nothing more had happened at home. Even though Balance didn’t deign to answer my pleas directly, the fact that the demon army remained camped outside our walls gave me hope. If the rest of Issura had been lost, they would have left a few troops here and marched east for Diné.

No one was on the streets as I trudged back to Light, neither clergy nor civilians. How late was it? Or was it early? With the Temple bells silent and the sky overcast, I had no way to tell.

We had to disable the alarm spells on the bells. Otherwise, they would be constantly clanging due to the demons camped on our doorstep. The din would have driven everyone insane over the last few days.

I glanced at Balance, but only a trickle of magic came from the remnants of the building compared to the other Temples. Even if its structural integrity weren’t questionable, Chief Justice Elizabeth and I were reluctant to step inside it. We’d used all of Balance’s magic in a desperate effort to kill a skinwalker and its renegade allies who’d quietly took over Tandor before anyone noticed there was a problem.

My thighs and calves ached when I climbed the steps of Light. What I wouldn’t give for a good soak and a goblet of Pana red right now. But the damn demons had destroyed a large section of the aqueduct into the city, so we needed to conserve water. And the healers needed the wine for the injured since our medical supplies were as finite a resource as our water.

Instead of heading for the room I currently shared with my warden Tyra, I headed for the bedchambers of the former high brother of Tandor. Luc had taken them over, not to mention drafted his own army of the city’s children to bring books and scrolls from the Temple of Knowledge for him. If it was as late as I suspected, he should be alone.

I entered without an invitation.

Luc jerked upright from where he’d fallen asleep at the table he used as a desk. “What? Where?” He fumbled for the sword hanging at the side of his chair.

“It’s only me.”

“Anthea?”

Magic tingled across my skin. Luc squinted and blinked.

I cupped his cheek. “Extinguish the light ball, my love. We’ve both been ordered to get some sleep.”

“I thought we’d been ordered to mate.” He pulled me closer for kiss.

“I don’t think we’d stay awake long enough to do so,” I said with a laugh. Shi Hua and Jeremy had shared that little tidbit in our last communication with them. The clergy of Light from Diné and the Plains Nations had confirmed they received the same directive from their home temples before the demons’ spells cut off all contact with the outside world. In theory, the new order validated mine and Luc’s illegal affair. After the messages had been received, he grumbled the Twelve had a warped sense of humor by giving us permission in the middle of a demon siege.

His kiss was brief. “Well, technically, I’m the only one who needs to be awake.”

“Not necessarily,” I teased as I straightened. “I recall a few mornings by our campfire while we were on circuit.” He grabbed his specially designed crutches and crossed to the bed. I quickly stripped off my gear and clothes and joined him. I turned on my side, and he curled around my back.

“It smells much better in here.”

“Mmmm.” He tightened his arm around my midriff. “Luckily, the master carpenter rallied some other civilians. They managed to clean out the bathing pool and drain before the demons arrived and destroyed the aqueduct.”

The renegades hadn’t even allowed poor High Brother Dav a chamber pot for his use. Even though he’d been driven mad by the skinwalker’s mental torture, he retained enough of his faculties to use one spot for his waste.

“What do you think is happening at home?” I whispered.

“Don’t.” Luc kissed my shoulder. “You’ll only drive yourself insane asking that question.”

“But Yanaba—”

“Is alive. You know Mya, Aaron, and their respective staffs will take excellent care of her mental and physical health.” I knew our high sister of Child and head of the Healers Guild would do everything in their power to help my own junior justice. Luc’s words didn’t ameliorate my guilt that I left Yanaba alone to face both the Assassins Guild and demons. “But you know Shi Hua wasn’t telling us everything,” I muttered. “Not with Bertrice in the link.”

Luc reached down and playfully smacked my left buttock before he resumed his hold of my waist. “What did I say about driving yourself insane?”

I inhaled deeply and released the breath. He was right. All the speculation in the world couldn’t change our predicament much less Orrin’s.

I’d closed my eyes for barely an instant it seemed when the alarm bells clanged. Both Luc and I were out of bed and dressing before we were fully awake. The rasp of demon magic grated against my own power, but it wasn’t from the direction of the city walls.

It came from below my bare feet.

Luc muttered a few obscenities in Cantish. “The damn demons are in the tunnels.”

A Matter of Death - Chapter 1

With May's middle of the month chaos, I'm behind on my writing schedule. Unfortunately, that means A Matter Death will not be out on June 15th as I'd planned. I'm making a serious push to write a sizable chunk this week. By the time I post Chapter 3, I should have a solid release date for you.

In the meantime, enjoy!
==========================

The queen’s army arrived in Orrin at First Morning on Fifth Day, exactly a week after the demons were discovered and destroyed inside the Temples of Balance and Death. Everyone at the Temple of Light, except the wardens on duty, were at morning prayers when the peacekeeper arrived with the news regarding their visitors from the capital.

