The British Isles thought the vampire attacks had come to
an end after Adele destroyed them all using her geomancy.
However, new attacks in London have raised questions as
to whether the vampires have returned. Even worse, Adele
is questioning her own abilities as the earth in Britain
feels scarred, and she can no longer touch the rifts
within the land. Meanwhile, a different geomancer is
crafting jewelry for vampires that makes them immune to
Adele's geomancy. Is there a darker plan afoot? Adele and
Gareth will have to travel out of Britain if they hope to
save humanity from the vampires.
Clay and Susan Griffith blend the steampunk and vampire
genres together to create a richly layered and complex
world. I love that we get a look at the vampire politics
on the opposing side, particularly as we see the splits
occurring with the various factions. However, it was the
vampire monastery I like the best as Gareth begins to get
a glimpse of other vampires unlike the monarchy he is
accustomed to.
And oh, the characters—Clay and Susan Griffith make
characters you either love or hate! Gareth and Adele are
obviously the focus of the story and their romance would
appear doomed...and yet it seems to work. I do wish we'd
learned a bit more about Gareth's role as the Greyfriar,
but I suspect that was addressed in the earlier books of
the
Vampire Empire Trilogy.
Yidak, however, is a character I hope we meet again because
I
love the contrast between his bloodthirsty vampire side
and the peaceful calm he exhibits most of the time. Yidak
is completely unlike the nasty, vicious Hallow, and I
couldn't wait to see Hallow get her comeuppance.
THE GEOMANCER is the first book in the Vampire
Empire: A Gareth and Adele series and references many
of the
events of the
earlier books in the Vampire Empire trilogy.
However, THE
GEOMANCER starts a new story
arc and Clay and Susan Griffith provide enough of the
background history on the past battles between humans and
vampires as well as the impact of geomancy on the battles
that the reader can jump right into the story and enjoy
it. I can't wait to go back and read the earlier books
now that I have a taste for this fascinating world!
The first Gareth and Adele Novel, The Geomancer is the
start of an ongoing, character-based, urban fantasy
series
set in the same Vampire Empire universe as the authors’
previous trilogy!
The uneasy stalemate between vampires and humans is over.
Adele and Gareth are bringing order to a free Britain,
but
bloody murders in London raise the specter that Adele’s
geomancy is failing and the vampires might return. A new
power could tilt the balance back to the vampire clans. A
deranged human called the Witchfinder has surfaced on the
Continent, serving new vampire lords. This geomancer has
found a way to make vampires immune to geomancy and
intends
to give his masters the ability to kill humans on a
massive
scale.
The apocalyptic event in Edinburgh weakened Adele’s
geomantic abilities. If the Witchfinder can use geomancy
against humanity, she may not have the power to stop him.
If
she can’t, there is nowhere beyond his reach and no one
he
cannot kill.
From a Britain struggling to rebuild to the vampire
capital
of Paris, from the heart of the Equatorian Empire to a
vampire monastery in far-away Tibet, old friends and past
enemies return. Unexpected allies and terrible new
villains
arise. Adele and Gareth fight side-by-side as always, but
they can never be the same if they hope to survive.
Excerpt
This city is dead. Stop jumping at shadows.”
“It’s not dead,” came the return mumble. “I hear things
at night;
whispers, hissing.”
Ruins of jagged stone surrounded the two soldiers as they
made
their rounds. Once grand streets overflowed with dark
foliage and
twisted vines that had reclaimed their territory. Narrow
alleys buried
in perpetual shadow led to dim warrens and long abandoned
courtyards.
Debris that littered the ground included long discarded
garbage, crumbled
walls, and piles of bones covered in ash.
“There are no more monsters here in London,” the sergeant
insisted
sternly in Arabic. “They’re all gone. We’re here now to
see that it stays
safe. What you’re hearing is just the remains of the
vampires’ human
herds. They’ve taken refuge in what’s left of these old
buildings.”
