Rite of the Omega
Contents
About the Author
Also by Eva Dresden
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Excerpt
Back Matter
Rite of the Omega - Blood Rites Duet Book One
©2020 Eva Dresden
All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Rite of the OmegaBlood Rites Duet Book One
Eva Dresden
About the Author
Eva Dresden writes dark romance that lives up to its name with every turn of the page. Her heroines are tragic and strong, her heroes are anything but, and tearing characters apart to see what makes them really tick is a favored past time. Her cat is her staunchest supporter, provided there are treats involved.
Connect with Eva Dresden at:
www.evadresden.com
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Also by Eva Dresden
Omega’s Destruction Trilogy
Broken
Damaged
Destroyed
Blood Rites Duet
Rite of the Omega
Oath of the Alpha
Prologue
After years of constant battle, the last war seemed too easy.
Otaso stalked through the charred halls, crumbled bits of stone clattering across the ruined floors as he went in search of his ultimate prey. The bloody waves of his robes fluttered behind him, snapping in an unseen wind as he gathered his power to him.
One last foe remained.
He would destroy the would-be king of the realm this day.
The cavernous room he arrived at showed a roiling oily black sky etched in bloody lightning through the gaping maw that opened up the great domed ceiling. Thunder cracked and rumbled to shake loose more debris from splintering cracks reaching into the rest of the dome. There Otaso found dozens of his warriors, well-armed and with the protection spells glowing with the eerie light of his magic where they etched the heavy armor. It had taken months to find the right combination of symbols, and the amount of power needed. Time well spent, if the numbers of black suited men ranging around the castle now to clean up whatever souls remained were anything to go by.
Otaso’s target lay in a broken huddle at the foot of his throne, the cerulean robes stained rust and vermillion where they splayed across the dais. The imposter’s woman sprawled behind him, rivulets of wine dark life pulsing between slick fingers as she clutched at the wound that would end her.
Standing over the other male, sneering at the waxy paleness of his golden skin, Otaso felt a surge of disgust. It had been easy, this victory. Years of battling with this now weak adversary, to win because he was drunk on his new woman and the offspring she had given felt hollow. Empty.
The once worthy opponent shielded a female that even now slipped into the Abyss. Not that Otaso wanted her. No, there was a prize far greater than some bitch.
“Where is it,” Otaso asked, voice a grinding rumble that echoed after the roar of more thunder.
“Vrazys take your soul.”
“Now, now, Kistsam. We both know your goddesses have abandoned you here. Tell me where it is, and I’ll make your end swift.”
“Do what you want to me,” Kistsam said, blood spattering over his lips and chin. The fine white rays of crystalline eyes brightened as they met Otaso’s gaze head on. “I will never tell you.”
“My warriors are searching even now.” Otaso lowered into a crouch, drawing the blade from its leather sheath to let it soak in the crimson lightning arcing through the midnight sky against its sinuous edge. “We will find it, and its end will come.”
“Your search will be in vain.” Another choking cough sent a wash of blood to stain Kistsam’s throat, trickling down to the red ruin of his chest.
“I bet you think yourself so clever,” Otaso said through a crashing landslide of mirth, twirling the blade to catch the glint of fear buried in the roiling fury of Kistsam’s eyes. “Let me guess. Servants swore an oath to see it gone from here before I even took the walls. A trusted maid to raise it as her own in the wilds of the countryside. Ah, you people are far too predictable.”
Confusion flickered through Kistsam’s eyes, amber brows coming together before pain twisted his features. Teeth bared, he managed to growl, “You will never—”
The squalling of a furious infant cut Kistsam’s vow short. By the widening of Kistsam’s eyes, Otaso knew. His smile was brimming with feral delight, the flash of crimson fire behind the midnight shot darkness of his eyes a glimpse of the horrors to come.
“Did you not know my men breached your walls long before I knocked upon your gate? She must have been something otherworldly,” Otaso said, blackened gaze sliding to the female behind Kistsam as the light flared and died behind pale eyes. “To make a man who kept me at bay for so long forget that he can trust no one. Least of all the stable boy with the lame leg willing to do much for a bit of coin and sport.”
A swift roll of his wrist brought the dagger down in a vicious arc to split the would-be ruler open, spilling blood and dark, wet gore over once regal robes. Gathering Kistsam’s entrails in his hands, Otaso pulled them up to his face. Let the full strength of his power show in his eyes as the other male looked on in horror.
Tipping his clenched fists, Otaso took in Kistsam’s blood. Power straight from the source seared along his veins, crackling and flaring across the back of his
