"Musician and demigod, Mac thought fan girls were hell but that was before he fell in love"
Manannan mac Lir, half sidhe, half god and guardian of all
Celtic magical creatures had participated along with five
witches and four Immortal brothers to save the soul of the
fifth and youngest Immortal,Tain from the clutches and Old
One, the demon Culsu. Each of Tain's brothers had absorbed
some of the death magic plaguing Tain into their own souls.
Only later had Mac discovered a dark stain on his own soul
as well. It had aged his timeless visage by several years.
He'd been weary and had left Scotland, shirking his
responsibilities to pursue wine, women and his unique brand
of song on a world tour. That had grown old as well.
Something was missing in his life. His absence has had devastating results as Mac discovers
upon returning home. A number of the fairy villages in his
care had been skimmed of a portion of their life magic. The
last of these villages had contained a rare fairy infant,
much too young to sustain the loss. The child was dying and
it was all Mac's fault. Their only hope was for Mac to trace
the spell back to the wielder. The spell is odd indeed for
it appeared to have been a combination of both life and
death magic intertwined. This implicated a human, for no
other creature could wield both kinds of magic. It would be
a rare human indeed, as never before had any been known to
possess the ability to use them both simultaneously. Artemis Black is a witch of mixed magical heritage both
light and dark. She is also a mother facing the loss of a
child. Hecate, consort to Satan, has a penchant for young
souls. Artemis had met her on the battlefield during Culsu's
bid to purge the world of life magic. She had inadvertently
led the Hecate to her only son. Now her child lay dying in a
Philadelphia hospital an empty shell. Her only hope to
recover his sould had been to strike a deal with a rival
demon. She had come all the way to Scotland to fill her
moonstone pendant with life magic, the offering demanded to
obtain the demon's aid. She had only until sundown, the eve
of Samhain. Unlike mere humans, fairies were brimming with
life magic and Scotland was brimming with fairy villages.
They are her only hope but in spite of her desperate race
against time Artemis cannot live with endangering the life
of another child and is compelled to return the life magic
to Gilraen's village. Desperation makes Artemis careless however and Mac finally
catches up with her. He's not quite sure what to do with her
but is not about to allow her to fulfill her mission.
Instead of taking her to Annwyn to stand trial according to
the Sidhe law, he decides to takes her home with him.
Something in his newly blended soul finds a kindred spirit
with the witch. She is desperate to escape and to get what
she needs and therefore encourages Mac's attraction. The
experience for both is like none other. Mac loses control
and plants the seed of his child in her womb, while the
desperate mother slips a drop of life magic from the
demigod's bottomless soul. Artemis has no time to analyze
her feelings of remorse. She must escape and make her
meeting with the demon. Betrayal aside, Mac is drawn to the witch and her plight.
The life of his child is on the line and he will defy his
own mother, the Sidhe court and even follow Artemis into the
very depths of Hell to protect what is his. Think Dante's
Inferno. If Mac thought being pursued by fan girls was hell,
he's in for a rude awakening. As the pair traverses the various
levels of Satan's domain they are first hand witnesses to
the repercussions of living a less than virtuous life. On
each level they are exposed to seemingly insurmountable
obstacles. Throughout they are faced with division,
betrayal, and impossible choices. Help will come from
unexpected places. Armed with only love, will the pair
prevail? At what cost? For have no doubt, the devil WILL
have his due! Well this was most interesting. With each of the Immortal
brother's tales we got some insight to various ancient
cultures and their deities. Ms. Nash now flips the coin to
give us a modern day version of Hell which in spite of the dire plight of its inhabitants provides a certain amount of
humor with pop culture references, etc. Although I've
enjoyed the entire series so far, this has been my favorite
tale to date. Unlike with the other Immortal's, Mac the youngest, isn't
offered the easy solution for taking a mortal as his mate. He
makes a true sacrifice and has no moment of regret. For him
love is simply enough.
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted October 20, 2008
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