The second trooper held up a lantern to ward off the
shadows that
appeared to creep closer. The trembling lantern barely
illuminated
five feet in front of them as they walked the darkened
path. Both men
clutched pistols.
The sergeant kicked a skull that hosted sharp canine
teeth. “I was at
Grenoble. I saw with my own eyes vampires turning to dust
before the
might of our empress. And she did worse here. None of
those monsters
can set foot on these consecrated lands.”
A low moan sounded from ahead and the lantern’s light
caught a
pale white shape. The young private gasped and his pistol
swung toward
the ghostly figure as it shuffled out of sight. “Was that
one of them—the
herds?”
“Probably. Let’s make sure. The damn fool wasn’t wearing
a stitch of
clothes. It will die of the cold for sure on a night like
this.”
“Why bother? If it’s stupid enough to stand out here,
maybe it isn’t
worth saving.”
“It’s been a slave its entire life. It doesn’t know any
better. But it’s
still human. Sort of.”
The two soldiers weaved toward the spot where they had
seen the
figure. Thin footprints in the light snow led them
further down an alley.
Amidst the rubble stood a building. The door was nothing
more than a
plank of wood, but that had been shoved to the side.
Shining their lanterns
into the dark structure, they called out in English, “We
are Equatorian
soldiers. We’ve come to check on you.”
Low whimpers answered, along with some shuffling sounds.
The
lantern light penetrated a corner where dirty blank faces
stared back.
Five pitiful human forms huddled together, their bony
arms clutching
one another. Rationed blankets lay crumpled at their
feet.
“Bah. They are even too stupid to know what a blanket is
for,” muttered
the nervous young trooper.
The sergeant stopped his companion’s grumble with a hard
hand on
his shoulder. There was another noise coming from the
dark. A highpitched
keening and then grunts like an animal foraging.
Trying to keep his hand steady, the private swung his
light. The
yellow beam illuminated a lone woman standing with head
bowed. She
was nude, swaying on her feet. She was young, maybe
twenty. Strands of
unkempt blond hair lay in a tangled curtain about her
face. This was the
pale figure that had led them to this place.
“Here now,” the young man spoke, his tone suddenly
softer, feeling
ashamed for his prior scorn. “You’re safe.”
It was then he realized that the grunting wasn’t coming
from her.
The shifting light caught the sudden reflected glow of an
animal’s eyes
just behind her.
“Something’s in here with them,” he shouted.
A clawed hand stroked the naked woman’s hair, almost
affectionately.
The creature smiled a rictus grin, sharp canines
flashing, and
licked her bare throat. The woman moaned and bowed low.
The sergeant’s lantern struck the same corner just as
three new
figures rose from the floor. Long arms dangled from thin
pale bodies.
They quivered and twitched, their muscles caught in some
sort of
palsied excitement. At their feet, four others crouched
over a pile of
prone bodies. Their heads jerked up and their grunting
quieted as gazes
locked onto new prey. Gaping mouths dripped black with
fresh blood
suckled from the torn throats of their victims.
The monsters had lured them here. The soldiers lifted
their pistols,
and gunfire boomed in the small chamber. The vampires
lunged from
the circles of light. Screams erupted as weapons and
lanterns tumbled to
the floor. The naked woman stood motionless, caught in a
fallen beam
of light, her expression slack as she watched the
sickening feast at the
doorway. She didn’t even blink, but stood waiting.
Then the lantern lights flickered out and the charnel
house went
dark.
Chapter 1
Adele walked through the weedy grounds of Greyfriars
kirkyard.
She found comfort in the long rows of funerary markers
and
in the crumbling church. Her fingers drifted across grave
markers that
were no longer legible. Mossy stone skulls stared at her
as she passed.
Heavy gates lay askew and black iron cages sat on the
ground, mortsafes
intended to keep out grave robbers.
A bright moon shone through the leaves, giving her a
shadow on
the grass. The air was warm and Adele wore only a
nightgown, which
she briefly thought odd. Buttercups swayed in clumps
below the tombs.
Crocuses grew along the walls of the church.
