Fourth Empire

WINNER OF THE 2024 READERS' FAVORITE BRONZE MEDAL FOR MAGIC & WIZARDRY!When someone dies in Aveline, they don't always stay that way.Castelio learned this hard lesson when he was a boy.Now he roams from village to village as a Quietus, banishing restless spirits and keeping the Ducissa Orlaith's peace-until the day her only son is kidnapped.Blame falls on the land across the Boundary, where necromancers practice their black arts in eternal darkness.To get the child back, Castelio recruits the aid of a young stranger named Delilah, along with her peculiar (and possibly demonic) cat Thistle. The pair has a habit of attracting violent thunderstorms, but their wind ship can cross the high mist-cloaked passes of the Boundary.As the trail leads deeper into the wilds of midnight, Castelio and Delilah discover there are worse things than the risen dead. Yet nothing is quite as it seems in the Moon Courts. Despite the dangers all around, they find allies in unexpected places.And choosing a side in the brewing war between light and dark magic might be harder than they imagined. Kat Ross worked as a journalist at the United Nations for ten years before happily falling back into what she likes best: making stuff up. She's the author of the new Lingua Magika trilogy, the Fourth Element and Fourth Talisman historical fantasy series, the Gaslamp Gothic paranormal mysteries, and the dystopian thriller Some Fine Day. She loves myths, monsters and doomsday scenarios. Come visit her at www.katrossbooks.com! When someone dies in Aveline, they don't always stay that way.Castelio learned this hard lesson when he was a boy.Now he roams from village to village as a Quietus, banishing restless spirits and keeping the Ducissa Orlaith's peace-until the day her only son is kidnapped.Blame falls on the land across the Boundary, where necromancers practice their black arts in eternal darkness.To get the child back, Castelio recruits the aid of a young stranger named Delilah, along with her peculiar (and possibly demonic) cat Thistle. The pair has a habit of attracting violent thunderstorms, but their wind ship can cross the high mist-cloaked passes of the Boundary.As the trail leads deeper into the wilds of midnight, Castelio and Delilah discover there are worse things than the risen dead. Yet nothing is quite as it seems in the Moon Courts. Despite the dangers all around, they find allies in unexpected places.And choosing a side in the brewing war between light and dark magic might be harder than they imagined.

Never make a blood pact with the most notorious necromancer in Aveline.Especially if he wants you to steal a magic box that once belonged to his insane, demon-binding ancestor.It just won't end well.But Lo will risk everything to find her parents ... even it means a fool's bargain with Nathan Ouvrard.The quest leads to the scorching city of Prydwen, where a revolt is brewing against the tyrannical new Duc. Cas and Lucius are hot on her trail - along with a host of unsavory enemies. And Nathan's promise that his heirloom will be simple to retrieve turns out to be as empty as his social calendar.What's inside the box? Will it save the world, as he claims? Or destroy it?And if Lo returns to Castle Cazal a single minute late, just how painful will her death be?Bien sûr... A hope in hell is still better than none at all. Kat Ross worked as a journalist at the United Nations for ten years before happily falling back into what she likes best: making stuff up. She's the author of the new Lingua Magika trilogy, the Fourth Element and Fourth Talisman historical fantasy series, the Gaslamp Gothic paranormal mysteries, and the dystopian thriller Some Fine Day. She loves myths, monsters and doomsday scenarios. Come visit her at www.katrossbooks.com! When someone dies in Aveline, they don't always stay that way.Castelio learned this hard lesson when he was a boy.Now he roams from village to village as a Quietus, banishing restless spirits and keeping the Ducissa Orlaith's peace-until the day her only son is kidnapped.Blame falls on the land across the Boundary, where necromancers practice their black arts in eternal darkness.To get the child back, Castelio recruits the aid of a young stranger named Delilah, along with her peculiar (and possibly demonic) cat Thistle. The pair has a habit of attracting violent thunderstorms, but their wind ship can cross the high mist-cloaked passes of the Boundary.As the trail leads deeper into the wilds of midnight, Castelio and Delilah discover there are worse things than the risen dead. Yet nothing is quite as it seems in the Moon Courts. Despite the dangers all around, they find allies in unexpected places.And choosing a side in the brewing war between light and dark magic might be harder than they imagined.