Brimstone: Book One of the Forged by Magic Trilogy

By S. L. Gavyn

Working for Prima, an organization created to help right wrongs, she thought she was on the right side only to be manipulated by the leader of the company into stealing an ancient knife belonging to the one species on the planet that she had been avoiding at all costs...the Fey. It wasn't that she didn't like the Fey. Oh, she liked one particular Fey a little too much. It was her fear of those feelings that has had her keeping her distance. Because he was not just any Fey but their Dragon bound Prince who wants to claim her as his mate.
With her friend's life on the line she must travel to Scotland, seduce a Prince, and try to steal one of his people's relics. Only, nothing goes as planned. Her over-bearing brother in law, the Vampire King, sends an escort aiming to not only protect her but date her as well. She finds the Prince still has the same hold on her as before and that stealing from him is a lot harder than imagined. Things go horribly awry in the back alley of a Glasgow street and now she has another friend in need of her protection.
How will she juggle the lives of her friends while evading the one man her body craves like no other? Not to mention surviving the mission while being attacked at every corner. At least she has Brimstone to send those Demon back to Hell where they belong.

This is book one of the Forged by Magic Trilogy.
Iron Made - Book two is currently available.
Ange Noir - A prequel novella will be released Nov. 1, 2013
Dragon's Flame - Book three will be released Dec. 1, 2013

• Language: English
• Publisher: S. L. Gavyn
• Release date: Sep 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301035267

S. L. Gavyn

S.L. Gavyn lives in Mobile, Alabama with her husband, three children, two dogs, two betta fish, one guinea pig, and a tree frog that hangs out in her bathroom shower. She tries to write fantasy novels that are funny, interesting and adventurous with just the right amount of romance worked in. You can find her blogging about her books and various other things at slgavyn.wordpress.com.

Book preview

Brimstone

Book one of the Forged by Magic Trilogy

S. L. Gavyn

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 S. L. Gavyn

Discover more information about S. L. Gavyn’s books at http://www.Smashwords.com.

Thank you for downloading this free ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

For Jonathan.

What would I do without you?

I would have had to build my own damn deck, that’s what.

Other books by S. L. Gavyn

The Forged by Magic Series

Iron Made: Book Two

Dragon’s Flame: Book Three

Ange Noir: A Forged by Magic Prequel

Novella

The Avery Tywella Series

Darkened: Book One

Deadened: Book Two

Deceived: Book Three

The Fabled Series

Fable City TBR May 2014

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

EXCERPT FROM IRON MADE BOOK 2 OF THE

FORGED BY MAGIC TRILOGY

PREVIEW OF DARKENED: BOOK ONE OF THE AVERY TYWELLA SERIES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, I would like to thank my very best friend/ sound board/ that crazy person who’s always at my house, Christine. Without your encouragement, this story would probably still be floating around in my head. You might hear voices but I hear complete conversations. Thanks for not killing me like I’m sure you were envisioning on several occasions.

Next, I would like to thank my beta readers, Christine Harris and Mary Smyly, who helped me turn a story that was pretty good into a story I love. You guys rock.

Third, I would thank my husband for...well everything. Thanks for being my rock.

Last but not least, I would like to thank all those Indie authors out there who write such wonderful stories that I was encouraged to add my own to the mix. Hopefully, you don’t think it sucks.

One

No Twilight tonight

Would I sound too much like a TV evangelist if I screamed out Back to hell with you, Demon spawn! while standing on a sidewalk in the middle of the entertainment district in Mobile, Alabama? Yeah, probably. You know, there was a time in my life when that statement alone would have earned me a stay in a rubber room. But that just shows you how much my life has changed over the past few centuries.

Here I was minding my own when some low rate Demon starts trying to suck the soul out of a drunk skanky chick while standing on the sidewalk in front me. Seriously? He didn't even have the decency to take it to a back alley or her place? Not that that would make sucking her soul out any less wrong, I don't care how skanky she is. So being the good samaritan that I am I told the stupid Demon to stop. Which of course earned me a nasty look by StupidDemon. Mind your own business Human or I'll be tasting you next.

Pahleeease. Like I'd let that nasty piece of work touch me let alone suck my soul out. Fortunately, I knew something he didn't. Even though I look like your typical dark haired, blue eyed Human of average height, it was all due to the glamour that I wore. I mean, technically, I was dark haired and blue eyed but I was not Human. And it was the magic inside me that the glamour hid. That magic and my complete badassness were going to send this skank sucking Demon back to the dimension he came from.

Meanwhile, Skanky was looking at StupidDemon like he was the next Edward Cullen even going as far as to rub up against him and moan like she couldn't wait for him to take her life. I’m sure the mind whammy he put on her had her believing she was his Bella Swan. How lame.