Footfalls through the grass brought Adele around. A
figure in a
long kimono of green silk came through the moonlight.
Short, compact,
powerful, the man strode toward Adele with a smile on his
face.
“Mamoru.” Adele was excited to see her old teacher. It
seemed like
it had been a long time. His presence usually brought
something new
and fascinating. He didn’t speak, although she longed to
hear his deep
voice. It was always reassuring.
She held out her hands to take his as he approached. “I’m
so
glad to see you. I was reading the last book you gave me,
and I have
a question about the permanent positioning of rifts in
the Earth.”
Adele felt his strong fingers intertwine with hers and a
familiar
warmth spread through her. “I have questions about
crystallography
as well.”
Her hands hurt. Mamoru was squeezing them. He stared at
her
with eyes like the iron gates on the graves around them.
He sneered and
twisted her hands. The pain drove her to her knees.
“Don’t,” Adele cried in confusion. “What have I done?”
He dragged her toward a stone sarcophagus. She struggled
but
found herself shoved flat until her back pressed against
the cold marble.
She didn’t move even after he released her hands, her
limbs strangely
numb. Bewilderment turned to terror.
Suddenly Adele stood beside Mamoru, looking at him as
well as
down at her own body where he had placed her atop the
sarcophagus.
She looked so young lying there. She watched as he
produced crystals
from his robe and placed one on her supine form.
Mamoru turned away and walked about the kirkyard. He
carried an
instrument that was something like a maritime sextant
with crystals at
principle points. He took readings with the scryer, set a
crystal carefully
on the ground, and then proceeded to chart a place for
another.
Adele followed him as he went about his complex task. She
pointed
back at her body lying on the crypt. “I beg you, don’t do
this. I’m your
student. And you taught my mother before me. I have
honored you for
all these years.”
Mamoru stopped with a yellow crystal in his hand and
regarded her.
He then set that stone on the ground. Without another
glance at her, he
returned to the tomb where she lay. Adele could feel the
power of the
Earth awaken under her feet. The life force of several
rifts roared in her
ears like the sound of water rushing through hidden
pipes.
“Get up!” Adele shouted at her immobile self on the moss-
speckled
tomb. That version of herself looked so young and
innocent. “Don’t be
afraid. You have the power to stop this!”
Mamoru made one final adjustment to the crystal that
rested on
the chest of her younger self. Adele stiffened as if she
were stone too.
Fire from the hungry Earth reached up and seized her. She
was dragged
down through the graves of Greyfriars. The skeletons
stared as she fell
far below their loamy houses. She felt the hellish heat
and smelled a sickening
mélange of scents from across the world. The normally
melodious
crystalline tones clanged and smashed around her. The
burning silver
rifts swept her along.
The power tore at her flesh, eating its way inside. It
swirled through
her, using her as a lens to focus itself. Then it ripped
out, surging back
into the rifts, spreading like flaming blood in the veins
of the Earth.
Far to the south of Edinburgh, across the border into
northern
England where the vampires lived, the dying began. The
creatures
sensed the coming wave only seconds before it struck.
From the ground
came silver fire that poured over them. They screamed
with a horrible
agony that none had ever known. They writhed and fell.
Their flesh
turned to ash leaving white bones scattered across the
countryside.
Adele turned her horrified eyes from the spreading
extinction she
had begun, and suddenly she was back in the kirkyard.
Dread filled her.
She knew what was coming. A familiar figure dropped like
a meteor
through the branches and smashed to the ground. Gareth.
He rose with
a face like death for Mamoru. Adele tried to shout at
Gareth to run. The
fires of the Earth struck him and he too twisted in
agony, just as all his
brethren had. Mamoru slammed him to the ground. Gareth
fought to
rise and Mamoru battered him again. Gareth struggled up
once more,
his sharp fangs bared.
