Santeria
& Sorcery, The Tithe Collector Book 1
Lola White
Genre:
paranormal mystery/suspense
Publisher:
Dark Hollows Press
Date
of Release: June 11, 2015
Word
Count: 85,700
Available at:
Dark
Hollows Press: http://www.darkhollowspress.com/#!santeriaandsorcery/cq40
Santeria
& Sorcery Synopsis
Magic
is necessary to all things, but like any other source of power, it can be
abused. The king of gods has created a Special Collections Team to deal with
illegal magic users, those who break the law set forth by the Council of Five.
Being part of the team is not an honor however, but a punishment for the crimes
the teammates have committed themselves.
Zahra
is a magic-addicted djinn charged with the capital crime of consorting with
humans. Niccolo is a vampire who betrayed his goddess. Beryl is a fairy assassin
demoted for her transgressions against a queen. Wade is the only human on the
team, and though his inclusion is supposed to be a compliment, it’s clear
there’s a larger plan in play.
From
tragic romance to zealous belief, the Special Collections Team is in over their
heads, but still must find a way to be successful in their investigations, pay
their penance and learn to work as a team.
In
Santeria & Sorcery, their first case finds them in Miami, where trouble has
come to the attention of the Council of Five. A sorcerer is stealing magic to
set himself up as a god, but the team is new and each are unused to working
well with others. Their personal issues also hinder their investigation—dealing
with bloodthirsty boyfriends, jealous fairy kings and a dangerous fallen angel
on top of their own emotional deficiencies take a toll.
The
Tithe Collector is an erotic series and does include graphic scenes: M/M, M/F
and multiple partners.
Excerpt
Wade
I tried to keep my words level.
“I’m real damn sick of y’all trying to make me question my faith.”
“I’m not!” Chimbwe looked
surprised, even sad in a way. He turned in his chair, leaning back as he
studied the window over the sink. “El has Blessed you, and you must follow his
rules. But his rules are not what you’ve always believed them to be.”
“Well, since no one wants to
explain it to me in a way that even remotely makes sense, I’ll just have to
follow my own conscience, won’t I?”
“We are at war.” Now Chimbwe looked
fierce, as he turned back to me. He drilled a finger into the tabletop, rocking
the whole thing until the dregs of my coffee splashed up to the rim of my mug.
The man had some strength. “It is a very silent war. A war humans don’t know
about, and couldn’t understand if they did.”
“The girls explained that to me
already.” I slid forward in my seat, mimicking the bouda’s posture and not
giving a fuck if he saw it as a challenge. “Lucifer’s Fallen provides the
balance so the Five Nations don’t duke it out with each other.”
“But they still do,” he told me.
“They are always trying to gain the advantage. Maybe not the angels, they have
a strong alliance with El, but the djinn, especially, are slobbering for
revolution.”
I shrugged and sat back,
unconcerned. “El will win.”
“He must.” Chimbwe nodded. “He’s the
only one who is able to keep everyone else in their place. No one else is as
strong. I don’t wish to break your faith, I only hope you widen it to include
what is truth, rather than focus on what you wish to be truth.”
To hide my surprise and gain a little
time to think of something to say, I drained the rest of my coffee. There
wasn’t much more than stray grounds left. “I deserve a little time to come to
terms with all this. Your world is new to me.”
“This world is new to me, too,” he
argued. “I have been forced to hide everything I am for my whole life. I could
not be a bouda in a village of humans, I could not love a man in a country
where it means death.”
That quick, the need to wriggle my
shoulders and run from the room took hold of me. “Mmm, sorry to hear that.”
The corner of his mouth tipped up.
“Niccolo used to be an investigator. Gaea sent him to my village after it
seemed some people were killed by a bouda. All the signs were there, but it
wasn’t true. Niccolo saved me and I saved him. Gaea was not pleased with the
way we did that, so she handfasted us.”
“Congratulations. That means you’re
married, right?”
“Not exactly. It was meant to be a
punishment. I am sure Gaea would not like to hear you wish us well.”
I got up and poured more coffee
without a word.
Chimbwe laughed, a deep sound
coming straight from his belly. “I know you don’t care, Wade, but I need you to
understand. We are together because my goddess says it must be so, but he is a
man I would have chosen for myself anyway.”
My fingers tightened around my mug.
The man was as intent on discussing his relationship as I was on avoiding the
subject altogether. I glared at him, noting the stubborn glint in his eye as I
surrendered. “Why do you need me to understand?”
“I think this team has been assembled
as more than punishment. I know Niccolo is well placed in vampire society, for
all he believes he is not. From what he’s said, I think Zahra also has some
importance she is not telling. Beryl has served her goddess for a thousand
years, and people say simply speaking the assassin’s name is enough to make
Lucifer’s Fallen cower in fear.”
“So what?”
The bouda shook his head. “And you
are Blessed. I think the team is being used for a bigger purpose than what
we’ve been led to believe.”
“Sure, Chimbwe, that’s possible.”
But that’s all I was prepared to say on the matter, at that moment with his
words of war mocking my memories. I was half-believing, and half-resistant to
the idea. On one hand, it was excellent strategy to take the wind from the
enemies’ sails, on the other, it was hard to imagine God being so manipulative.
“I don’t know what is going on
yet,” Chimbwe whispered. “But the team needs to learn to trust each other. I am
afraid of what may happen in the future, and I do not want Niccolo caught in
something that may lead to his death.”
I waved my mug because it seemed a
better option than putting it down to cross my arms over my chest. “So you and
I need to be all buddy-buddy to get the job done. Is that it?”
Chimbwe grimaced. “Even if my
suspicions are not correct, this team must meet the expectations of the Council
in order to be released from their punishments. I want Niccolo to be free, so
you four will need to work as one.”
I weighed his words carefully. I
was used to being a part of a team that shared the same training, values and
goals. This team, though, was all over the map. They only spoke to each other
when they had to, came from different Nations, definitely had different
training because I couldn’t imagine Zahra or Niccolo handling a weapon like
Beryl, and they all reported in to different leaders.
Hell of a team. Four of us were
moving in four different directions, and it seemed Chimbwe wanted to be our
wise guide, leading us all into a cohesive whole. A wise guide might be just
what we all needed.
That realization had me sitting
back down at the table. “I would like this team to work together,” I told him.
“Considering the monsters we might run up against, our lives might depend on
it.”
Author Bio
Lola
White writes what she writes, which is erotic fiction. Sometimes horror,
sometimes paranormal, sometimes romance. It’s all sexy, but never predictable
because she likes to twist reality at its edges in her stories. She likes
delving into the emotions of her characters, finding their strengths and
weaknesses, and seeing (and showing) how they get themselves out of whatever
trouble has found them—if they can. Don’t try to label her collection of tales
beyond the most basic description, EROTICA, because she writes whatever story comes
to mind, whatever speaks to her. She’s certain something in her library will
speak to you, too.
Find Lola
Online
Smashwords Author
Page: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/lolajwhite
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