Reign: The Rise of the Lich: The Silver Blood Knight, #2

By Carol McKibben

They are Italy's only hope.

James, God's own appointed knight, a hybrid vampire wolf, a teenaged wizard, and a handful of kindred Lycans are the only barrier that stands between all of Italy and its destruction.

 

The corrupt politician, Matisse, has spent decades transforming himself into a Lich. Now that he can raise the dead, he leads masses of undead warriors across Italy, intent on killing every living soul in their path.

 

As heaven's small band struggles to stop the Lich and his unholy soldiers, other mythological predators arise, determined to destroy James and his friends.

With evil closing in on every side, will Heaven win?

 

Award winning author Carol McKibben has written 14 novels. Her two vampire mystery series, Snow Blood and Moon Blood, are narrated predominately by a wolf or dog. Carol also writes paranormal romance with her daughter Stephanie under the pseudonym of Penn Scripter. Together they have created The Demon of Reginhart and The Reincarnation of Charlie. When she's not writing, you'll find Carol training or showing her dressage competition horses.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Troll River Publications
• Release date: Apr 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781946454898

Carol McKibben

Carol McKibben was a magazine publisher for 20+ years. She has published Luke’s Tale, Riding Through It and the Snow Blood Vampire Mystery Thriller Series. Luke’s Tale and Snow Blood are targeted to a YA market. Luke’s Tale was included in the Summer Solstice Top 12 Book Pick List. Carol writes from the heart of a dog’s eyes. Her books help support her dog rescue efforts and focus on unconditional love.  Carol, her labradoodle Neo, lab Thor and Siberian Husky Ty are currently working on new adventures. Go to http://www.carolmckibben.com or email [e-mail].

Book preview

Reign:

Rise of the Lich

Book 2

The Silver Blood Knight Series

Carol McKibben

www.trollriverpub.com

REIGN: Rise of the Lich

The Silver Blood Knight (Book 2)

Copyright © 2023 Carol McKibben

eBook ISBN: 978-1-946454-89-8

Print ISBN: 978-1-946454-90-4

Cover Artist: Julia Rohwedder

Editor: Ravi Banthia

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, with the exception of a reviewer who may quote passages in a review, without written prior permission from the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, events, incidents and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

Join the fun with Author Carol McKibben for giveaways, updates and new release opportunities at:

http://www.carolmckibben.com/free-ebook.html

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE: Reign’s Vision

CHAPTER TWO: A Battle of Magic

CHAPTER THREE: Adam and the Morettis

CHAPTER FOUR: An Elaborate Ruse

CHAPTER FIVE: A Surprising Discovery

CHAPTER SIX: Attempted Blackmail and Death

CHAPTER SEVEN: Endless Plagues

DEAR READER

ABOUT CAROL MCKIBBEN

OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER ONE

Reign’s Vision

DESTINY PLOTS A course we must follow. It has been said that two kinds of destiny exist. One we can change, and one that cannot be altered.

All my life I had been told I was a miracle, born for a purpose with a destiny to fulfill.

As I sprawled in front of a roaring fire, one that I was unable to feel, I stared into the violet eyes of the boy who had a destiny that could not be changed.

Adam reached out and stroked my long salt-and-pepper fur as he squatted next to me in our new home outside of Rome. He was born to former vampires Brogio, the original bloodsucker, and Selene, his former Moon goddess mate that he had made kindred. Both were now human. That they were no longer kindred but had been restored to their former state had been no small miracle. It had been prophesized that their son would be the greatest wizard of all ages.

The teenager next to me was a fraud of sorts. He was the product of a spell, his conjuring, that replicated the five-year-old boy into his eighteen-year-old duplicate. He appeared as Adam in every way, only older. To placate his parents, this duplicate would remain with us until the real boy turned eighteen and was allowed to leave home and join us.

Teenaged Adam sat in disbelief at my recent vision, an ability I had inherited from Enzo, my sire. I’d just shared it with him, James, and the ten Moretti brothers, all scattered around our great room.

James and the Morettis were hybrid vampire Lycans, and their destinies had all been changed to match ours. I was a hybrid as well and the single male offspring of Moon, a blended she-wolf vampire, and her spirit wolf, Enzo. Their coupling was supposed to be an impossibility. I was living proof that it was not. Except for Adam, all of us were immortal.

Thoughts of my vision rambled through our collective brains telepathically. We were connected mentally. And we had all been anointed by God the Father’s angels as his warriors, created to fight against and rid the Earth of evil.

Thoughts of the newly formed Lich in my vision consumed us all.

James, to whom I had sworn my loyalty, knelt next to me. Run us through your vision one more time, Reign. Take us through it slowly.

I closed my eyes and replayed it for them.

I am in Rome at the Quirinal Palace, residence of the president of Italy. A man of 78 years of age sits in a chair near a large stone fireplace. The room is opulent, filled with art, and appears to be covered with gold ornaments everywhere.

I can see into the man’s soul. He is a corrupt politician. I read his mind. He is Sergio Matisse, and he used dark magic to become president of Italy. He strives for more... he wants... immortality.

He stands, and unto his soul is a black mire of soot that spins in perpetual hunger. I understand that he is a powerful magician, skilled in necromancy. He is amid a spell, a ritual he has repeated over many years. He holds up an object. It is an amulet. The round gold metal object is encrusted with what looks like emeralds and amethysts surrounding a small covered enclosure.

I watch as he places strips of parchment, containing arcane phrases inscribed on each strip, into the amulet’s pocket and snaps it shut.

The room seems to swirl around him. Voices in my head tell me that the amulet is a phylactery and that Matisse has spent his last twenty years repeating this ritual every night. The words in my head are a language so old that I can’t recognize it, and it is Matisse’s voice, raspy and sinister, whispering each word.

I feel the man’s magical powers that are only matched by his malevolence. Sinking to his knees, he pushes back the sleeve of his robe and places the amulet on his left arm facing his heart. I hear the words Bind my intellect and soul to this phylactery repeatedly. Then he murmurs, Store my soul and my life force here. He taps the amulet.

As he repeats the words, the amulet appears to sink into the skin of his arm. He stands, throws off the long maroon robe he is wearing, and reveals his shriveled nakedness. His words grow louder, and his face and body begin to change, becoming a creature with skin pulled over a skeletal-like frame. Horns break through the skin of his head and curl around his face. He screams in agony but endures it.

A servant enters the room. He, too, is old. He keeps his head bowed and never raises his eyes or looks upon Matisse. Have you succeeded this time, Master?

Matisse lets out a guttural roar, I am a Lich! I am invincible! Immune to any mental attack, poisons, diseases. Magical energy protects me, allows me to lead great masses of lesser undead warriors.

The servant kneels in front of the Lich. Test me, my Lord.

Matisse whirls toward the fireplace, pulls a sword off its display on the wall, and drives it into the servant’s heart, killing him.

As the servant dies, the Lich reaches for a needle and vial on the table next to his chair. Jabbing the needle into one of the veins in his arm, he draws a vial of blood and immediately injects it into the dead man’s jugular.

"You will be the first of my undead warriors. I will create an army of ghouls with supernatural powers. You will take my blood now within you and nightly turn others’ dead