Adele’s younger self finally stirred on the tomb, kicking
crystals
away. Swinging her feet over the edge, she sat up,
shoving the stupor
and the pain aside. She had her mother’s khukri in her
hand. She walked
unsteadily across the graveyard toward Mamoru, who
pressed his boot
on Gareth’s throat. Gareth grasped the man’s ankle, but
couldn’t find the
strength to shift it.
The young woman plunged the glowing dagger into Mamoru’s
back. He didn’t cry out. He simply turned and looked at
her as if he was
disappointed. Then he vanished in the moonlight.
Adele ran over to her younger self, who stood over Gareth
as he
writhed in agony in the dirt. Geysers of silver fire
erupted across the
cemetery. Gareth’s flesh turned red, then black. His face
cracked and
tore away. His outstretched hand shriveled. His horrible
cry faded and
his bones dropped smoldering in the grass.
Adele grabbed herself, trying to shake awareness into her
stunned
face. “Stop it! Don’t let Mamoru turn you into a tool of
extinction. It’s
your power, not his. It isn’t his choice.” She pointed at
the charred skeleton
of Gareth. “Save him!”
“I can’t,” she replied in a cracking voice Adele
remembered from
years ago. “It’s too late.”
An overwhelming helplessness gripped Adele. She fell to
her hands
and knees in the ashes of her lover and screamed.
The dark timbers of Edinburgh Castle abruptly hovered
above her.
Adele gasped and felt sweat dripping along the sides of
her neck. Her
heart pounded, nearly shaking the bed. She reached across
the mattress
to find it cold and empty.
Gareth had died. She hadn’t saved him in the kirkyard. He
was
gone. Adele couldn’t remember the days between that
terrible night
and this one. She could only remember the way he held her
in his arms.
If only she could go back to sleep and live in a dream
where they were
together.
A blast of cold wind scattered thick photographs from the
bed. A
tall shadow entered an open window. Gareth stood
silhouetted against
the grey skies. His blue eyes reflected in the dim
lamplight. He stared at
Adele for a long moment before swinging the glass shut.
“Adele.” His voice rumbled in the quiet.
Her hand gripped the covers beside her, along with the
pictures she
had been studying before she dozed off. Gareth stepped
down from the
windowsill. He wore his usual black trousers and white
shirt. His long
black hair was tousled from the wind.
“You’re alive.” Adele hadn’t wanted to say it out loud in
case it
might wake her up again.
His brow furrowed and he smiled. “I was only out for an
hour or
two.” He moved to the bed with a silent tread and took
her arms in his
firm grip. He was tall and elegant, but well-muscled. His
lips were soft
when he kissed her.
Adele clutched him tight.
“Another nightmare?” Gareth asked.
“Yes.” She pressed her face against his chilled chest.
“As always, I
couldn’t use my geomancy to save you, and I couldn’t stop
the death that
Mamoru started.”
“But you did.”
Adele pushed back against her pillows and pulled her
knees up. The
truth didn’t assuage her. Every time the nightmare
struck, she was left in
fuming helplessness. Over the months since the horrors of
that night, the
frequency of the dreams had lessened. However, when they
came they still
brought the same rage and she needed a moment to calm
herself.
Taking long breaths, she was surprised to see her face
across the
room in a wall mirror. She was olive skinned with
voluminous brunette
hair and the Persian features of her mother. However,
this face was different
from the one in the dream. Adele was only twenty years
old, but
her girlish features were overlaid with lines creasing
the corners of her
eyes and grey streaking her hair. She looked away from
the face that had
been born that night in the kirkyard and hastily changed
the subject.
“Were you writing, or out thinking?”
“No. I was feeding.”
“I thought your people came to the castle for you to
feed.”
“With your troops here in Edinburgh now, they’re
uncomfortable
passing by your soldiers.”
“Have there been any incidents? I’ll have Major Shirazi
deal with it.”
“No, but they feel the Equatorians look down on them for
providing
me with blood. So I go to them now to spare them the
embarrassment.”
Adele felt a twinge of sadness at his discomfort. “I’m
sorry. My
troops don’t understand yet that your people give their
blood willingly.
