Eldritch Sparks

***Eldritch Sparks*** is the second novel in the *Shadows of Otherside* series, written by Whitney Hill.

## Blurb

**The deal that secured Arden Finch a measure of freedom came with strings, and now everybody wants to pull them.**

Arden has carved out a place for herself in Otherside—at a price. Pressure mounts as she juggles her day job as a private investigator with her new obligations, fraying relationships, and growing elemental powers. If that wasn’t enough, a lich has appeared in the Triangle, sowing violence and raising zombies. Everyone wants Arden to get rid of it⁠, including the gods.

But the lich offers something Arden has always wanted: enough power to stand alone. All she has to do is put herself first for once…and betray everyone she cares about.

## Plot

Arden and her werewolf boyfriend Roman take advantage of the full moon to exercise in Eno River State Park. As they leave, they encounter Roman's estranged younger brother, Sergei Volkov. Their reunion is tense; he's been sent in secret from Asheville to reestablish ties with his brother and to determine whether the new factional alliance is real. Arden is irritated that Roman didn't include her in early discussions with his family.

They share with Sergei Callista's plans for a Reveal and Verve Health's test that detects Othersiders. As he leaves, Arden senses a psychic scream and is pulled into the Crossroads. She's immobile and powerless as two gods taunt her; she recognizes them as Neith and Mixcoatl, who shot her with a lighting arrow on her first visit.

Back home, Arden is visited by Duke. The Djinn Council, he tells her, will participate in alliance negotiations, but only if Arden advocates them to the same degree she has for the elves.

The next morning, Arden starts work on a new case, assisting the Raleigh police department to investigate bodies stolen from the morgue. On her way in, she notices a path of dead vegetation leading to its entrance along with a sense of dread, which continues inside. She encounters Doc Mike, who's just seen something strange. They see it again and Arden recognizes the man-sized shadow and meringue scent as a Darkwatch-trained elf. She discreetly threatens the shadow with her gun and it leaves.

Doc Mike is creeped out and knows Arden is hiding something from him. They walk to a cafe where she tells him about Otherside and that she suspects he's a human sensitive. His question answered but no less creeped out, they return to the morgue and discuss the break in and missing bodies. A few days before, an outside camera captured a person wearing a hoodie. The night of the break in, the cameras were blown.

Arden returns to her office where she's visited by Maria, who's risen to Torsten's second. She wants to hire Arden to keep an eye on vampires who oppose her; she suspects there is a concerted plot with outside funding to wear her down and seize power. The vampires also have an interest in the missing bodies; Maria tells Arden that they *walked* out and that the perpetrator is a lich, a type of sorcerer, meaning the djinn are involved. A lich can call the dead to them, an act that leaves a gateway for evil from other planes.

Arden reaches out to a witch contact, Janae; they arrange to meet the next day. Arden goes to see Callista, who gives her more details on the Reveal - elves will go first; Callista already has an agreement with House Sequoyah. Back at the office, she examines a USB drive from the Raleigh PD, with nearby security camera footage showing a white van approaching and leaving the morgue.

Arden is visited by Roman, who apologizes for going behind her back with the pack. They go out for dinner and back to his trailer, where they sleep together. She falls asleep in his arms, feeling safe, until she is pulled back into the Crossroads. She hears another psychic scream and pulls Air to herself, to Neith's delight. Neith sends her away, saying: *"Go. Hunt this magician. See that he does not steal that which belongs to us."*

The next day, Arden drives to see Janae. The witch says that she, too, has foreseen a change; Arden admits she has visited the Crossroads. Janae offers to read her aura, but she refuses. They discuss the lich. Janae describes it as evil heresy, death magic, and confirms that creating a lich requires the djinn. She agrees to cleanse the morgue of the lingering evil.

Arden summons Duke. He says that becoming a lich requires a sorcerer make a deal with one of the djinn. It involves necromancy, to extend the life of the sorcerer so they can be fully corrupted, soul magic, which itself requires death, and an amulet to separate and preserve the soul and body. Destroying the lich requires destroying the amulet, but Duke doesn't tell her how to do it.

Arden returns to the office. Troy barges in, her only warning an itch in the back of her head and the scent of burnt marshmallow. He reveals he was the shadowed elf in the morgue and demands to know what she was doing there. She kicks him out. She suspects he's been keeping an eye on her, but hasn't seen him since he waited for her outside her martial arts gym after the Sequoyah case.

She leaves to meet Val for drinks. Arden waits at the bar for 45 minutes with no sight of her. Concerned, Arden returns home, only to be called to Claret by Maria. She brings Roman as backup. They descend into the vamps' lair to find Maria surrounded by carnage; Arden is overwhelmed by the stench of death, sense of evil, and a pull at the back of her mind. The coterie has been attacked by the lich's zombies. They were led by one of the Modernists, as Marias' opponents have started to call themselves. Maria suspects they are under the control of the lich, which would make it an extremely powerful lich lord. She requires the support of the alliance and pressures Arden to get the factions signed on.

