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CHAPTER ONE

The Caipora’s Den

Edge of the Amazon River, Brazil

Present Day

Andrasta, Celtic goddess of victory, sed hard, her gaze transfixed by theWas he that handsome when I tried to kill him? Or that brutal?

She honestly couldn’t remember It had been more than two thousand years since she’d seen hileahted the feral brutality hich he pounded his opponent No gloves protected his big hands, just white fabric wrapped around knuckles They were spotted with blood

She sed hard again, unable to look away

She’d known she would find him here when she’d strolled up to the Caipora’s Den, a little dive bar perched on the edge of the A surrounded by a horde of cheering Mytheans or that her prey would be inside it, pounding his opponent into a sack of broken bones

She’d never before been to the bar, which catered only to the supernatural beings who lived secretly alongsideitself was ra that it was just as run-down on the inside The outdoor lot in which she stood was pressed between the building and the river It housed the boxing ring and nearly a hundred Mytheans, h they weren’t They screamed and cheered as punches landed with fierce smacks

“All right, that’s enough,” hollered the ref, a big ugly brute who stepped forward to end the fight The man she’d come for stood over his collapsed opponent, his heavilyHe was declared the winner—no surprise, considering his opponent didn’t look like he’d be getting off the floor anytime soon

She sank back into the crohen he turned to exit the ring Though she wanted to watch him, to devour every hard inch with her eyes, she didn’t want him to see her before she could approach him on her terms

Their past was a pit of snakes, so confusing that even she couldn’t figure head froh it She wouldn’t be surprised if he was pissed as hell, considering the arrows she’d sent through his heart the last tied her He had He’d started the nightodhood for herself Worse, they’d cared for each other Until it had all gone to shit, at least

And now she needed his help

She turned and pushed her way through the crowd, toward the s She needed to buy herself soht of hiht lose track of hih it had been so many years She just needed a minute to catch her breath, that was all

She squeezed between two Mytheans of indeterminate species and reached the bar—which was more of a table with some liquor bottles and a cooler, but it would do

“A beer,” she said to the bartender, a beautiful brunette who had the slightly feral face of so Mytheans since she rarely got away from her own kind