Etched in Bone Anne Bishop Read Online

  BOOKS BY ANNE BISHOP

THE OTHERS SERIES

Written in Blood-red

Murder of Crows

Vision in Argent

Marked in Flesh

Etched in Bone

THE BLACK JEWELS SERIES

Daughter of the Blood

Heir to the Shadows

Queen of the Darkness

The Invisible Ring

Dreams Made Mankind

Tangled Webs

The Shadow Queen

Shalador'southward Lady

Twilight'southward Dawn

THE EPHEMERA Serial

Sebastian

Belladonna

Bridge of Dreams

THE TIR ALAINN TRILOGY

The Pillars of the World

Shadows and Light

The House of Gaian

ROC

Published by Berkley

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

Copyright © 2017 by Anne Bishop

Penguin Random House supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free voice communication, and creates a vibrant civilisation. Thank you lot for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws past not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any function of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader.

ROC with its colophon is a registered trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bishop, Anne, author.

Title: Etched in bone: a novel of the others/Anne Bishop.

Description: Commencement Edition. | New York: ROC, 2017.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016032104 (print) | LCCN 2016039300 (ebook) | ISBN 9780451474490 (hardback) | ISBN 9780698190450 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Women prophets—Fiction. | Werewolves—Fiction. | Vampires—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION/Fantasy/Contemporary. | FICTION/Romance/Fantasy. | GSAFD: Fantasy fiction. | Occult fiction.

Classification: LCC PS3552.I7594 E86 2017 (print) | LCC PS3552.I7594 (ebook) | DDC 813/.54—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016032104

First Edition: March 2017

Jacket illustration past Blake Morrow

Jacket design past Adam Auerbach

This is a piece of work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author'southward imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or expressionless, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Version_1

For

Anne Sowards

and

Jennifer Jackson

And for

Ruth "the Ruthie" Stuart

You will be remembered.

CONTENTS

Books by Anne Bishop

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Geography

Map of Lakeside

Map of Lakeside Courtyard

Prologue

Affiliate one

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Affiliate 4

Chapter five

Affiliate 6

Chapter vii

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter ten

Chapter eleven

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Affiliate fourteen

Affiliate 15

Chapter 16

Affiliate 17

Chapter 18

Affiliate 19

Chapter 20

Affiliate 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Affiliate 26

Chapter 27

Affiliate 28

Affiliate 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

About the Author

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My thanks to Blair Boone for continuing to be my first reader and for all the information about animals, weapons, and many other things that I absorbed and transformed to accommodate the Others' globe; to Debra Dixon for beingness 2nd reader; to Doranna Durgin for maintaining the Web site; to Adrienne Roehrich for running the official fan page on Facebook; to Nadine Fallacaro for data about things medical; to Jennifer Crow for pep talks when needed; to Anne Sowards and Jennifer Jackson for the feedback that helps me write a better story; and to Pat Feidner for ever being supportive and encouraging.

A special thank you to the following people who loaned their names to characters, knowing that the name would be the only connection betwixt reality and fiction: Bobbie Hairdresser, Elizabeth Bennefeld, Blair Boone, Kelley Burch, Douglas Shush, Starr Corcoran, Jennifer Crow, Lorna MacDonald Czarnota, Julie Czerneda, Roger Czerneda, Merri Lee Debany, Michael Debany, Mary Claire Eamer, Sarah Jane Elliott, Sarah Esposito, Chris Fallacaro, Dan Fallacaro, Mike Fallacaro, Nadine Fallacaro, James Alan Gardner, Mantovani "Monty" Gay, Julie Light-green, Lois Gresh, Ann Hergott, Lara Herrera, Robert Herrera, Danielle Hilborn, Heather Houghton, Pamela Ireland, Lorne Kates, Allison Male monarch, Jana Paniccia, Jennifer Margaret Seely, Denby "Skip" Stowe, Ruth Stuart, and John Wulf.

GEOGRAPHY

NAMID—THE WORLD

CONTINENTS/LANDMASSES

Afrikah

Australis

Brittania/Wild Brittania

Cel-Romano/Cel-Romano Alliance of Nations

Felidae

Fingerbone Islands

Tempest Islands

Thaisia

Tokhar-Chin

Zelande

Great Lakes—Superior, Tala, Honon, Etu, and Tahki

Other lakes—Feather Lakes/Finger Lakes

River—Talulah/Talulah Falls

Mountains—Addirondak, Rocky

Cities and villages—Bennett, Endurance, Ferryman'south Landing, Harmony, Hubb NE (aka Hubbney), Jerzy, Lakeside, Podunk, Prairie Gold, Ravendell, Shikago, Sparkletown, Sweetwater, Talulah Falls, Toland, Walnut Grove, Wheatfield

DAYS OF THE Calendar week

Earthday

Moonsday

Sunsday

Windsday

Thaisday

Firesday

Watersday

LAKESIDE

Visit bit.ly/2kRkScP for a larger version of this map.

