Kresley Cole - Wicked Deeds on a Winters Night (Immortals After Dark, Book 3)

Wicked Deeds

on a

Winter's Night

Valkyrie 04

KRESLEY COLE

cover

This book is dedicated to the warm, witty, and amazing BethKendrick, because were good enough friends to say,Isnt itabout time you dedicated a book to me?and How boutthat book dedication?

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge the wonderful short poem The Witch in the Glass by Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt (1836

1919), which I use within this book, and which inspired the character of Mariketa the Awaited, as wel as her unique talents.

Glossary of Terms

from the

Living Book of Lore

The Lore

... and those sentient creatures that are not human shall beunited in one stratum, coexisting with, yet secret from,mans.

The Lykae Clan

A proud, strapping warrior of the Keltoi People (or HiddenPeople, later known as Celts) was taken in his prime by amaddened wolf. The warrior rose from the dead, now animmortal, with the spirit of the beast latent within him. Hedisplayed the wolfs traits: the need for touch, an intenseloyalty to its kind, an animal craving for the delights of theflesh.

Sometimes the beast rises...

Also cal ed werewolves, war-wolds.

Enemies of the Vampire Horde.

The Talismans Hie

A treacherous and grueling scavengers hunt for magickaltalismans, amulets, and other mystical riches over theentireworld.

The rules forbid kil inguntil the final round. Any other trickery or violence is encouraged.

Held every two hundred fifty years.

Hosted by Riora, the goddess of impossibility.

The House of Witches

... immortal possessors of magickal talents, practitioners ofgood and evil.

Mystical mercenaries who sel their spel s.

Separated into five castes: warrior, healer, enchantress, conjurer, and seeress.

Led by Mariketa the Awaited

The Valkyrie

When a maiden warrior screams for courage as she dies inbattle, Wden and Freya heed her call. The two gods giveuplightning to strike her, rescuing her to their hall, andpreserving her courage forever in the form of the maidensimmortalValkyrie daughter.

Take sustenance from the electrical energy of the earth, sharing it in one col ective power, and give it back with their emotions in the form of lightning.

Possess preternatural strength and speed.

Without training, they can be mesmerized by shining objects and jewels.

Also cal ed Swan Maidens, Shield Maidens.

Enemies of the Vampire Horde.

The Vampires

Two warring factions, the Horde and the Forbearer Army.

Each vampire seeks his Bride, his eternal wife, and walks as the living dead until he finds her.

A Bride wil render his body ful y alive, giving him breath and making his heart beat, a process known as blooding.

Tracing is teleporting, the vampires means of travel. A vampire can only trace to destinations hes previously been.

The Horde

In the first chaos of the Lore, a brotherhood of vampiresdominated, by relying on their cold nature, worship of logic,and absence of mercy. They sprang from the harsh steppesof Dacia and migrated to Russia, though some say a secretenclave, the Daci, live in Dacia still.

Distinguished by their red eyes, a side effect of drinking victims to death.

Enemies of most factions in the Lore.

The Forbearers

... his crown stolen, Kristoff, the rightful Horde king, stalkedthe battlefields of antiquity seeking the strongest, mostvaliant human warriors as they died, earning him the nameof Gravewalker. He offered eternal life in exchange foreternalfealty to him and his growing army.

An army of vampires consisting of turned humans, who do not drink blood directly from the flesh.

Kristoff was raised as a human and then lived among them.

He and his army know little of the Lore.

Enemies of the Horde.

The Demonarchies

The demons are as varied as the bands of man...

A col ection of demon dynasties. Some kingdoms al y with the Horde.

Most demon breeds can trace like vampires.

The Furiae

If you do evil, beg for punishmentbefore they come...

Ruthless she-warriors bent on delivering justice to evil men when they escape it elsewhere.

Led by Alecta the Unyielding One.

Also cal ed Furies, Erinyes.

Berserkers

A berserkers lonely life is filled with naught but battle rageand bloodlust...

A cadre of warriors who swore al egiance to Wden, known for their merciless brutality.

Though some are immortal through resurrection, most are mortalone of the few human orders to be recognized and accepted by the Lore.

Able to conjure the spirit of the bear, and channel its ferocity.

The Wraiths

... their origin unknown, their presence chilling.

Spectral, howling beings. Undefeatable and, for the most part, uncontrol able.

Also cal ed the Ancient Scourge.

The Turning

Only through death can one become an other.

Some beings, like the Lykae, vampires, and demons, can turn a human or even other Lore creatures into their kind through differing means, but the catalyst for change is always death, and success is not guaranteed.

The Accession

And a time shall pass that all immortal beings in the Lore,from the Valkyrie, vampire, Lykae, and demon factions, tothephantoms, shifters, fey, and sirens... must fight anddestroy each other.

A kind of mystical checks-and-balances system for an ever-growing population of immortals.

Occurs every five hundred years. Or right now...

Love spells are a lot like platform diving. Once you start theprocess, theres no going back, and the end will be fugly ifyou dont know what the hell youre doing.

Mariketa the Awaited Mercenary of the Wiccae, Future Leader of the House of Witches

Witches are good for one thing and only one thing. Tinder.

Bowen Graeme MacRieve

Third in line for the Lykae throne

The Forest of Three Bridges

Winter 1827

It wants to mark my flesh... The ful moon beat light down on a canvas of snow and barren trees, making Mariahs hunter green dress glow as distinctly as a beacon for the beast pursuing her.

Mark me with its teeth, she thought wildly as she leapt across an icy rivulet. When the beasts frenzied roar echoed through the forest, she stumbled at the embankment. Frantical y scrambling up, she continued her flight for home.

Birch branches clawed at her hair and raked her cold-numbed face. As she twisted from their grasp, snow began to fal once more, blurring her vision. Another bel ow in the dark silenced night creatures; the sound of her ragged breaths became deafening.

Bowen, the man shed loved since she was a girl, had warned her of the ful moon, preparing her: I wil change, Mariah. I canna control it. And you are vulnerable to harm stil ...

Shed insisted on meeting him this night, because shed known how critical this time was for himand because she was anxious to make up for denying his desires again and again. But then, at this last hour, her courage failed her. She