I looked at StupidDemon, smiled and said, A, I'm not Human and B, I pulled my twin scimitars from the vail and pointed them at him. if you try to kiss me, I'll have to stick these up your ass. So, release the Human and we can finish this.

I really hate when they run. It makes me want to jerk them to a stop, slap them upside their head and tell them to grow a pair. But Demon are notorious runners when up against someone as strong as them and I think this Demon had finally figured out that I could kill him in my sleep. I wouldn't have put him higher in the Demon hierarchy than a messenger at best. So now instead of relaxing in my favorite pub enjoying a nice cold drink, I'm wading through muck up to my ankles. I guess I should feel lucky it's only to my ankles and not waist or neck deep. The marshes in The Port City get pretty deep until you just end up in the bay. And, how did I end up in the marshes from downtown? Well once he realized I wasn't what he thought I was, he took off like a bullet. It's not everyday that you see someone pull a weapon out of the vail and so he headed for the Bankhead tunnel (in which I was almost plowed over by a Buick), crossed Water Street and into the marshes.

There's a reason Mobile is called The Port City. You can't throw a stone without hitting water. The muck in the marshes is so thick and black all he would have to do is dive under and make his way to deeper water. It would be like looking for a needle in a hay stack. So, to end this game of tag, I decided to pull some energy from my surroundings to give myself a boost of speed. I could have used my own reserve of magic to make me faster but it’s better to save that for when I’m actually fighting, that way I don’t run out when I need it. It takes a few moments to pull from your environment and when you’re doing hand-to-hand every second counts. I really don’t like to absorb magic from my surroundings because it kills the plant and animal life that I take from, plus it feels weird. I guess the best way to explain it is like this, when I borrow energy from an Other I'm technically getting a piece of their essence (which they replenish within days) and it feels like them whether it's a Vamp, Were, Elve, etc. I never borrow from a Human because essentially I'm taking part of their life force which would cause their lifespan to be shortened. Depending on how much is borrowed, their life could be shortened by a few weeks or several years and Humans are here for such a short time already that it doesn't seem fair to borrow from it. Not to mention it's illegal. I wouldn’t want the Human’s Rights task force on my tail. There are some bad mofo’s working on those task forces and once they put your name out to all the divisions throughout the US you might as well consider your ass gone cause there isn’t any coming back from that. They consider crimes by Others that harm Humans premeditated and thereby punishable to the maximum extent of the law, which basically means your executed. Yeah, not the way I wanna go. So, pulling energy from Humans is a big no-no but Others are a good source of energy as long as they hold still. Of course you are supposed to have their permission. Supposed to. Plants and tiny bacteria are also a good source to draw from but they are so far away from what I am that their essence feels...well...weird. Sorry, I'm not very poetic.

The energy I received from my surroundings does just what I need it too. I quickly closed the fifty foot gap between me and the skank sucker in front of me and went to jump on his back. Only, he turned at the last second and used my momentum to throw me over him. I hit the water face first and then jumped up to go at him again. I suppose I should be thankful that it was mid-April and the water was already in the sixties. By the time I had righted myself in the waist-deep water the demon was already facing me.

I know who you are now. You are the immortal slave that poses as a Human. My master will be very pleased when I deliver him your soul.

You know what they say: Don’t count your chickens.

Yeah. Well tell your master to go fuck himself.

Like I said I’m not very poetic. I would have used my magic to freeze him in place or take control of the water and use it to hold him while I sent him back to this master of his but he wouldn’t hold still long enough for me to hit him with anything. Instead, he kept pacing an unpredictable path around me. He was actually smart for a low ranking demon which was surprising. Either he was young and hadn’t had time to make his way up to a higher level or just hadn’t figured out a way to kill his master so that he could take his place.

Since StupidDemon (yes, I’m still going to call him that even though I know he’s not really stupid he is a F-ing demon after all) wouldn’t hold still, I figured I had to take him out the old fashioned way. So, as he was making his circuit back around I reached into the vail, pulled out my Louisville slugger and in an attempt to have him sleeping with the fishes, swung it toward the vicinity of his mellon. I don’t know why but every time I fight with a bat (which isn’t often enough let me tell you) I tend to start using mobster jargon.

I got him in the back of the head and he was knocked off balance. He had to take several steps away from me to keep from falling into the water. I dropped my bat and took that opportunity to jump on his back which in retrospect wasn’t the smartest thing I could have done since it knocked us both into the water. But I held onto him for all I was worth even though he was twisting and flailing his arms looking for any means of escape. Unfortunately, I couldn't hold on to him and pull Brimstone from the vail, so I just held my breath and waited for him to run out of steam which took a few minutes. Yes, I can hold my breath for that long.