LAKESIDE COURTYARD

Visit bit.ly/2kBmity for a larger version of this map.

Prologue

Cease of Sumor

Equally they gathered in the wild country betwixt Tala and Etu, two of the Great Lakes, their footsteps filled the land with a terrible silence.

They were Elders, primal forms of terra indigene who guarded the wild, pristine parts of the world. To the smaller forms of earth natives—shifters like the Wolf and Bear and Panther—they were known as Namid's teeth and claws.

Humans—those invasive ii-legged predators—had made war against the terra indigene, killing the smaller shifters in the wild country that bordered Cel-Romano, a place that was on the other side of Ocean'southward domain. And here, in Thaisia, so many of the Wolfgard were killed that parts of the country were empty of their vocal.

Every bit the humans in Thaisia and Cel-Romano celebrated their victory over the smaller f

orms of terra indigene, the Elementals and Namid'southward teeth and claws answered the call to war. They destroyed the invaders, so began the work of isolating and thinning the human herds in those two pieces of the world.

But now they faced a trouble.

said the oldest male person who had made the journey to this place. A vanquish of silence every bit they considered taking over the task the smaller shifters had performed for many years. And so the question: snarled another male. a female asked, shocked.

A heavy silence as they considered that question.

The sweetness blood, the howling not-Wolf, had changed things in the Lakeside Courtyard—had even changed some of the terra indigene living in that Courtyard. She was non like the human enemies. She was not prey. She and her kind were Namid'southward creation, wondrous and terrible.

No, they could non kill the sweet claret not-Wolf, the i called Broomstick Girl in the stories that winged their way into the wild state and amused even the most unsafe forms of Elders.

Having agreed that killing all the humans in Thaisia wasn't the answer, they considered the problem as the sun set and the moon rose.

the eldest male finally asked.

A dissimilar question. A caught-in-thorny-vines, stuck-in-the-mud kind of question. Many of the smaller shifters who had survived the human attacks had withdrawn from human-occupied places, leaving the humans who lived there to the Elders' sharp mercy. Some returned to the wild land, retreating from any trace of humans, while others chose to resettle in towns that had been reclaimed—places that had buildings and human things only no longer had people.

But the Elders who guarded the wild country usually kept their distance from human places unless they came to those places as Namid'southward teeth and claws. They didn't study humans the manner the smaller shifters did. The teaching stories told them in that location were different kinds of humans, only what made one man respectful of the state and the boundaries that had been ready while some other killed and left the meat, or tried to take away the homes of the feathered and furred? The HFL humans had made war on the terra indigene. Were at that place other kinds of humans who were enemies—kinds the Elders did not nonetheless recognize?

If humans migrated to the reclaimed towns, would they fight with the shifters who were turning those places into homes for terra indigene who didn't want to completely abandon the man form? But earth natives didn't blot but the form of another predator; they likewise absorbed aspects of that predator, traits that became woven into the shape. Were there human traits the terra indigene should not absorb? Where could they go to written report humans closely plenty to learn what could not be allowed to take root in the reclaimed towns?

As one, the Elders turned north and east, looking in the direction of Lakeside.

the eldest male said.

It too had the Wolf and howling non-Wolf who intrigued so many of the Elders. Witnessing the stories that would catamenia into the wild country was worth the risk of man contamination.

All of them were curious, only only ii Elders—a male person and a female person—were chosen to spend time on a small piece of country surrounded by humans. They had been in Lakeside earlier, when, as Namid's teeth and claws, they had roamed the fog-filled streets, hunting human prey.

Satisfied with their decision, most of the Elders returned to their pieces of the wild land, while the two selected for the task of studying the man pack began the journey to Lakeside.

CHAPTER 1

Windsday, Messis 1

Eager to join his friends for an early-morning run, Simon Wolfgard, leader of the Lakeside Courtyard, hurried toward the terra indigene Wolves who were using trees and shrubs for camouflage as they watched the paved road that looped the Courtyard. Actually, they were watching the human who was riding on the road at an easy pace.

Blair growled. It was a soft growl, but the homo suddenly scanned the expanse every bit if his trivial ears had caught the sound. Nathan added. Simon said, a little concerned about their focused attending on a human they knew fairly well.