Shi Hua watched as Magistrate DiCook’s messenger whispered to Brother Jeremy, the acting seat of the Temple. Chief Warden Nicholas rose and joined the two men, probably more out of worry a priest he was charged with protecting might be harmed rather than curiosity.

Once the peacekeeper scurried out of the main sanctuary, Jeremy bowed to the civilians attending the dawn services. “Forgive me for our abbreviated worship, but Sister Shi Hua and I have been called to other duties.”

She scrambled to her feet, sketched the requisite gesture of respect toward the statue of Light, and crossed the sanctuary to join Jeremy. Are you sure the queen requested my presence? she asked silently.

Amusement filled his eyes. The crown princess is leading the army, and yes, she specifically asked for you. She’s with Duke Marco and Prince Alika at the duke’s estate along with Reverend Father Farrell.

Of course. It would not do for the crown princess to ignore the local nobility. She would need their vassals to augment her forces. Nor could she meet with one Orrin Temple alone without arousing the ire of the other eleven, which was why Jeremy had been summoned though he’d be the last person to protest a snub. Unfortunately, the queen, the duke of Orrin and the chief justice of Balance were too entwined in both their personal and professional relationships to totally avoid all questions of impropriety.

To add to the political complications, half of the Sea Peoples fleet still anchored in Orrin’s harbor. Prince Alika and several of his captains refused to leave Issura after the discovery of the demons and their eggs in the city. While captains and sailors of the departing ships had been truthspelled, no one could guarantee the ships weren’t carrying demons or eggs without the odd sight of Orrin’s chief justice to search people, ships, and all property for demon contamination.

However, Prince Alika didn’t have a distance speaker with him, and it would be nigh impossible for Shi Hua to contact someone in the islands she didn’t know. So he sent half his fleet home on the chance they could successfully raise the alarm.

I still don’t know why the crown princess would want to speak to me, Shi Hua protested silently while she jogged alongside Jeremy to the stables, their wardens following as if they were second shadows. It didn’t help matters that she was not an Issuran citizen, though both her own Reverend Father of Light in Jing and the Reverend Father of Light here in Issura had agreed to the temporary transfer. With the spate of demon activity over the last month and a half, Shi Hua wondered if she’d ever see home again.

Because right now, you are our primary contact with Tandor, Jeremy chided. And our sister city is under a demon attack.

Shi Hua swallowed a groan. She’d only talked with High Brother Luc, Chief Justice Anthea, and Ambassador Quan twice, once before the demon army arrived at Tandor’s doorstep and once after. Since then, she hadn’t been able to penetrate the demon’s magic, not even with assistance from other priests and priestesses in Orrin. All she knew for sure was those loyal to the queendom of Issura still held the city of Tandor. Otherwise, the demons would already be hammering at Orrin’s gates.

This was not going to be an enjoyable meeting at the duke’s estate. And she hadn’t broken her fast yet.

Who else will be there? she asked silently as she and Jeremy saddled their mounts. Chief Warden Nicholas and Warden Mateqai did the same. There had been too many assassination attempts against clergy in Orrin over the last month and a half. And after last week, not one of the Temple wardens allowed any of the clergy to attend the privy without a guard. High Brother Han and High Sister Bertrice are already there. The other seats are on their way.

Of course. The seat of Conflict was responsible for organizing the city’s defenses with the local nobility and the magistrate in the case of an attack. And demons had managed to have themselves delivered to the Temple of Death by wearing the bodies of a murdered peacekeeper and his family.

“What about Justice Yanaba?” Shi Hua asked.

Jeremy looked down at her from atop his horse. “You’re the one visiting her every day. What do you think?”

Jeremy’s gentle question was an answer in itself. Shi Hua climbed onto her own mount. The junior justice had nearly killed herself defending the city from the demons who’d snuck into Orrin wearing human skins. She shuddered. They’d come so close to losing the city, and its defense had been costly.

“You know High Mother Bianca will find a way to insert herself into this meeting,” Mateqai said.

Nicholas shot his junior warden a dirty look, but Jeremy merely nodded.

“If she is there, fine.” Jeremy sounded far older than his twenty-one winters. “All of the Temples need to let go of our petty differences. We have demons on our border, and we must work together.”

“Yes, sir.” Mateqai nodded.

Nothing more was said on the ride to the duke’s estate.

* * *

Loud voices and tension thickened the air in Duke Marco’s great hall when Shi Hua and the rest of the party from Light arrived. A huge map of Issura covered most of a large table. Whatever argument had been happening died as the duke’s steward announced their presence.

At the sight of High Mother Bianca seated next to Duke Marco, Shi Hua glanced at Mateqai. The corner of her warden’s mouth quirked, but otherwise, he kept the solemn mien the situation warranted.

