Anthem of Ashes: Book 9 in the Spellsinger Series Read online

  “Not him,” Cer said grimly.

  “Shit,” I muttered. “What did Kasteo do now?”

  “He stole something from the Demos Family.”

  “Fuck!”

  “Yeah.”

  The Demos Family. Shit. Humans aren't the only ones with mobsters; the Beneath has crime families too. Most of them worked from the safety of Beneather Bazaars, where they didn't have to worry about pesky things like laws. But the problem is; they don't stay in the Bazaars. They had spread their filthy empires out across the globe, and the Demos Family was one of the biggest in the Beneath.

  “Fucking Satyrs,” I growled.

  I'm not saying that all Satyrs are bad news. I've met some lovely ones. But I didn't have to explain my comment to Cerberus. He knew that I was cursing these particular satyrs. The satyrs who run the Demos Family; starting with the head satyr, Philip Demos. He's as nasty as you can get and so is his family. Drugs, prostitutes, assassins; he offers it all. Not that I had room to point fingers; I had been a supernatural fixer once and murder had been on the list of services I offered. But I had been discriminating in my choice of client and in my targets. No children and no animals are to be hurt. Not ever. And I don't work for assholes. Philip Demos has no such limitations. But then he rarely had to do the dirty work himself; his “family” of goons did everything for him. The only murder or mayhem Philip participates in are those he wants to be a part of. And that happened more often than you might think.

  “What did Kas take?” I growled. “Beneather drugs?”

  “Come on.” Cer rolled his eyes. “Do you really think he's changed that much?”

  “No. He seemed just the same as always.”

  “And he is. So, what do you think would prompt Kasteo, the most annoying cat burglar ever born, into stealing from the most notorious Beneather syndicate on Earth?”

  “If I thought a woman could be stolen, that's what I'd say,” I huffed. “I could totally see Kasteo pulling a Paris.”

  Cerberus just stared at me.

  “He stole a woman from them?!” I shrieked. “From who, exactly?”

  “This wasn't someone's mistress, El,” Cerberus' voice dropped into dangerous tones. Whatever this was about, it had pissed off the Hellhound. “Kas rescued this girl. He snatched her right out from beneath their noses.”

  “Rescued her from what?” Gage asked as he and Darc stepped into the room.

  “Sorry about the shriek.” I grimaced; that had to have been what drew them downstairs.

  “It's okay, babe.” Gage waved it away. “Who was this girl rescued from?”

  “The Demos Family,” I said. “They're bad news, and they're strong in numbers, reach, and magic. They have a damn army of beneathers composed of several races.”

  “To answer your first question”—Cerberus slid me a shaky look—“Kasteo rescued the girl from an auction house.”

  “An auction house?” Darc asked in confusion.

  My jaw clenched. I couldn't get the words past my bared teeth to answer my husband.

  “She was being sold into sexual slavery,” Cerberus explained. “They abducted her, and several others like her, right off planet Olympus and brought them here to sell in a secret auction.”

  “It doesn't matter, does it?” I asked wearily. “Beneather or human, they all have that urge to control someone weaker than themselves.”

  “Yeah; there are motherfuckers in every race,” Cerberus agreed. “But let's not get weepy it. Let's just kick their furry asses.”

  “You want Elaria to go up against this group of criminals because her friend rescued a girl?” Darc asked in surprise.

  “Kas will be hunted,” I tried to explain. “Neither he nor this girl will ever be safe again.”

  “She's a nymph,” Cerberus growled as if that made it even worse.

  In a way, it did. Nymphs are the most gentle race to come from the Greek Realm—previously known as the Greeca Realm. They're farmers mostly; they love nature almost as much as Shining Ones do. And pleasure. A nymph, be they male or female—and yes; there are male nymphs, that's how you get baby nymphs—will happily lie down in a field of flowers and share an intimate afternoon with a complete stranger. They are the original Flower Children. But force them into a sexual act, and you destroy them. You take something beautiful and precious to them—something sacred that they freely give—and you make it base and disgusting. That tears at their minds, and most nymphs who are raped never come back from it. They experience mental breaks so terrible that it's practically a lobotomy... which turns them into the perfect slaves. You never have to worry about a broken nymph fighting back or trying to run away. They will do exactly as they're told. Which is the only reason beneathers rape nymphs.

  “They're stealing nymphs from their home planet, breaking them, and selling them into slavery?” I snarled.

  “Yep.” Cerberus had his face set into fighting lines.

  Women are his weakness; always have been. Put Cerberus on a battlefield, and he will fight a woman without issue. It's his opinion that she's there voluntarily and knows what she's gotten into. But hurt a woman off the field of battle, and the Hound of Hades will go into a frothing fit. To Cer, we are not the weaker sex, but we are the softer one; the one that gives him comfort and pleasure. To harm one of us dishonorably is an atrocity that my bestie will not stand for. In fact, it was how we had become best friends, in the first place. Cer rescued me from a drunken jerk who followed me out of the bar I'd worked at. I'd been gagged and helpless while the asshole tried to rape me in an alley, and Cer had literally torn him a new one. A few new ones. Neither of us could allow this shit to happen.

  “You should have brought Kas and the nymph here,” I chided Cer. “This is the one place where they'd be safe from the Demos Family.”

  “He did.” Kasteo sauntered out of my kitchen with his brother, Kosmos, and a beautiful woman with haunted eyes and a hunched posture between them.

  “Kas!” I cried in relief and went to hug him.

