For years now the harvest has been less than it should be. Last year the people of Oisin's village sacrificed a goat, but their god did not come. Now, in desperation, a human sacrifice has been suggested, and Oisin, recently orphaned and feeling life is not worth living, volunteers. But the god Belinos is not quite what he seems, and Oisin's sacrifice will not be what he expects, for Belinos first came out of the darkness to drink the sacrificial blood not because he was a god, but because he was a vampire. This is just the beginning of the changes to Oisin's life, as he is drawn further and further into a world of gods and magic, where the most unexpected thing is not even his own blossoming talent, but the blossoming feelings he has for Belinos. Love between mortal and immortal is not without its difficulties, though. As outright war among the gods threatens, Oisin will end up making a far greater difference in the conflict than he could ever have dreamed possible.

The Sacrifice

That was more or less what had killed his mother. It had nearly taken him as well. He had been backwards in the womb, and she had labored long, exhausting herself, and then torn badly pushing him out. She had never delivered the afterbirth either, and had died soon after despite all the midwife could do.


He felt himself near tears thinking on it. He’d missed a mother’s love, because of what seemed a cruel whim of fate. She’d delivered more than a dozen children, and then died because of him. Was it any wonder his father had been cold to him? Was it any wonder his siblings—forced to stand in for the mother they’d lost—had resented him?


Chapter 21