Major Arcana: Death Masquerade Short Stories, #1

By RoAnna Sylver

IN WHICH: In 19th-Century Venice, Italy, A Very Cool (And Familiar) Witch Informs A Homicide Inspector That He'd Better Get Used To Vampire Stories. He's In One.

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Someone is murdering by night, and leaving the bodies to burn in rings of fire outside cathedral doors. Holy Inspector Giovanni is here to get to the bottom of the horrors by any means necessary - starting with Letizia, a sharp-eyed and sharper-tongued witch who always, always knows more than she says.

Major Arcana contains tarot cards, mysteries, vampire fights, plague doctor masks, nonbinary fire witches, queer vampire-hunter witches, opera, intrigue, secrecy and snark. Enjoy the show.

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The first short story for Death Masquerade, upcoming serial novel from author RoAnna Sylver. Death Masquerade is a companion series to Stake Sauce, beginning hundreds of years and thousands of miles away. Despite the distance, the stories are deeply connected, and each holds secrets about the other. Both series are exclusively released on Patreon, until each 6-part arc is complete. The complete Stake Sauce Arc 1 releases October 2017!

• Language: English
• Publisher: RoAnna Sylver
• Release date: May 7, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386806349

RoAnna Sylver

RoAnna Sylver is passionate about stories that give hope, healing and even fun for queer, disabled and other marginalized people, and thinks we need a lot more. Aside from writing oddly optimistic dystopia and vampire books, RoAnna is a blogger, singer, and artist. RoAnna lives with family near Portland OR, and probably spends too much time playing videogames. The next adventure they would like is a nap in a pile of bunnies.

Book preview

DEATH MASQUERADE: MAJOR ARCANA

Copyright © 2017 by RoAnna Sylver.

Published by Kraken Collective Books.

krakencollectivebooks.com

All rights reserved.

Cover art by RoAnna Sylver.

Interior formatting by Key of Heart Designs.

Mask graphic by Freepik.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, trademarks, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Death Masquerade: Major ArcanaBy RoAnna Sylver

IN WHICH: In 19th-Century Venice, Italy, A Very Cool (And Familiar) Witch Informs A Homicide Inspector That He’d Better Get Used To Vampire Stories. He’s In One.

(One-Hundred And Fifty Years Before Stake Sauce, Act 1)

What is it you seek? the witch asked, smiling at her guest like the question had a right answer, which only she knew.

I want you to tell me who murders on full moons and burns the bodies outside cathedrals, said the man sitting before her. He did not look down at her hands, although they never stopped shuffling a deck of large, illustrated cards. This was the kind of fortune-telling he hadn’t put stock in a single day in his life. The world had rules, hard and fast. If some were more mysterious than others, that didn’t mean everything was suddenly true. I want you to tell me about the rings of fire.

That’s asking a lot, she said, dark brown eyes gleaming up at him, reflecting the low candlelight. Even for a Holy Inspector.

He didn’t trust the shadows any more than he trusted her. The small room was little more than a closet, curtains drawn over the windows despite the near-midnight hour. The only illumination came from a few flickering candles in corners, and one on the small table between them. The witch’s long-fingered hands flashed as she manipulated the cards, though her eyes never left his serious face for a moment.

If the question is beyond your expertise, I’ll be on my way. He spoke quietly, thoughts on streets outside, dark but far from silent, and the full moon