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

Bel drank of him for a very long time, and Oisin stood and watched, feeling a kind of cold satisfaction. Alitius let out a low, whimpering sound of terror and began to sag in Bel’s grip. Bel held him up, still drinking, as he went more and more pale, his eyes rolling back in his head. Finally Bel let him fall, and he lay still on the ground. Bel turned him over with a foot, none too gently, and scowled down at him. “He yet lives.”


Oisin walked up and looked down at Alitius. He looked thin, and far paler than he had been, but he could see him breathing faintly, and his eyes cracked open again into hate-filled slits. Oisin frowned faintly, a thought trying to work its way through his head. A god couldn’t be killed. But perhaps one could be bound. The new thing in the back of his mind reminded him that he was Saint Raphael now, the binder of demons. And if a saint was another kind of god, what was a demon? He grinned then and crouched beside Alitius.


Chapter 71