The pike, though, would need extra care. For now, it remained broken and on his back.
Anthea gasped. “We need to leave,” she said, but not to him, or to the kitsune. She said it to the dress.
“Go,” he said. He’d give her this boon. It was she, after all, who had drawn this snack to him. For a moment, he thought of sharing his spoils, but thought better of it. Anthea was not a vampire who would respond well to carrying the power of such a kitsune in her blood.
The dress coiled around Anthea’s plump body and up into her blonde curls. The kitsune hissed.
Anthea and the dress vanished.
“The Emperor will not be happy,” the kitsune snarled.
She fidgeted and shook and clearly did not understand the threat he posed. Which seemed interesting, since she was the most magical of kitsunes. And so, so naughty.
“Whatever,” Brother said. He snapped his fingers. “Where are my manners? My last turn was in the States.” He adjusted his cuffs. “Tell me, is there a Japanese equivalent to an irreverent American eye roll?”
The kitsune hissed.
No, she had no idea who was now in charge of his body.
“Dear Anthea was correct. You have no idea what you let into your beautiful country.” He snatched the kitsune around the neck and lifted her into the air.
She spit in his eye.
Brother chuckled. “No idea at all.”
How long had it been since he’d felt the satisfying pressure in his jaw as his fangs extended? Or the sating flow of warm, rich blood over his tongue? He slammed his mouth against the kitsune’s neck. And the taste of such magic and power!
He dropped the fox’s hollow corpse onto the frozen shore of a pristine Japanese lake. Slowly, carefully, he ran a finger around his lips. Best not to waste a drop of something so precious as the blood of a nine-tailed kitsune.
Why let his parts fight each other? Why settle for simply being the original vampire, the King of a long-dead Eastern European hovel and the pretender to the world’s throne, when he could be more than the sum of his parts?
He understood now the old magic in his blood that made his memories synchronous and asynchronous, current and serial, local and global. Why he had allowed that dress—and he knew exactly what that dress was, and what she meant for the world—to be the bait needed to draw in the worst, tastiest monsters of this lovely island.
He squatted next to the kitsune’s body. Such moments required reverence. “I thank you, my dear,” he said. Then he stood and rolled his shoulders.
He had not been a part of this world’s events for … how long? He gazed at the moon. “I do believe we are still some time from Samhain,” he muttered. So, a week, perhaps. Now he had returned, fully capable and flush with such power. This island truly was a paradise.
Where else would a god make his new home?
God Forsaken
When Lollipop comes looking to call in Frank’s debts, Frank and Wrenn find themselves in Tokyo and embroiled in a Frankenstein family reunion neither of them wanted—nor thought possible.
The Vampire God formerly known as Brother has escaped his prison. Add angry kami, needy mate magic, a language neither Frank nor Wrenn understands, fragile international magical diplomacy, and… well, culture really can be a shock.
GOD FORSAKEN, Northern Creatures #7, available June 10th!
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The Worlds of Kris Austen Radcliffe
Smart Urban Fantasy:
Northern Creatures
Monster Born
Vampire Cursed
Elf Raised
Wolf Hunted
Fae Touched
Death Kissed
God Forsaken
Magic Scorned (coming soon)
Genre-bending Science Fiction about
love, family, and dragons:
World on Fire
Series one
Fate Fire Shifter Dragon
Games of Fate
Flux of Skin
Fifth of Blood
Bonds Broken & Silent
All But Human
Men and Beasts
The Burning World
Dragon’s Fate and Other Stories
Series Two
Witch of the Midnight Blade
Witch of the Midnight Blade Part One
Witch of the Midnight Blade Part Two
Witch of the Midnight Blade Part Three
Witch of the Midnight Blade: The Complete Series
Series Three
World on Fire
Call of the Dragonslayer (coming soon)
Hot Contemporary Romance:
The Quidell Brothers
Thomas’s Muse
Daniel’s Fire
Robert’s Soul
Thomas’s Need
Quidell Brothers Box Set
Includes:
Thomas’s Muse
Daniel’s Fire
Roberts’s Soul
About the Author
Kris’s Science Fiction universe, World on Fire, brings her descriptive touch to the fantastic. Her Urban Fantasy series, Northern Creatures, sets her magic free. She’s traversed many storytelling worlds including dabbles in film and comic books, spent time as a talent agent and a textbook photo coordinator, as well written nonfiction. But she craved narrative and richly-textured worlds—and unexpected, true love.
Kris lives in Minnesota with one husband, two daughters, and three cats.
For more information
www.krisaustenradcliffe.com
