Cat Adams - Blood Song

Tor Books by Cat Adams

Magic’s Design

BLOOD SINGER

Blood Song

Tor Books by C. T. Adams and Cathy Clamp

TALES OF THE SAZI

Hunter’s Moon

Moon’s Web

Captive Moon

Howling Moon

Moon’s Fury

Timeless Moon

Cold Moon Rising

Serpent Moon

THE THRALL

Touch of Evil

Touch of Madness

Touch of Darkness

CAT ADAMS

CAT ADAMS

BLOOD

SONG

A Tom Doherty Associates Book

New York

This is a work of fiction. Al of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are

used fictitiously.

BLOOD SONG

Copyright © 2010 by C. T. Adams and Cathy Clamp

Al rights reserved.

A Tor Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

175 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10010

www.tor-forge.com

Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

ISBN 978-0-7653-2494-8

First Edition: June 2010

Printed in the United States of America

0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

DEDICATION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and always, we would like to thank Cathy’s husband, Don, and Cie’s son, James, for unstinting support and believing in us. Also to our wonderful

agent, Merrilee Heifetz; her able assistant; our editor; and the throng of other folks who help bring a book from the idea stage to actual, written words

on the page. Special thanks to our friends and family, and the other writers who offer understanding when we need it.

Cie would like to specifical y thank her brother, Tim, whose inexhaustible knowledge of basebal helped more than we can say. Even though we

didn’t get to put much of what he told us on the page, it was necessary to know for setting the scene. Special thanks go out to the folks at McAnal y’s

Pub on Jim Butcher’s forum, and particularly Lord Nedd for the use of the fez. For the record, there are a couple of instances of homage to Jim

Butcher in this book. In this case, imitation real y is meant as the sincerest form of flattery, as we find his books to be bril iant.

Last, but not least, thanks to you, the readers, for coming along for the ride. We hope you enjoy reading these books as much as we enjoy writing

them.

A NOTE TO READERS

First, in my (Cie’s) opinion, for the most part happy families do not make for interesting reading. I don’t know why. They do, however, make for

happy writers. Every time a writer creates a character with a particularly troubled background (or a kinky sexual bent), it seems that somebody

out in the “real world” assumes that the writer is working from personal experience. So al ow me to state for the record that Celia Graves’s

background and troubles are al her own. They do not reflect any personal experience on the part of either of the authors. Thank God!

Part of the fun of writing is research. In order to make the fantasy portions more believable, you have to be very careful to get the “real” portions

right. Stil , inevitably, some glitches slip in. The setting of this book is Southern California. We created a fictional city of Santa Maria de Luna and

slapped it down on the coast between San Juan Capistrano and Oceanside, right on top of Camp Pendleton, which obviously doesn’t exist in this

reality (our apologies to the U.S. Marines). Just as we created our own city, we came up with a university and rehab facility. But there are scenes

that take place in Anaheim Stadium and other actual locations. While those portions of the book were researched heavily, it is possible that

errors slipped in. If so, please forgive us.

In this reality, the kingdom of Ruslund is located in the western half of the Ukraine, a few miles to the west of Kiev. It was formed about the time

of the Union of Lublin, with a splinter section al ying itself with the Cossacks to form the new country with one of the nobles becoming king. The

religion was Eastern Orthodox (which pleased the Cossacks), and the people resisted the Polish conversion to Catholicism that actual y caused

rifts in the Ukraine in our version of history.

—C. T. Adams and Cathy Clamp

FAN INFORMATION

Fans who wish to sign up for our newsletter can contact us at catadamsfans@gmail.com. Our website is located at http://www.catadams.net.

1

I pulled the Miata to the curb and checked the address one more time. I stared at the building and the

neighborhood. It wasn’t what I’d expected. The interview I’d had with the prince’s retainer had taken

place in a conference room at one of the very best Los Angeles hotels. In fact, at this moment I knew

that the press and several royal bodyguards were stationed at that same hotel. This place was nice,

palatial even, but it was far enough off the beaten path that I’d had to use MapQuest to find it.

I shut off the engine and looked down at the file sitting on the passenger seat. I thought about looking

at it again, but I’d practical y memorized the contents already. Prince Rezza of Rusland was in the

United States with his father’s blessing, meeting with private defense contractors. Publicly the prince

was being the very image of a religious conservative. Ruslund was a smal kingdom in eastern Europe,

nestled primarily between the Ukraine and Poland, touching on the Czech Republic as wel .

Rusland might be smal in size, but it was gaining a whole new level of prominence political y thanks to

the discovery of a huge supply of natural gas in the region. The Russians were practical y apoplectic.

Their control over Europe’s natural gas supply was critical to their economy. Having a competitor next

door wasn’t making them happy.

Despite their common ancestors, the Russians hadn’t been happy with the Ruslunders since … wel ,

ever. Stil , the little country managed to stubbornly exist as a monarchy in the face of socialism,

communism, and rampant capitalism. How they’d managed not to be overrun by Germany during World

War II, or absorbed into the Soviet Union afterward, was one of those burning political questions that

nobody either could or would answer.

Traditional y the public religion of Rusland was Orthodox, but a fundamentalist regime was gaining

power and influence. It was the kind of political turmoil that makes you worry about assassination. The

prince had very publicly declared his anti-American sentiments and al ied himself with the zealots—who

would not necessarily be pleased with his private plans while in L.A. Which was why an impostor was