Karl Kowalski was ane of the human police officers who worked directly with the terra indigene to minimize conflicts betwixt humans and Others. Because of that, he had been labeled a Wolf lover and had had his share of conflicts with other humans. The latest incident had happened the prior week when a car "accidentally" swerved and near hit Kowalski while he was taking a bike ride earlier work. Because the terra indigene viewed that as a threat to a member of their human pack, Simon, Vladimir Sanguinati, and Henry Beargard—members of the Courtyard'southward Business organization Association—decided to allow the human being pack to ride on the Courtyard's paved roads.

Simon had idea all the Wolves had been told about the Business Association'due south decision—especially Nathan, who was the lookout Wolf at the Liaison's Office, and Blair, who was the Courtyard's dominant enforcer—but this was the first time whatever of the humans had ventured to ride on a road that still had Trespassers Will Exist Eaten signs posted as a warning.

Blair's growl wasn't equally soft this time.

Must have been loud plenty for human ears, because Kowalski started to pedal a little faster.

Oh. Bike. At present Simon understood the existent focus of the Wolves' attention, the reason for their excitement. Humans had ridden bicycles upwardly to the Greenish Circuitous as well as a few other places in the Courtyard, and the Wolves had been intrigued past the ii-wheeled vehicles. Simply those instances had been about transportation to or from a task. This could be something else.

Jane, the Wolfgard bodywalker, asked hopefully. Nathan said. Blair asked. Nathan replied. Simon thought Nathan's opinion of police work was skewed more toward hopeful than authentic. Still, they could offer to play. If Kowalski didn't accept, they would simply enjoy a run. Just . . . bicycle. Simon actually wanted to hunt i.

The Wolves charged up the road, Simon and Blair in the atomic number 82 as they swiftly airtight the distance betwixt the pack and their play-prey. Simply would they have a game?

Kowalski looked back. His eyes widened—and he pedaled faster.

Yes!

Simon said. Jane surged alee of the males, pulling up alongside the bicycle'south back bicycle in seconds. Nathan said.

Jane snapped, clearly offended by Nathan's unwanted alert. She moved upwards a little more than, at present in position to play-bite Kowalski's dogie.

Kowalski glanced at Jane and pedaled faster. Instead of going over the bridge that would take them into the Hawkgard section—and commit the human to the big loop within the Courtyard's three hundred acres—Kowalski turned onto the road that ran alongside the Elementals' lake, heading back toward the Greenish Complex.

The Wolves ran, maintaining their distance even when Kowalski slowed down while going up a ascent. They took turns pacing the bicycle and pushing their prey to run and run. Or pedal and pedal. As they reached the intersection with the Courtyard's main road, Kowalski swung left toward the Green Complex instead of turning correct toward the Market Foursquare.

Almost

of the pack, having slowed to a trot as their prey tired, circled back toward the Wolfgard Complex. Nathan headed for the Marketplace Square and the Liaison'south Function, where he would continue track of the deliverymen and guard Meg Corbyn, the Courtyard's Human Liaison. Simon and Blair followed Kowalski until they reached the Green Complex. Then Blair continued on to the Utilities Complex while Simon dashed for the water trough in the common expanse that formed the open center of the Courtyard'south only multispecies complex. He lapped water, and so shifted to his man course and dunked his head, flinging water as he stood upwards and tossed his dark hair away from his face. He splashed his artillery and chest, then grinned when Kowalski parked the cycle and approached the trough warily.

"That was a great game of chase!" Simon said happily. "You empathize how to be play-prey."

"I practise?"

"Yep." Simon artsy his caput, puzzled past the homo's wariness. Hadn't they just played, had fun? "Want some h2o?"

"Thanks." Kowalski splashed water on his confront and cervix, so on his arms. But he didn't beverage.

Simon pondered the not drinking for a moment. Humans were clever, invasive predators who had recently shown the terra indigene once once more why they could never be fully trusted—non even by one another. But physically they were and then much weaker than other kinds of predators. This not drinking, for case. Naught wrong with the water in the trough. Someone had already drained yesterday's h2o, using it on the potted tree and other plants in the open surface area, and refilled the trough with fresh h2o for drinking and splashing. Humans would drink water pumped from the well if it was in a drinking glass or a saucepan or some other pocket-sized container but couldn't drink the same water from a shared outdoor container?

It made him wonder how they had survived as a species long enough to become such a problem.

"So, who doesn't sympathise about play-prey?" Kowalski asked, rubbing a mitt over his face.

"The female pack. Every time we invited them to play, they stopped riding their bicycles and asked if they could aid." Simon spread his arms in a "what'south that all about?" gesture. Then he pointed at Kowalski. "But yous invited us to play, and we all had a good run."

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