Praise for Witch Blood
Any paranormal fan will be guaranteed a Top Pick read. Anya has provided it all in this hot new paranormal series. You get great suspense, vivid characters, and a world that just pops off the pages Not to be missed.
Night Owl Romance Reviews
Gritty danger and red-hot sensuality make this book and series smoking!
Romantic Times
Praise for Witch Fire
Deliciously sexy and intriguingly original.
New York Times bestselling author Angela Knight
Sizzling suspense and sexy magic are sure to propel this hot new series onto the charts. Bast is a talent to watch, and her magical world is one to revisit.
Romantic Times
A sensual feast sure to sate even the most finicky of palates. Richly drawn, dynamic characters dictate the direction of this fascinating story. You cant miss wish Anya.
A Romance Review
Fast-paced, edgy suspense The paranormal elements are fresh and original. This reader was immediately drawn into the story from the opening abduction, and obsessively read straight through to the dramatic final altercation. Bravo, Ms. Bast; Witch Fire is sure to be a fan favorite.
Paranormal Romance Reviews
A fabulously written ultimate romance. Anya Bast tells a really passionate story and leaves you wanting more The elemental
witch series will be a fantastic read.
The Romance Readers Connection
A terrific romantic fantasy starring two volatile lead characters The relationship between fire and air makes the tale a blast to read.
The Best Reviews
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WITCH BLOOD
A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author
PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / January 2009
Copyright (c) 2009 by Anya Bast.
Cover an by Tony Mauro.
Cover design by Rita Frangie.
Interior text design by Laura K. Corless.
All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-0-425-22553-0
BERKLEY(r) SENSATION
Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group.
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc..
375 Hudson Street. New York. New York 10014.
BERKLEY SENSATION and the B design are trademarks ol Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my mom,
thanks for your support in everything I do.
I love you more than I can say.
CHAPTER ONE
Twenty-three years as the handmaiden: of a daaeman had prepared Claire for many things, but not this. Nothing could have prepared her for this.
She huddled back against a brick wall, the cold seeping through her thin dress, and watched the inky shadows grow on the building opposite her. Discarded paper disturbed by the wind rustled over the pavement and a sudden bloom of voices and laughter came from the mouth of the alley and gradually faded away.
Still the shadows grew.
Claire glanced at the street beyond the pocket of shadows in which shed secreted herself, where pale yellow light from street lamps pooled on the sidewalk. She didnt think she could make it. She didnt think she could outrun them.
There were few people in the worldany of the worldswho could outrun a determined daaeman, especially an Atrika.
The alien earth sighed and shuddered far beyond the concrete beneath her feet, reacting to her dulled and confused magick. This place, this Earth, was nothing like she remembered. The place she barely recalled was green, soft, and redolent with fragrant, growing things. This place was hard and chilly. Too loud. It hurt her eyes with sharp edges and bright lights.
Part of her had longed to return to this place, even while most of her had feared it. Claire knew now shed been right to fear.
Pass me by. Please, pass by.
The odd dry tang of Rues magick still flavored the back of her mouth. The hot rush of it had faded to something bitter. It tingled through her body, giving her the shakes from time to time as her body struggled to contain this thing that was so much bigger than her. She wasnt meant to hold this power. She wasnt made for it. It wasnt hers. The elium, the most powerful weapon of the Ytrayi. Or at least, thats what she suspected it was. Whatever it was, the Atrika wanted it and that could only mean her death.
The only question was whether it would come slow or fast.
She squeezed her eyes shut, remembering. It had only happened yesterday, but it seemed like years had passed. When the Atrika had breached the palace defenses, Rue had taken her to the portal room with the intention of destroying the interdimensional doorway that bridged Earth and Eudae with her help.
But when the Atrika had broken into the chamber, Rue had blasted her with a ball of magick so strong it had momentarily taken her sense of sight, smell, and hearing. As hed meant it to, the blast had catapulted her backward, into the doorway. Rue had meant to destroy the portal after shed fallen through, and undoubtedly he had, but not before two Atrika had lunged in after her.
On the Earth side of the portal, shed taken one single moment to orient herself and then had lurched forward into a run for her life, knowing the Atrika would be fast behind her. Even though her stomach had been heaving with the aftermath of her fall through the doorway, even though her head had been ready to split like a too ripe melon, shed run.
But not fast enough. Not far enough. And she certainly hadnt hidden well enough.
Last night shed climbed a set of metal stairs and curled up on the top of a building to sleep with the sounds of a city she almost remembered, but not quite, below her. In the morning, forced to find food, shed climbed down and had done her level best to avoid the two Atrika shed known were hunting her.