an excerpt from
WICKED MAGIC
by Cheyenne McCray
© Copyright Cheyenne McCray, 2008.

Chapter 1

 

San Francisco

The vision came quick and strong and Rhiannon Castle’s heart beat so hard her chest ached.

She dropped to her knees on her apartment floor and tried to breathe as the vision swam before her eyes.

Ceithlenn. The evil goddess from Underworld.

Her hair literally flamed, her eyes were a deep red. She had fangs, claws, and huge leather wings.


The goddess was terrifying and fascinating all at once.

Rhiannon felt the force of Ceithlenn’s hunger as if it were her own belly that rumbled painfully. The knowledge that Ceithlenn hadn’t fed in the three days since leaving Underworld flowed into Rhiannon through the being’s thoughts. Darkness was Ceithlenn’s friend as she swooped through the San Francisco skyline searching for a victim or two.

The goddess dropped silently in a crouch behind a man with a pink Mohawk. She watched him for a moment while she perched on the cracked sidewalk with her clawed hands resting between her thighs. In Underworld there had been no humans to dine on .
. . and they looked delicious.

Rhiannon stomach churned.

Ceithlenn extended her sharp claws as she moved her hand to the side. She slowly scraped her nails across the cement, making a deep, ominous scratching sound.

It came to Rhiannon, then. Ceithlenn was waiting for her victim to acknowledge her. She wanted to experience the delight of the man seeing death staring him in the face. She studied her prey intently and swiped her tongue between her lips before giving a low roar like a tiger.

The moment Ceithlenn growled, the guy came to a sudden stop. From out of his jacket sleeve he flipped open a switchblade and whirled to see what or who was behind him.

The moment the guy saw Ceithlenn, his eyes went wide. “What the fuck?”

With one flap of her great wings Ceithlenn leapt and bore down on the man, slamming him to the concrete.

His knife skittered across the sidewalk. He started to shout but she sank her fangs into his throat before a sound could leave him.

Rhiannon nearly screamed as blood spurted. She felt the warm fluid in her mouth, flowing down her throat, with a thick metallic taste. She sensed Ceithlenn’s thrill as she dined on the human’s flesh. The sickening sweet taste of flesh followed by blood.

And then power. Ceithlenn sucked up the dying man’s soul, drawing it into her until his final death rattle. The potency of absorbing the human’s soul was electrifying. The burst Ceithlenn felt in her magical strength was unreal.

As realization dawned so did her delight . . . she could absorb a human’s soul and magnify her own powers. That was something she had never been able to do with any other living creature or being.

Rhiannon trembled and almost threw up as the vision held her captive and Ceithlenn dined until filled. Until all that was left were bones with bits of meat clinging to them.
Rhiannon felt the goddess’s satisfaction and triumph—and the thrill of her discovery.

Souls. She needed more human souls.

For a moment Ceithlenn scowled. Looked around her, then sniffed the air as if sensing or scenting someone.

Rhiannon recoiled. Was Ceithlenn feeling Rhiannon’s presence?

Ceithlenn scowled again then took to the air, flapping her great leather wings. Rhiannon felt Ceithlenn’s rush of ecstasy as she circled the city. Sated for now and satisfied with her discovery, the goddess headed to her lair.

Ceithlenn looked over her shoulder, as if looking directly at Rhiannon and growled.

Rhiannon felt the darkness then, the recognition of the Shadows buried deep inside her—

And that the goddess recognized it, too.

Rhiannon gasped and cried out as she jerked back to reality. Her eyelids popped open to see that she was in her own apartment.

Her sight blurred and she could hardly breathe. Bile rose in her throat as she tried to ignore the tastes still in her mouth, but she couldn’t handle it any longer.

She scrambled up from the floor of her living room and fled for the bathroom. She fell to the linoleum, hit her knees, and puked into the toilet until nothing was left. She felt as though her stomach would come up her throat.

Rhiannon spit the acidic taste from her mouth and found she no longer felt or tasted flesh and blood on her tongue. But the thought caused her to dry heave so that her sides ached from it.

When she stood to rinse out her mouth in the sink, she caught a glimpse in the mirror of her moon-white face. The usually pale scars slashed across one cheek by the queen of the Fomorii demons stood out like red trails. Sweat had broken out on her forehead and glistened in the bathroom light. She looked away from the mirror, washed her face, swished water in her mouth, and brushed her teeth.

Her mind was a jumble as she stumbled from the bathroom, into her bedroom.
Had Ceithlenn seen her?

Worse yet, had the goddess seen the Shadows?

Before Rhiannon reached her bed, she dropped to the carpet and passed out from exhaustion.

And fear.

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