The War Priest (Ars Numina #5) - Ann Aguirre Page 0,2
to his displeasure, Gavriel was forced into close contact with Magda. For her part, although she was ostensibly guarding Raff as he courted the princess, Magda had a secondary personal mission – find out what happened to fellow cat Slay from Ash Valley who disappeared during a battle. Did Slay leave voluntarily to conspire with the enemy or was he taken captive? Surprisingly, Gavriel offered to help track Slay in the surrounding Eldritch territory.
Despite their outward differences, Gavriel and Magda were both loners tormented by their own secrets and hidden desires. Magda was haunted by a curse that kills any potential mate that she loves. Having lost two people to this horrific curse, Magda knew she was destined to be alone. With the princess no longer needing him, Gavriel figured there was not much reason for him to live, so why not seek a glorious death? Gavriel was also isolated by having had to keep his submissive sexual preferences a secret throughout his life. However, Gavriel’s deepest desires were revealed to Magda during an intense sparring session. Despite herself, Magda was intrigued and attracted to Gavriel and enjoyed playfully baiting him.
During their hunt for evidence that Slay had been transported through Eldritch territory, Magda and Gavriel were forced to fight some insurgent Eldritch loyal to Thalia’s deceased father. Ominously, those attackers appeared to be zombie-like killing machines. Finding out what transformed these warriors and who was behind it, became an imperative. Their enforced closeness gave Magda and Gavriel the unique opportunity to see beneath the masks they showed the world, to the damaged individuals underneath—and the more they discovered, the more attracted they became. To make sure her curse did not engage, Magda figured that a sexual liaison based on friendship and not the heart would be perfect. For the first time in his life, Gavriel felt free enough to experiment with his sexual desires.
As their hunt continued, they discovered a small group of Eldritch, starving and on the run from a civil war between various houses. But the real danger came from the Dead-eyed warriors who descended on Ancalen. These Deadeyes took a drug, gray tar, that appeared to remove their souls (or free will) and leave them merciless killing machines. Unable to abandon the survivors, Magda and Gavriel escorted the small band to Kelnora and safety even though it meant losing Slay’s trail. As Magda and Gavriel spent more time together protecting each other’s backs, the trust between them grew so that they felt comfortable sharing their pasts and the events that shaped them; including Magda’s curse and how Gavriel and his brother Oriel were abandoned to be raised by the Noxblade Guild.
Magda and Gavriel headed to Ancalen to learn more about the Deadeyes. Once there, they fought and destroyed the Deadeyes they found, but more importantly Magda discovered the drug was an Animari medicine from the Burnt Amber lab. Someone in the bear-shifter clan was illegally providing the medicine to the Eldritch. Unfortunately, during the fight Gavriel was badly wounded and poisoned. In a desperate attempt to save him, Magda gave him a transfusion using her own blood.
No sooner had Gavriel recovered when they received a desperate message from Daruvar informing them that Thalia’s cousin Tirael turned traitor and that Thalia was undertaking a perilous quest to kill her enemy Ruark Gilbraith. They returned to the fortress to await the outcome of Thalia’s dangerous mission. Thalia was triumphant and claimed the Silver Throne as queen. During Tirael’s coup attempt, Lileth, Thalia’s aide, was killed. Gavriel learned that Lileth left him a letter. In that letter was the confession that she was his mother and that he and his brother were born of her rape by Lord Talfayen. The news meant that Thalia and Tirael were his half-sisters. Devastated and angry, Gavriel turned to Magda for comfort and the two of them decided to leave to finish their previous task and find the rogue loyalist stronghold.
After informing Callum McRae, War Priest of Burnt Amber, what they had learned about gray tar and the traitor in his midst, they returned to Kelnora and heard of a suspicious group gathering on the Finger Islands. Magda and Gavriel were transported to the island where they discovered that it used to be Perlsea, the stronghold where secret Eldritch experiments led to the creation of the Golgoth race. With the element of surprise on their side, Magda and Gavriel fought and destroyed the rebel raider’s enclave. Gavriel blew up the stronghold, while Magda