Oathbreaker: part of Warlocks: Uncollected Anthology, #14

By Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Nils wants nothing to do with his family or their magic. He hopes for nothing more than to live a normal life. Kasey offers him that life, but more importantly, she offers him love.

When Nils' father warns him against marriage, Nils refuses to listen.

He vows to fight his destiny and win. But at what cost?

Part of Warlocks, an Uncollected Anthology.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WMG Publishing
• Release date: Oct 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386651093

Kristine Kathryn Rusch

USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes in almost every genre. Generally, she uses her real name (Rusch) for most of her writing. Under that name, she publishes bestselling science fiction and fantasy, award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance. Her novels have made bestseller lists around the world and her short fiction has appeared in eighteen best of the year collections. She has won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov’s Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award. Publications from The Chicago Tribune to Booklist have included her Kris Nelscott mystery novels in their top-ten-best mystery novels of the year. The Nelscott books have received nominations for almost every award in the mystery field, including the best novel Edgar Award, and the Shamus Award. She writes goofy romance novels as award-winner Kristine Grayson, romantic suspense as Kristine Dexter, and futuristic sf as Kris DeLake.  She also edits. Beginning with work at the innovative publishing company, Pulphouse, followed by her award-winning tenure at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, she took fifteen years off before returning to editing with the original anthology series Fiction River, published by WMG Publishing. She acts as series editor with her husband, writer Dean Wesley Smith, and edits at least two anthologies in the series per year on her own. To keep up with everything she does, go to kriswrites.com and sign up for her newsletter. To track her many pen names and series, see their individual websites (krisnelscott.com, kristinegrayson.com, krisdelake.com, retrievalartist.com, divingintothewreck.com). She lives and occasionally sleeps in Oregon.

Book preview

Oathbreaker

Oathbreaker

Kristine Kathryn Rusch

WMG Publishing

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Uncollected Anthology, Issue 14: Warlocks

Uncollected Anthology

A Spice Most Demanding, Robert Jeschonek

Borrowed Magic, by Rebecca M. Senese

Deadbeats, Annie Reed

Hello Darkness, Michele Lang

No Magic in the World, Dayle A. Dermatis

One of the Smarter Ones, Stephanie Writt

Red Rose, Leslie Claire Walker

Transformations, Leah Cutter

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Also By Kristine Kathryn Rusch

About the Author

Copyright Information

September 29, 2008

i

Cue the Valkyries.

They’re going to be mad.

They have every right to be.

ii

Nils Ahlberg sits on the wooden bench across from the remains of his Soho townhouse, dust rising in a column toward the sky. The building has stood for two hundred years, been through only twelve owners, and was his pride and joy.

He paid cash—16.3 million dollars in cash—his bonus for 2004. The place had been turnkey, both modern and retaining some of its original charm. The damn thing had been featured on countless New York real estate shows, and some of the pundits had said he overpaid, just because the townhouse itself—and its remodel—had been so famous.

And now...it’s a crater between the other townhouses in the row. Bricks have tumbled into the perfectly apportioned basement. The bathtub that so easily fit two people (and a promise of more) is tipped on its side against one of the chimneys. The brick wall that he had loved—the original brick wall, part of the kitchen—still stands, but the rest of the eat-in kitchen, with its Calacata Regina marble and its high-end stove, has crumbled, like everything else.

He put out the fires himself with his brand-new powers. His father had made sure that all of his sons knew how to deflect expected disasters. Fires were expected. Excessive wind—expected. Snow, rain—all sorts of natural responses to a sudden appearance of magic—expected.

But this—no one had expected this.

And it’s his own damn fault.