However, High Mother Bianca sat on the duke’s left. His sister, Lady Alessa, sat on his right. Shi Hua wondered if she’d be allowed to extended felicitations to Lady Katarina before they left. The duke’s wife was Temple-born herself and had made a point of welcoming Shi Hua to Orrin. But she was also very aware of the politics between the orders. If Lady Katarina weren’t so close to her delivery, she would no doubt make sure Bianca wasn’t anywhere near her husband. On the other hand, Bianca may have inserted herself between the duke and Prince Alika on purpose so she wasn’t sitting next to her fellow clergy. There was still a quiet debate about whether she had been used by the traitor Gerd to remove Chief Justice Anthea by way of false accusation or whether Bianca was smarter about covering up her illicit activities than Gerd had been.

It was a bit of a relief when Reverend Father Farrell’s face lit up with a huge grin. “Just the people we need to speak with!”

The head of the Issuran order of Light sat at the opposite end of the table to the left of an imposing woman. Shi Hua sucked in her breath when Crown Princess Chiara turned to appraise the newcomers.

Not even Emperor Bao Chengwu of Jing gave off such an intimidating air. The crown princess’s long, sharp face was almost masculine in appearance. She didn’t bother with any accoutrements or insignia of her rank, other than her own gray-streaked blue-black braids wrapped and pinned in the shape of a coronet on her head. She dressed in plain black leather and steel chainmail. Her dark eyes were piercing, and Shi Hua had no doubt the crown princess missed little of what happened around her.

Following Jeremy’s lead, Shi Hua bowed.

“We come to serve, Your Highness,” Jeremy murmured.

A wry smile lightened the crown princess’s face. “From what your colleagues have said, it sounds to me like you and your Temple have been doing more than your fair share of service, Brother Jeremy.” She gestured at the two people on the other side of the Reverend Father.

To his left was High Brother Han of Conflict. The normally jovial priest was especially somber behind his bushy red beard.

Beside Han sat High Sister Bertrice of Death. Her cropped hair gleamed silver in the morning light from the manse’s high windows. She didn’t look any happier than Han.

“Please take a seat, Brother Jeremy. I’d like to ask both you and Sister Shi Hua some questions about the events in Orrin over the last two months.” The crown princess pointed at two empty chairs between another man on her right dressed in the same military garb as the crown princess and Orrin’s magistrate Malven DiCook.

Worry wormed its way through Shi Hua, and not just because the heir to the throne of Issura knew her name. She’d never feared the people here before, but Ambassador Quan had always been with her at these types of meetings. As his bodyguard, her attention had been consumed with watching for dangers to him.

But then came the discovery of renegades infiltrating Issura’s Temple of Light and her temporary transfer to Orrin. High Brother Luc’s irritation with her performance as a priestess would be a mosquito bite compared to the displeasure and consequences should she incur Crown Princess Chiara’s wrath.

For the next candlemark, Shi Hua and Jeremy were questioned. About their first encounter with a demon egg last autumn. The abduction and recovery of High Brother Luc. The more recent discovery of demons wearing human skins. Justice Yanaba’s spell to freeze and destroy the demons, the one that nearly killed her. The demon eggs hidden in the corpses of Peacekeeper Dante and his family.

But when Crown Princess Chiara questioned the wisdom of Chief Justice Anthea and High Brother Luc’s absence at such a crucial time, everyone from Orrin erupted in protest.

Everyone except High Mother Bianca.

“Enough.” The crown princess slapped the table hard enough that goblets, wine decanters, and even the parchment map jumped and shivered.

Everyone went silent until Reverend Father Farrell cleared his throat. “It was mine and Reverend Mother Alara’s decision to send the two of them to Tandor—”

The crown princess held up her forefinger.

His face flushed. “I will not be silent when you question—”

“I will not tell you again, Reverend Father,” she said coldly before she turned her intimidating gaze on Shi Hua. “Why aren’t you defending them, Sister?”

Shi Hua swallowed hard. “It’s not my place—”

“No, your place is in a Temple in Jing.” The crown princess’s eyes narrowed. “But you’re here, and I’ll use whatever resources are at hand. Now, why aren’t you defending them?”

Shi Hua dug her nails into her palms to keep from retorting in kind. Quan had never been this rude, even for the short time he had been the crown prince of the empire. She lifted her chin. “Because Chief Justice Anthea and High Brother Luc don’t need to be defended. They know their duty, and they have served to the best of their abilities.”

Something thawed in the crown princess’s icy demeanor. “Even if such service means the ultimate sacrifice?”

Shi Hua worked to keep her face impassive, but her gut clenched. Maybe it was a good thing she hadn’t broken her fast after all. “Yes, Your Highness.”

