The Horngate Witches

by

Diana Pharaoh Francis

Ages ago, the Guardians of the earth created an army of creatures—faeries, banshee, chimeras, oni, lamia, kelpies, angels . . . the Uncanny and Divine things that populate myth and legends that most humans suppose never really existed. It was an army meant to contain the human population, to keep them from overrunning the earth . . . hungry parasites taking more than the host can provide.

The army failed. The Guardians were too benevolent and did not prune back the weed of  humanity as severely as needed. As a result, cold iron took a heavy toll on the creatures of the Uncanny and Divine.

Centuries later, the Guardians have decided to act before it is too late—before the magic dies entirely.  This time, they are holding nothing back. Over centuries, the creatures of the Uncanny and Divine have grown less susceptible to iron, and they will no longer let mercy or pity get in the way of saving the earth and its magic.

A war is beginning, one that will remake the earth and decimate much of humanity.  It will move mountains and drain oceans.  Magical beings will once again walk the earth, more powerful than ever before.  A new army is rising, and the portents are here.  Fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanos . . . a collapsing bridge, a sinkhole swallowing a city block, a tidal wave to kill an island.

Witches will be at the heart of the war. They have kept the fires of magic burning for centuries. The Guardians call on them to lead the fight.  But uniting the witches is no easy task. Many are enemies, while others see the rising tide of magic as a chance to build empires.

Questions arise. Will anyone protect humanity?  Who will survive when the wars end?  The line in the sand between good and evil is smudged and crooked and right and wrong is impossible to know.  But no one will be left on the sidelines; everyone will have to choose sides.  And soon.

Bitter Night

A Horngate Witches book

In 1979, college senior MAX is kidnapped by a witch.  Decades older than her youthful appearance reveals, GISELLE is Max’s roomate and her best friend—the person Max trusts most in all the world.  And then, one dreadful night, she becomes Max’s captor. 

Over the next months, Giselle binds Max in chains of magic.  The witch carves spells into Max’s flesh and bones, spells to give her rapid healing, super-human strength, the ability to see in the dark, a knack for opening any lock, and much more.  Giselle makes Max a daithi—an elite fighting creature anchored to the elemental power of the lightless dark.  She can no longer survive the daylight.  Even moonlight is her enemy.  Her entire life is now lived in shadow and entirely subject to the whim of the witch who made her.  Her dreams of a career, of family and friends and a home—these have all been ripped away. 

The last thirty years of Max’s life have been marked by blood, violence and horror.  Max is different from any other daithi.  A few drops of witch blood runs in her veins.  Even this miniscule amount lends potency to the spells binding her, so that she is stronger, more powerful than any almost any other daithi.  But the blood also lends her the ability to resist Giselle’s magic so that in time, the bindings that control her loosen and Giselle must renew them.  But only torture and deprivation can break down Max’s resistance enough to permit the witch to work magic on her.  For years Max has suffered pain, terror and suffering beyond all imagining at Giselle’s hands.  This is not something she can forgive.  She doesn’t want to forgive. All Max dreams about, all she craves, is revenge on the one who made her this way.

And now at last, Max has finally got her chance.

The book starts with a murder that hasn't happened yet, and leads into the first skirmish of the coming war. Max is torn between her desire for revenge and a need to keep the people she cares about safe--she's hoping she can do both. But then, things start getting really ugly.

Max’s phone rang. It was set to a high-pitched sound that most humans couldn’t hear. But being human hadn’t been Max’s problem since 1979. She eyed her cell for a moment then answered.

“What?”

“Where are you?”

It was Giselle. Max felt her mouth tighten, the familiar burn of rage heating in her gut at the sound of the witch-bitch’s voice.

“Coming into Barstow,” she answered curtly.

“I want you to check out a nasty little murder near Julian. It tastes of both the Uncanny and the Divine. I don’t like it. It’s too close to the Convocation. Keep a low profile. Don’t risk yourself. Just look around and get out.”

Max’s lip curled. “Your wish is my command,” she said.

Silence. “Then I wish you wouldn’t be such an ass,” Giselle said in a clipped tone.

“And I wish you’d  kill yourself and put me out of my misery.” Max’s voice dropped, her hand clenching on the phone until she heard its plastic shell begin to crack. She relaxed her fingers with an effort. She had a spare cell, but she’d already broken one this month.

“Ah, too bad your wish is not my command. ”

“One of these days I will figure out a way to kill you.”

“You do that. In the meantime, get going to Julian. There’s an orchard north of town. That’s where it’s going to happen.”

“Going to?”

“In a couple of hours, give or take. You won’t get there in time to stop it. It’s fixed. I’ll see you in San Diego tomorrow. Is everyone in place?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”