  Kasteo laughed and hugged me back. “I wasn't sure we'd be welcome so I made Cer talk to you first.”

  “Of course, you're welcome.” I looked from him to Kosmos and then to the nymph. “All of you. Hi, I'm Elaria.”

  “Helene,” she said softly. “Thank you for granting us sanctuary, Spellsinger.”

  I let out a startled laugh, and the Nymph's eyes widened.

  “What did I say?” She asked.

  “Sorry.” I waved her concern away. “It's your name. I just told Cerberus that I could imagine Kas pulling a Paris.”

  “And here's Helen of Troy herself,” Kasteo concluded. “Yeah, I'm a hero, I know.” He winked at me. “But I'm no Paris; that guy was a fucking pussy.”

  Grammar Giggles

  And just for a little giggle, here are some grammar mistakes found during the editing of this book.

  Correct Line: As he did, I eased his shaft inside me.

  Giggle: As he did, I eased his shaft inside mine. (That not only sounds disturbing, it also sounds painful.)

  Correct Line: I cried out in surprise as he lifted my legs over his shoulders, pushed me further onto the bed, and started licking me from the strangest angle; an angle that worked.

  Giggle: I cried out in surprise as he lifted my legs over his shoulders, pushed me further onto the bed, and started licking me from the strangest angel; an angle that worked. (A strange angel indeed.)

  Pronunciation Guide/ Character List

  I'm trying to limit these to characters who appear in more than one book.

  Aaro Devon: Gargoyle, Slate's older brother

  Adam MacLaine: Human client

  Aoide: E-da, Elaria's aunt and siren

  Arnet: Are-net, Knight of Flourite

  Ava: A-vah, Queen of Sapphire

  Banning: Ban-ing, Gheara of the Kansas Gura

  Barret: Bare-it, Commander of Chrysocolla Army

  Binx Devon: Gargoyle, Slate's younger brother

  Bran:
Bran, King of Garnet

  Branna: Bra-nah, Duchess of Jade

  Carrick: Care-ick, Knight of Onyx

  Cerberus: Ser-bur-us, Demi-god dog-shifter

  Cyrus: King of Copper

  Danyon: A leader of the Coral Court

  Darcraxis: Dar-cracks-es Ex-God of Darkness, Water, and Earth.

  Declan: Deck-lan, King of Alexandrite

  Diana: Blooder of the Sofia Gura

  Edmond: King of Jet

  Eileen: I-lean, Queen of Copper

  Elaria: Eh-lar-ee-ah, spellsinger

  Finbar: Fin-bar, Duke of Sapphire

  Gage Saeiqa: Gauge Sah-E-kah, griffin

  Galen: Gay-lin, King of Sapphire

  Garret: Gare-it, King of Topaz

  Gerard: Jare-rod, Knight of Onyx

  Giovanni Borgia: Blooder gheara

  Hugh: Hew, Knight of Onyx

  Isandra: I-san-dra, Queen of Diamond

  Jack Armstrong: Loup

  Jameson: Jay-meh-son, Knight of Fluorite

  Janae: a mermaid

  Jarlath: Jar-leth, King of Diamond

  Jonah Malone: Human gangster

  Kalliope: Kah-lie-oh-pee, Elaria's mother and a siren

  Kean: Key-in, Knight of Howlite

  Lorcan: Lore-can, King of Copper

  Maeve: May-ve, Queen of Peridot

  Moirin: Moy-rin, Queen of Tiger's Eye

  Mrs Chadwick: Adam MacLaine's housekeeper

  Niall, Nigh-all, King of Citrine

  Odran: O-drawn, King of Howlite

  Oonagh: Oooh-nah, Queen of Snowflake Obsidian

  Parthalon: Par-tha-lawn, King of Jade

  Quinlan: Kwin-lahn, Alchemist

  Riona: Ree-oh-nah, Queen of Malachite

  Sara: Sare-rah, pink tourmaline fey.

  Shani: female sphinx

  Shauna: Shah-na, Queen of Amethyst

  Shevaun: Sheh-von, Queen of Chrysocolla

  Slate Devon: Zone Lord of the Oregon Zone, gargoyle

  Sorin Iliescu: Blooder King

  Teagan: Tee-gan, Queen of Jet

  Tell: Asrai of Sgáthan

  Tír na nÓg: Tier-nah-n'awhg, Realm of the Fairies, the Land of Youth

  Torin: Tore-in, King of Onyx

  About the Author

  Amy Sumida is the Internationally Acclaimed author of the Award-Winning Godhunter Series, the bestselling fantasy paranormal Twilight Court Series, the Beyond the Godhunter Series, the music-oriented paranormal Spellsinger Series, the superhero Spectra Series, and the retold fairy tale collections of the Happily Harem After Series. Her books have been translated into several languages, have made it to the top 10 of the bestseller's list on Amazon numerous times, and the first book in her Spellsinger Series won a publishing contract with Kindle Press.

  She was born and raised in Hawaii and brings her unique island perspective to all of her books. She doesn't believe in using pen names, saving the fiction for her stories. She's known for her kick-ass heroines who always have a witty comeback ready, and her strong, supporting male characters who manage to be sensitive and alpha all at once.

  For information on new releases, detailed character descriptions, and an in-depth look into the worlds of the Godhunter, the Twilight Court, the Spellsinger, Spectra, and the Happily Harem After Series, check out Amy's website;

  http://www.amysumida.com/

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  And you can find her entire collection of books, along with some personal recommendations, at her Amazon Author Page:

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