It’s so foreign to them.”
“I understand. They’ve never seen it before because it’s
never happened
before.” Gareth gathered the papers that had flown around
the room. He
looked at each of the pictures as he picked them up. Most
of them were
shots of Greyfriars kirkyard. “Perhaps you shouldn’t go
back there.”
“Why?” Adele asked with alarm as she crossed to the
fireplace to be
away from her reflection in the mirror.
“If you stayed away maybe the nightmares would stop.”
“I don’t want to stay away. Taking pictures has helped me
over the
last few months. It’s therapeutic.” She knelt to toss in
several chunks
of coal and jostled them with an iron rod. “I keep taking
pictures of
it expecting to see . . . something. Something from that
night. Burns.
Fire. Some proof that it happened in the real world. I
know what I did
that night, but the pictures all look normal.”
Gareth came up behind her, holding a stack of
photographs. “We
know it happened. We were both there. All the vampires
were scoured
from Britain. I died—”
“Stop.” Adele stared at the glowing embers. That night in
the kirkyard,
she had done more than just destroy all the vampires and
make the
island uninhabitable for them; she had silenced the power
of the Earth
here forever. Anywhere else in the world, the rifts would
sing to her.
But not in Britain or Scotland. It had taken several
months before she
stopped trying to find the rifts again, to touch the
warmth that she was
used to flowing at her fingertips. Adele knew that power
was still available
to her if she left the island, but she had grown oddly
content at its
absence. Now she was almost used to the silence and the
cold that surrounded
her in this place. A part of her felt like any other
normal human
being. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of
Gareth flipping
through the photos.
He said, “Pet is very photogenic.”
Adele smiled and rose. He was looking at a picture of a
grey cat
stretched out on his back, looking coyly into the camera.
There were
many other pictures of the cat and of the many other cats
who lived
around the castle. Gareth continued to shuffle through
the photos. Many
showed Edinburgh’s inhabitants at their daily chores. A
pretty young
woman smiled into the camera in a few of the shots. And
there were
other pictures of the stone city of Edinburgh in various
seasons and sunlight.
Soldiers of her personal guard lounging or training.
Townspeople
drinking, laughing, flirting.
Gareth nodded with approval. However, there was something
curious, a little disappointed, about his expression. He
obviously noticed
an absence among the photos. Adele took the stack from
his hands and
went to her desk. She pulled open a drawer and removed a
box.
“What’s that?” Gareth asked.
“Pictures of you.”
He tried to look surprised, but he couldn’t keep the
satisfaction off
his face. “I have my own box?”
Adele pulled out a pile of photos and set them on the
desk near a
flickering lamp. He joined her and saw an extraordinary
variety of pictures
of him. Some he posed for, but most she had taken when he
was
unaware. Sitting before the fire. Staring out the window.
As a distant
shape in the air above the castle. There was a picture of
him on the battlements
surrounded by a veritable herd of cats, with his hand
resting
idly on the back of one that arched happily under his
touch.
He flipped through a series of close-up pictures of his
hands. His
fingers were long. His fingernails were sharp and capable
of being
extended into claws. The photos showed his hands draped
along the
arms of chairs, holding books, settled on a tabletop,
holding a pen, and
grasping Adele’s hand.
Gareth looked up at her. “You seem fascinated by my
hands.”
“I am.” She placed her own over his, relishing the
roughness of his
hands. “They’re wonderful.”
“They are just hands.”
“No. They belong to a vampire. You have a diminished
sense of
touch compared to humans, and yet, look. Holding a pen.
Writing. You
use tools, unlike any of your kind. Your hands are
subtle. Facile. Elegant.
Powerful.” She kissed his fingers. “And yet gentle.”
His lips skimmed over hers, light as the air itself.
“Let’s go back to
bed.”
Adele took the photos and dropped them back in the box.
“I’m not
sleepy.”
Gareth swept her up off her feet. He clutched her tight
against his
chest as he leaned down and blew out the lamp. “Who said
anything
about sleep?”
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