Title: An Echo of Gods
Series: Briar Constance, Book Two
Author: Tallie Rose
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 03/07/2023
Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex
Pairing: Female/Female
Length: 87200
Genre: Fantasy, Fantasy, family-drama, gods, blood magic, lesbian, bisexual, nonbinary, witches, fae, murder, death, prime minister
Add to Goodreads
Description
The Gods are back.
Briar knew it wouldn’t be easy dealing with Eliana, but she thought the other Gods might help her. This is their problem, after all. But they don’t want to answer her call, and when they do, it’s always the same answer—blood, sacrifice, loss. All the things Briar doesn’t want to hear.
Still, with Bastianna and her group of Believers breathing down her neck, Briar has to figure out some way to banish the errant Goddess. She just hopes she can do it without losing everyone she loves.
An Echo of Gods
Tallie Rose © 2023
All Rights Reserved
Drumming her nails against her countertops, Briar stared at her phone. Four hours until they tried to summon Ortus. She’d barely been able to sleep last night but that was nothing new. She shouldn’t have told anyone her plan, she should have just tried, except Lillia was right—she was the better option.
But they called him the God of Death. And though those names had not been literal, as she had recently learned, there was still a reason for it. He lurked near deathbeds. He smelled of sweet decay.
She needed to think of something else and stop dwelling on everything that could go wrong. She picked up her phone. She didn’t know the number she needed but it was an easy search online. Really, it was too easy, there should be some kind of security. But of course she wouldn’t be the one to answer, a secretary would.
After Eliana had returned, she’d tried to call Evaria several times, unable to get the image of her lying on the ground out of her head. She didn’t know exactly what Evaria remembered but it wasn’t the bullshit story of being mugged she’d fed to the press.
All those interviews had done some good though. Evaria had won the open mayor position in Wesvick. It had been a quick, emergency election, reminiscent of the time after Soren’s father, Ansel, had stepped down, but this was happier. Nearly the whole city supported Evaria, who had always supported the arts and any renovation project.
Jenia Alvier would be in charge of Endlyia. Evaria Jakobson would be mayor. Wesvik’s citizens had partied in the street after her landslide election.
She’d kept the name after her speedy divorce. One day she was married, the next she wasn’t. The next she was running for mayor. She had still been bruised in her press conferences.
But Jakobson was how everyone knew her. Briar wondered if their affair played any part in that. Maybe it wasn’t only Briar. Perhaps there had been others.
“Hello. Mayor Jakobson’s office. How may I direct your call?” The voice on the other end was cheery and distracted. Briar could hear the secretary typing something on her computer.
“Good afternoon. This is Briar Constance. I was hoping I could speak with the mayor. It’s a bit urgent.”
“Oh…” The cheery façade disappeared, and the sound of the typing stopped. “Ms. Constance…I’m afraid—”
“Listen, I need you to tell Evaria it’s me and it’s an emergency…please.”
“Hold on.” The phone line went silent.
Briar pressed her head against the cold metal of her fridge. She just needed to talk to her, to see what she knew, to know she was okay. She needed Evaria to stop plaguing her dreams, her waking thoughts, the constant interruption of her day when she remembered the way she had laid on the ground. Bleeding. And Briar, chanting, aiding her attacker.
“Briar?” Evaria’s voice was curious and Briar’s shoulders sagged.
“Evie, I’m sorry to call your office but you wouldn’t answer your phone.” She was alive. Briar knew it of course, she’d seen her on the news, but hearing Evaria say her name had lifted some of the weight she had been carrying.
“I saw your calls.” There was the ice Briar had been expecting. “I don’t want to talk about—I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m the mayor.” It was flippant, avoiding the question and also a reminder. Evaria had moved quickly after the attack, grabbing all the power she had access to. The conversation was rapidly taking a downward spiral. It wasn’t something they should talk about over the phone.
The handle of the fridge bit into Briar’s back and she closed her eyes. “Let me get you lunch, a coffee, something. Please, Evaria. Please.” She couldn’t control what happened tonight with Lillia, but maybe she could do right by Evaria this time. At the very least she owed her the truth, and the warning that came with it.
“I’ve seen you with the Savros boy and some girl. What is this even about?”
Briar rolled her eyes. Of course Evaria was keeping up with her. “What did you tell me once? This is not a social call? We need to talk.”
“I don’t want to talk to you, Briar.”
Putting on her sweetest voice, she cradled the phone between her shoulder and ear, and rubbed her temples. “Evie, you have to talk about what happened. You can’t carry that around. I know what…” She sighed. “Let me buy you a coffee.”
“Goodbye, Briar.” The line went dead.
Well, as far as interactions with Evaria went that hadn’t been the worst. But now her mind was back on Lillia.
Purchase
NineStar Press | Books2Read
Amazon
Tallie Rose lives in Charleston, SC with two kids, five cats, two goldfish, and one dog. She spends her spare time thrifting, watching bad TV, and reading books.
Website | Facebook | Twitter
One lucky winner will receive a $50.00 NineStar Press Gift Code!