Back at Arden's she and Roman discuss Sergei's offer - Roman will serve as the representative of the Blood Moon clan in the triangle, though he still will not be welcomed back. Nonetheless he sees it as his ticket home. Arden wonders if their relationship is cheapened by him using her in this way. Arden falls asleep in Roman's arms, but awakens in the Crossroads. Neith tells her to look deeper before sending her home.

Tom Chan, Arden's contact at the Raleigh PD, calls to tell her they've found an abandoned van; Arden reaches the scene and is overwhelmed by evil and an odd feeling in the back of her head. In the van, Arden finds a number with an Asheville area code - she worries Sergei is involved. She finds a spot in the earth where something has been dug up.

Arden returns to Janae, who suggests the lich isn't working alone and admits that one coven member stopped attending meetings recently, though refuses to give his name. Arden asks what the lich might have been looking for; Janae says some historical ritual objects from the Masons are unaccounted for. She also expresses interest in the alliance on behalf of the covens. Finally, Janae sense something attached to Arden, who assumes it's the Aether tag from Troy. Janae can sense it evolving and confirms it's Elvish magic. Furthermore, it's sympathetic magic, acting on them both.

Arden gets a phone call threatening Roman, saying they have "wolfdogs" of their own. Arden assumes they mean Sergei and calls Roman to warn him. He refuses to listen.

They have a dinner reservation and she runs out to meet them. Sergei says Roman could return to the pack if their demands are met. He then hits on Arden and reveals that Roman was once engaged to a were named Ana. Roman storms out. Arden confronts Sergei, saying she suspects his involvement with the Modernists, realizing then that he is funding them at Callista's bidding. She catches up with Roman and they argue.

Arden returns to the office. She still hasn't heard from Val or Doc Mike and is concerned. She's more worried about Callista though, and pays her a visit. Callista reveals she's been expending resources to monitor Arden and demands a report. Arden says that she suspects the Modernists are working with the lich, which is seemingly news to Callista. She tells Arden she wants the lich handled before the Reveal.

Needing a break, Arden stops in a tiki bar. To her dismay, Troy appears in the seat next to her--his grandmother wishes to see her. Arden refuses until he threatens to pull House Monteague out of alliance negotiations.

Keithia orders Arden to discover the lich, talking through Troy to her, threatening him along with Arden. She gives them a deadline of the new moon in ten days, at which point the elves will execute Arden.

On their way out, Arden encounters Evangeline at her car. Evangeline reveals her second set of pointed teeth and blames Arden for Clay's death. Troy steps in, sending Evangeline inside, and threatens Arden if she speaks of their teeth.

The next morning, Arden still hasn't heard from Val or Doc Mike. She tracks down Val's sister Sofia, who has been missing from her PhD program for two days. The school gives Arden the phone number of Sofia's girlfriend, Nazneen. Sofia went missing the day after Val. Nazneen looked for her in one of her spots and was overwhelmed by a creepy feeling.

Soon after, Arden receives a call from an unknown number--the lich lord. He invites her to join him, offering great power and threatening Doc Mike. He gives Arden two days to make a decision, threatening to torture her elemental friends.

Arden drives to the morgue to check on Doc Mike. She finds a vampire attacking him. Arden shoots the vampire, who escapes. Doc Mike's wound doesn't immediately stop bleeding; she calls Maria for assistance. Shr arrives and tells Arden that Doc Mike's wound kept bleeding because he was bitten by a witch-born vampire; it's illegal to turn a witch. Arden suspects this is Janae's missing coven member. Arden tells Maria she believes the lich has kidnapped people and asks to visit Torsten's library; Maria grants her request as the favor Arden is owed. Before leaving, Arden warns Doc Mike that he's still in danger.

In the vampires' library, Arden reads what she can find about liches. The amulet they wear can only be destroyed by the djinni who made it or primordial magic; Arden has no idea what that is.

She stumbles on a scroll about the Wild Hunt: *"...the gods of the hunt would return and the world would be destroyed and made anew. A Hunter would ride with them, reshaping the world."* To Arden, this sounds like the drowning of Atlantis and Elementals. Overwhelmed, she stops reading, still bothered by a feeling at the back of her skull. Grimm appears, allowed to enter by her blood tie to Arden, followed by Duke. Grimm is enraged when Duke drops that Arden has visited House Monteague. Arden calls for Maria to force the djinn to leave and Grimm accuses her of choosing the elves before disappearing.

