Age of X01 - Gameboard of the Gods
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Authors: Richelle Mead
Tags: #Romance Speculative Fiction
GAMEBOARD
OF THE
GODS
ALSO BY RICHELLE MEAD
BLOODLINE SERIES
Bloodlines
The Golden Lily
The Indigo Spell
VAMPIRE ACADEMY SERIES
Vampire Academy
Frostbite
Shadow Kiss
Blood Promise
Spirit Bound
Last Sacrifice
DARK SWAN SERIES
Storm Born
Thorn Queen
Iron Crowned
Shadow Heir
GEORGINA KINCAID SERIES
Succubus Blues
Succubus on Top
Succubus Dreams
Succubus Heat
Succubus Shadows
Succubus Revealed
RICHELLE MEAD
GAMEBOARD
OF THE
GODS
DUTTON
DUTTON
Published by the Penguin Group
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Copyright © 2013 by Richelle Mead, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Mead, Richelle.
Gameboard of the gods : a novel / Richelle Mead.
pages cm. — (Age of X)
ISBN: 978-1-101-62430-2
1. Government investigators—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3613.E1275G36 2013
813’.6—dc23
2012050951
Designed by Carla Bolte
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
FOR JAY,
THIS ONE WAS WAITING FOR YOU.
As the main body of troops in Rome they were the emperor’s instrument to discourage plotting and rebellion and to crush unrest. The emperor’s most immediate line of defence; they could also, on occasion, be his most deadly enemies.
—
The Prætorian Guard
, by Boris Rankov
At the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis all the gods were invited with the exception of Eris, or Discord. Enraged at her exclusion, the goddess threw a golden apple among the guests, with the inscription, “For the fairest.” Thereupon Juno, Venus, and Minerva each claimed the apple. Jupiter, not willing to decide in so delicate a matter, sent the goddesses to Mount Ida, where the beautiful shepherd Paris was tending his flocks, and to him was committed the decision. The goddesses accordingly appeared before him. Juno promised him power and riches, Minerva glory and renown in war, and Venus the fairest of women for his wife, each attempting to bias his decision in her own favour. Paris decided in favour of Venus and gave her the golden apple, thus making the two other goddesses his enemies.
—
Bulfinch’s Mythology
, by Thomas Bulfinch
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: She Usually Wears Black
Chapter 2: A Beggar at the Door
Chapter 3: A Few Less Problems
Chapter 4: Each Other’s Undoing
Chapter 5: A Burning Bridge
Chapter 6: Genius, Con Artist
Chapter 7: Fairyland
Chapter 8: Not Cool
Chapter 9: The Deadly Warriors That Keep Us Safe
Chapter 10: Master and Apprentice
Chapter 11: License to Worship
Chapter 12: Miracles
Chapter 13: Two Percent
Chapter 14: Justin’s Favorite Megalomaniac
Chapter 15: He’s Taller
Chapter 16: The Principle and Stuff
Chapter 17: The Most Dangerous Man in the Republic
Chapter 18: A Church Without a God
Chapter 19: Grateful to Be in the Folds of Civilization
Chapter 20: A Ticking Time Bomb
Chapter 21: Conflict of Interest
Chapter 22: The Miscreant Terrorist Girls’ Reform Camp
Chapter 23: The Ballad of Mae and Porfirio
Chapter 24: Therapy
Chapter 25: How Mae Got Her Purpose
Chapter 26: Everyone’s So Blond
Chapter 27: Koskinen Decorum
Chapter 28: Her Drug
Chapter 29: Technicalities
Chapter 30: The Ramblings of a Madman
Chapter 31: Avenging Valkyrie
Chapter 32: Desperate Times and All That
Chapter 33: Mortal Weapons
Chapter 34: No One Ever Expects the Knife
Chapter 35: A Recluse and a Technical Genius
Chapter 36: The Other Pattern
Chapter 37: Stephanotis
Acknowledgments
About the Author
CHAPTER 1
SHE USUALLY WEARS BLACK
Mae dealt out death regularly. It really wasn’t a problem.
Death was clean on the battlefield, and there was no reason to dwell on what it meant. The kills were just mission objectives, and the people weren’t really people at all. It was you or them. And when the fight was done, you could just walk away.
But today? There was no walking away. Today, she was walking
toward
death, and that scared the hell out of her. Not much else did these days.
With a deep breath, she leaned her cheek against the living room mirror, closing her eyes and taking comfort in the way the glass cooled her skin. She repeated the soldier’s creed over and over in her head, using the familiar words to steady herself:
I am a soldier of the Republic. I do not serve my own will but that of my country. I am its tool and will gladly lay down my life to further this nation’s glory. I am a soldier of the Republic. I do not serve my own will but that of my country….