When he finally slowed down I pulled Brimstone, said the ritual in ancient Hellion that would bind him to Hell for the rest of eternity and plunged the five inch blade through his back, straight into his chest. The response was instantaneous, one moment he was there with me riding his back like some deformed spider monkey and the next he was gone. Which of course caused me to fall, again, into the muck. This was the suckiest Saturday night I've had in a long time and that's really saying something. Time to head home and shower. Repeatedly. Who knows what's in this slop.

Two

My own peeps

There's a little pub I like to frequent when I'm home that's called O'Malley's. Why's it called that, you ask. Hell if I know. It was originally opened by Alice and Henry Johnson back in the 80's. A few years later Henry died and Alice has been keeping it running ever since. She is one tough broad I'll tell ya. Nothing gets past her especially if it happens in her town. A few years back there was a gang that bought a building a few places down from her's and turned it into a club. They were selling drugs and hookers out of the back and roughing up unsuspecting people out front. Yeah, I think they made it a month before Alice decided to have a chat with them. At least that's what she called it. A week later there was a for sale sign in the front window and no one’s heard from the owner. Whether he decided to leave town or Alice sent him on a permanent vacation I don't know. And I'm not asking either.

I walked into O'Malley's a little after eight on Sunday night. I figured I wasn't going to let a demon get away with ruining my first weekend off in three months and I was going to have that drink dammit. Alice was nowhere to be seen but don't let that fool you. She was around, she just wasn't making her presence known. The pub itself looks like a hundred other Irish pubs. Over-sized booths ran along both walls with stained glass lamps hanging from the ceiling over each table. A huge bar sat in the middle with bottles of every kind of liquor you can think of stacked behind it and, of course, the customary angled mirror running along the top. Manning the bar tonight is my favorite bartender Dave.

What made Dave such a good bartender was not just the fact that he could make the best Bushwacker on the gulf coast or the fact that he is hotter than a tar road in July, with long dark hair and baby blue eyes (if only he batted for the other team), but that he always knows what I'm in the mood for. Like tonight, by the time I made it to a barstool and sat down he had already poured me a shot of rum and was in the process of making one of his famous Bushwackers. I once asked him if he snuck into my dreams at night to figure out my drink order. Being an Orrin aka Sleepwalker that was completely possible. He had just given me a sly smile and winked. I looked at my drinks now on the bar and then at him and raised an eyebrow.

He shrugged. You look like you could use both.

He was right of course. I've been working practically nonstop for the past few months and this was the first time I've made it home only to spend my first night back covered in muck.

Welcome home, by the way. His cajun accent made it sound more like bydeway.

I haven't been gone that long, I replied.

He shrugged again and said, You missed two...no, make that three boyfriends.

If you didn't change guys like you do your underwear I wouldn't have missed so much. But given the fact that they only averaged a month each, I don't suppose I missed much.

Don't hate just 'cause I have a love life. And I change my underwear a lot more often than once a month I'll have you know. I could let you check them out sometime if you’d like.

He waggled his eyebrows up and down to make his point. I decided to ignore that last comment since he was just joking anyway. I don’t think Dave has ever even tried the fairer sex before and I’m sure he’s not about to start now.

"No, you have a sex life. If they're only lasting a month it isn't love. Even you know that. And you go commando even I know that."

He pursed his lips and crossed his arms. You’re just jealous.

No, I like wearing under garments thanks.

He ignored my comment and leaned forward against the bar. Anyway. Me and Lucas are meeting up with Malcolm in Biloxi this weekend for a night of drunken gambling and shameless flirting. You know what they say. ‘What happens in Biloxi stays in Biloxi.’ And you look like you could use a night on the town.

I think you’re confusing it with Vegas. He rolled his eyes and I continued. Thanks, but I’m going to pass. The last time I went out with you and your boys I ended up lying to the local police about why you were dancing naked in the fountain outside the Beau Rivage. I know that cop didn’t believe for a moment that you were Water Nymphs dying of dehydration due to the extreme heat.

That is completely plausible around here.

It was November.

Thinking now was a good time to change the subject I said, So how's Alice?

A voice behind me said, She's as good as always. Lots better than you've been, dear. Those assholes at Prima are running you ragged. I really don't see why you don't tell them to 'stuff it' and go visit your own people.

Alice is a grandmotherly looking woman, that is if your family's the mob and it's run by the matriarch. She has short gray hair, a round figure and wears clothes typical of a lady of age. But it's the eyes that let you know she won't take shit from anyone. Slate gray and they don’t miss a thing.

"You all are 'my own people'. This is my home. And, I work for the Prima Orda because they are trying to