Unsure of how to destroy the lich's amulet without the help of the djinn, Arden resolves to finalize the alliance. She meets with Roman and Sergei, Maria, Janae, Duke, Troy and Evangeline to negotiate and proposes they take out the lich lord together. Negotiations stall, so she sends the group home to consider what they're willing to trade.

Back home, Arden vents her frustration by practicing with Air. She manages to move a large granite boulder with her power. She continues to practice, experimenting with managing multiple chords of Air. She fails. Feeling limited, Arden is increasingly tempted to join the lich.

Arden wakes the next morning with a power hangover. She receives a call from an unknown number, Terrence Little, obong of the wereleopards of the Carolinas. Roman had given him Arden's number promising a seat at the table in exchange for territory. She calls Roman and they argue. Arden realizes that their increasing hostility is due to the lich.

That evening, the group reunites to continue negotiations, less Evangeline with the addition of Terrence. Arden sees an apparition of Neith in the woods and admits to Janae that the goddess has her blood. Their negotiations are more productive and the representatives take the terms back to their faction leaders. Arden is out of time with the lich and must decide what to do about him without the backup of an alliance.

That night, Arden is awoken by a hand clamping over her mouth, pulling her off her bed. She struggles, before realizing it's Troy. He blocks her into a corner, telling her to be quiet and not move. In the next moment, a rabisu enters the room, slashing at where Arden had been in her bed. Arden panics and attacks it with Air. She and Troy fight it; Arden overcomes it with salt and Air, forcing it to leave. Troy tells her the lich wants to bind her power.

Troy convinces Arden to accept his help with the lich and return to his safehouse, offering his allyship. Arden takes the bedroom, blocking it with a wall of Air while Troy showers. She cracks a window and reaches out, triggering Troy's ward. He bursts out of the bathroom naked with his longknife, hitting Arden's wall. The next morning, they debate their options. Arden admits that Sergei is working with Callista and fills Troy in on the Modernists. He pressures her to take action before the situation gets worse, lecturing her on leadership. Arden thinks, and tells him to meet her at Claret so they can take care of the Modernists.

She returns home where she receives a call from the lich. He sent the rabisu and now has Doc Mike. She tells him she'll be there soon.

Troy is waiting in her driveway and asks if she's done something foolish. She's cagey, until he suggests recruiting Roman to help Maria so he and Arden can focus on the lich. They drive to the lich's hideout. Arden goes in first, telling Troy to follow in an hour; he gives her a Darkwatch earpiece so he can hear what's happening.

The lich lord takes her to see her friends, all locked in cages; there is a fourth with them, Arden assumes an oread (Earth). Arden asks the lich's purpose; he wants to destroy humanity and remake the world. He challenges her to extinguish his candles; she struggles with Air alone. She refocuses and targets the Fire with the remembered Fire of Mixcoatl's arrow; it doubles her over in pain but the lich is delighted. He tells her to rest and locks her in a cage.

The lich leaves and Arden warns the others that a Darkwatch elf will be following her; the elementals panic but are ready to escape. Troy appears from the shadows, unlocking Arden and tasking her with unlocking the others so he can attack the lich. She gives Doc Mike the car keys and tells him to get everyone out. She joins Troy fighting and manages to snap the amulet's chain. Grimm appears and Arden realizes she's the djinni responsible. They fight; Troy ultimately slits Grimm's throat, killing her.

The elementals and Doc Mike return, their way out blocked by zombies. Arden picks up the amulet. She can sense the magic in it, and asks the oread to guide her to its Earth. Val joins to help with Fire. A bolt of lightning lights from Arden's palm, destroying the stone. The chamber falls dark and silent. She hears Mixcoatl, who wonders at an elemental with control of two elements, tasting her blood before he leaves.

Arden tells Doc Mike and the elementals to escape with her car. She finds Troy badly injured and is tempted to kill him the way she did Leith. Arden gathers the rising heat in her chest, creating Fire to burn the lich and zombies. She remembers Troy's help and his promises kept and spares his life, assisting him out of the lich's lair to his car.

Arden calls Roman as she drives them to Troy's safehouse; they've dealt with the Modernists and Maria demands they get the alliance settled. They agree to meet at a park and Arden redirects to pick up Evangeline.

At the park they meet Ximena, leader of the werejaguars. Sergei isn't present; he confessed after Roman took down the Modernists. Roman apologizes to Arden.

...

## Characters

* Arden Finch
* Roman Volkov
* Sergei Volkov
* Neith
* Mixcoatl
* Zanna
* Duke
* Doc Mike
* Maria
* Janae
* Tom Chan
* Troy Monteague
* Keithia Monteague
* Evangeline Monteague
* Nazneen
* Noah
* Torsten
* Grimm
* Terrence Little
* Laurel Kerr
* Ximena