This is book one of the A Raedan Warrior Novel series and the main characters are Adeline and William. Adeline has never really known the full capacity of her own powers, she is a witch and necromancer, and her own grandmother prophesied she would become the Queen of the Dead. That led to her whole family being chased form their home, until eventually she was the only one left alive, the last survivor of the Montgomery Wicca line. She should have powers, but can’t access any of them. That is until she tried to take a night off from running and ended up being caught and killed! That was until some fourteen years later, when wolf shifter and Raedan warrior and supposed immortal William Flynn, was caught by a witch and was being killed, but as his blood drained into the ground beneath him, an arm clawed its way out of the ground. That was Adeline, raising from the dead, about to meet the man who was her fated mate, but who was worried she would be too powerful for him to keep under control until he got back to his alpha and pack. He allows priestess Celeste, who also owns a neutral pub, The Shrunken Head, all their kind, the mythos can mix within, to bind her powers and also mask her from their enemies. He feels awful for doing this to his mate, but has to protect his pack and friends first and foremost. His own brother Callum, was the latest of the Gheara Pack to have disappeared, as their enemies circle. The witch who tricked him, promising him news about his brother, was working on behalf of her master, Badb, one third of the Morrigan, a powerful Goddess of chaos, whom the Vromik are working for. They are seeking the location of her two sisters, Macha and Anu, to release them from their prisons and make her whole again.
When she realises that William was the one to have her powers bound, she ignores the pull she has been feeling towards him and thinks of him as her enemy, almost leaving her defenceless. Thankfully he had decided to break her binds just in time for her to use her full magic to defend herself. She joins his alpha and the vampires, as they agree to have witches on their side in the fight against the Vromik and the possible resurrection of the Morrigan, which would be a fate worse than death for the whole world. They find the site of Macha’s prison, within a tree whose roots make her relive all her worst memories, and it is protected by Draven and his water horses, having had his own mate Vanya MacFarland made prisoner for eternity by the goddess, made to drown repeatedly locked in a chest under the water, with her immortality meaning she can never die. Draven is cursed to hear her screams and only be able to visit her prison each full moon. They are beaten by the Vromik and Badb, in the battle for the first sister Macha, leaving one her fellow witches, Rhiannon, dead and the earth demon Torstan, who loved her, clearly heartbroken! Adeline has already promised a ghost Merrick, to resurrect him so he can have another chance with his loved one, now she desperately wants to do the same for Rhiannon, but Connall warns her of the price to e paid, by them and by her for going against the plans of the gods in her proposed actions. She is still learning about her powers, especially her necromancer powers and at least she has the aid of Merrick’s grimoire for some spells and knowledge about this dark side of her magic.
A price will have to be paid and it turns out to be far worse than Adeline could ever have imagined, thinking it would be her alone that pays the price! How wrong could she be. Having William step in to save her from an attack by Badb, leaves her realising that his protection of her is from love and he did what he did previously to protect those he knew and loved, but he would always put her life before his own. The hunt is on for the third sister needed to form the Morrigan, but this one comes with a twist as those with sight of the future, warning of who can stop Badb and Macha and what would happen if someone else tried to defeat them. Sacrifices will have to be made if they are to have any chance to win the battle, and William and Adeline cannot fight together, or their side will lose! All they can hope for is that the sacrifices made on their side are enough to defeat this challenge and to stop the Morrigan from rising! Fated mates do not seem to have an easy time in this book and their relationships are certainly not guaranteed, even amongst those that are deemed to be immortal. The gods and goddesses have their own ideas of how the mortals and immortals live, but woe betide anyone who tries to push magic into unknown forms and push to get something done without the approval of the gods. A harsh penalty has to be paid and the story isn’t over yet as the Vromik next take a different twist in their battle for control. Lots of ups and downs for the characters in this story and a hard fight to get through even to this point. An interesting tale with powers from angels, demons, fae, shifters, witches, nymphs and more mixed in with a battle for what is right as love pays the cost for some. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.