Crown Princess Chiara faced High Mother Bianca. “You were the only one from Orrin who didn’t take umbrage at my words. Why?”

The priestess cast a sly look in Reverend Father Farrell’s direction. “It’s not my place to question the instructions from the heads of other orders.” She turned to the crown princess. “But as Sister Shi Hua has stated, our seats of Balance and Light will defend the queendom from demons with their very lives if need be.”

The crown princess blew out a deep breath. “Since we’ve lost contact with our clergy in Tandor, we must assume the worst.” Her gaze bore into Bertrice. “High Sister, can you activate the defense spells at your sister Temple in Tandor from here?”

Bertrice’s face paled to nearly the color of her hair. “Your Highness, you cannot be serious!”

Crown Princess Chiara leaned her elbows on the scarred wood, her palms pressed together, and her chin resting on her fingertips. “I fear High Mother Bianca is right, albeit indirectly. Destroying the Duchy of Tandor may be the only way to stop the demon army.”

Tumors, Tubes, and Superheroes

I have breast cancer.

Four words I really never thought I'd say.

The last two months since my annual mammogram have been a whirlwind of tests and doctor visits and raw rage. I had a plan mapped out for releasing eight books this year, and I'm so fucking furious my writing/publishing plan has been blown to hell. However, this isn't the first time cancer has upended my life, though it is the first time I'm on the receiving side.

Jo, one of my writing friends, helped me put together an alternate plan. I keep writing as best I can through the surgeries and treatments, and I don't worry about the production side of things, like editing and formatting until I get through treatment. I don't have to worry about the covers because the lovely Elaina Lee of For the Muse Design already completed them last year, which I'm forever thankful for.

As I write this, it's been ten days since my first surgery, the mastectomy of my left breast. I have Stage II-B lobular invasive carcinoma. While it is the second most common breast cancer, it only affects 10-30% (depending on which literature you read) of diagnosed patients. The five-year survival rate is over 90%, which means I have a damn good prognosis.

When I rolled into the operating room last week, I thought I'd hit acceptance mode. But as I sit here in my recliner, minor irritation is transforming back to rage. My incision site has hit super-itch mode, and my arm rubs against the Jackson-Pratt drain sticking out my side a couple of inches below my very smelly pit.

Which is that way because I can't shave or use antiperspirant right now, and I really can't stand the smell myself, much less want to go out into public. And yes, I am showering.

What does this all mean? When are the books actually coming out?

I'm looking at another four weeks of healing time from the mastectomy. Then comes the radiation and/or chemo. I'm not sure which treatment or combo is likely because the tumor turned out to be larger than what the surgeon and radiologist estimated from the MRIs, the only decent pictures they could get. I haven't talked to the oncologist yet. Worse case scenario is twelve weeks of follow-up treatment, assuming I have no complications from the treatment itself.

There will be another four to six weeks of recovery from the radiation/chemo before the first reconstructive surgery. Four to six weeks of recovery from the first stage before the second reconstructive surgery.

And that takes us roughly to February of 2019 before my life returns to a relatively normal position.

I can hear y'all thinking, "Wait a minute! We have to wait nine months for a new book?"

I don't know if that will be the case. The timeline may be shorter. It may be longer. Despite the mental and emotional bullshit of the last two months, I wrote 42,000 words. I finished the first draft of Hero De Facto, and I'm roughly halfway through Hero Ad Hoc, the first two books of my superhero series. The real question is how much can I get done before chemo brain sets in because that's the real danger to my writing productivity. I can't promise any specific release dates because I can't guarantee what will happen next.

And as they wheeled me into surgery last week, my husband whispered, "You'd better live. You need to finish A Matter of Death."

See? Y'all aren't the only ones ticked with me for leaving A Modicum of Truth on a cliffhanger.

Status Report - January 2018

I can finally say A Modicum of Truth is in the production phase! As in I sent the files to my incredible formatter Jaye Manus at QA Productions last night right before five p.m.

This book kicked my ass. It is literally the longest book I've ever written, clocking in at a final word count of 100,362.

Yeah, yeah, I know the word count was at 89K when I finished the first draft. I'm one of those weird writers who add words to a manuscript--all the 'a's, 'to's, 'the's, 'her's, etc. while taking out the unneeded 'that's and 'just's.

Unfortunately, when I write, I don't see the words. I see a movie playing in my head, and I'm trying to take notes.

Sacrificed is next on the block. I'm considering doing a preorder for it, so y'all will know exactly when it is coming out.

After that will be Hero De Facto, which the lovely Elaina Lee at For the Muse Design is currently working on the covers for the series.

But whatever you do, don't ask me when A Matter of Death will be done. My brain needs a break, and I'll have to lash you with a wet noodle if you do.

P.S. A new chapter of Sacrificed will be up next week!