Once again I start to fall ...
And Grace wraps her hands around mine and pulls, and the knives slide from his chest, black blood pumping into the water like swirling ink. She pushes me down onto the altar, presses me back into my body and leans over me, smiling. Her curls float like a dark halo around her head. Her eyes are resolute, unwavering, determined; her hands are confident but gentle as she fastens the pentacle around my throat. Above and behind her the darkness of the abyss rears up, reaching ...
Now I stand in the gardens of St Paul’s Church. I look up at the cloudless blue sky above and watch as a lone black crow glides through all that emptiness. The same emptiness that fills my every thought, my every cell, and all my soul.
All Soul’s Day
I am here to pray for the dead.
I am here to pray for Grace.
Acknowledgements
My heartfelt thanks go to those who have helped this book on its way.
To Fiona MacKenzie for her endless enthusiasm, pep talks and splashes of red; Alison Aquilina for the ‘feelings’; Malcolm Angel for the ‘action’; Judy Monckton for those all-important questions; Doreen Cory for those ‘bon mots’! And Paul Knight for finding Tavish’s perfect ‘home’.
To the Gollancz crew for their dedication, to John Jarrold for his belief and support, and especially to Jo Fletcher, for all her fantastic work in continuing to make my books so much better.
To Norman for being the wonderful, patient person he is and for making this, my second book, truly possible.
And last, but not least to all those readers who have told me how much they enjoyed
