#Blood Rites

[stargirlfeyre]

“You’re not a girls girl if you think the Valkyries winning the Blood Rite was unrealistic” Shit then call me Nesta Archeron then.

[littlest-w01f]

Chapter Two

Series Masterlist

Cw: Death/ Mentions of Death, Alcohol

It was a few days after the first battle, after Rheana and Rhysand with the help of their friends had won The Blood Rite, and claimed the title of 'Carynthian', two half-breeds and two bastards. She was a proud shame for the Illyrian males. She was the first female to not only compete in the Blood Rite but win it in a way not many had before her.

She stood outside near the camps, waiting for her mother and sister to take them to meet Rhys, Cassian and Azriel just after the four of them had emerged victorious. She hoped they would be proud, even if she knew her father wouldn't be, he didn't like her spending more time in Illyria than acting like a high fae, like royalty.

"You are Princess Night." Her father would tell her growing up, his tone gentle while he would sit and nurse any wounds she would get while Illyrian training, "You need to act more like the Night Court royalty you are, Princess." But she never did, she was a full brute at heart.

She met the females of her family in the middle of the woods, her sister, Cedrica, jumped on her in a hard hug, praises and relif flowing from both their lips as Rheana set her sister down and her mother embraced them both.

It was peaceful for a moment. Happy. Before it all ended. The scent of Spring coated the air. Rheana and her family straightened, putting on a guard.

"My Lord..." Rheana gave a short bow, and Cedrica and her mother followed, to the High Lord of Spring who stood in front of them, standing in front of Cedrica and her mother with Rheana in between them. "What brings you to this side of Prythian?"

"Ah, Rheana." The Lord of Spring greeted her rather coldly as if not expecting her to be there, his eyes on her mother. "Dalia, I heard your son is to meet you here..."

Rheana stood in a protective stance in front of the High Lord, her legs parted and back straight, her arms tensing by her sides, ready to strike. Before she could ask where he heard of anything related to her family, familiar screams made her spin around.

Big mistake.

Rheana saw her mother and sister trying to fight off the two heirs of Spring, and her violet eyes darkened. She took a step forward to help them but in her distraction, the High Lord tripped her and had her under him easily, she tried to fight off the weight on her. She struggled under his claws, she felt his power hold her down, it hit her too soon that she couldn't fight off a High Lord with magic multitudes higher than hers.

She helplessly watched as the High Lord's sons overpowered her family who couldn't hold a fight. Her mother was always under her father's protection, and no one dared to even think of hurting her, while her sister was more into the politics of Night than her Illyrian heritage. It didn't take long for the heirs to have her family on the ground.

"No, no let them go!" Rheana groaned under the weight and power of the beast that was the High Lord of Spring. "What are you doing!?"

"My dear son told us he was coming to congratulate you and that Rhysand." The man overpowering her spat out, "I'm just here to let your daddy dearest know that his precious family isn't untouchable like he pretends they are."

"Tamlin...?" Her eyes darkened, feeling the boy in the air. "He's here, isn't he?"

The speak of the devil, Tamlin walked out of the woods, looking awkward rather than evil, he held a large dagger in his hands, letting the females that were held down by the rest of the heirs and the High Lord himself know exactly what was about to go down. "I'm sorry Rhea."

Rheana spat on his feet, "I will never forgive you for this. Rhysand was wrong to befriend you, you asshole."

She tensed up when the claws of the High Lord dragged down her back as if to let her know they were there, not yet breaking the skin, a threat to her insulting his son who had got him such great intel, "Bring your wings out, little girl." The High Lord ordered her.

The females refused to say anything when suddenly the heirs holding her mother gripped her wings and twisted them, making her cry out in pain, something purely forbidden, a taboo, to touch an Illyrian's wings without their permission.

She yelled for Rhysand and her father in her mind, she was sure her sister and mother were trying to do the same, calling for them to come, but they had done something to her abilities, she felt a shield of the High Lord, rendering their magic useless.

Cedrica tried to reach her mother, but she was held just the same as her. Helpless. Both of them helpless.

Everything else happened in a blur, the High Lord of Sprige wanted to to kill them, but seeing Rheana, she wanted her wings as a prize first, wings she had kept hidden away. Cedrica was yelling profanities at the men while their mother offered herself up in place of her daughters, whispering words of love for them to hear.

"I love you, my sweets." Came from their mother, she looked as if she had already made peace with death, both the females tried to fight against those who held them down to get to their mother, get held one last time even if they couldn't save her.

Fear filled both the sisters as in seconds, tears staining their tanned cheeks, the Spring heir brought down the blade and severed their mother's wings from her back, It was her screams that alerted someone of the ongoings in the woods, hearing her scream the heir then took her head with the blade.

Rheana couldn't hear anything, her ears rung loud as she looked over her mother's mutilated body, killed without remorse. Wingless and headless. Simply dead.

She couldn't look at the body anymore, blood spreading through the grass underneath them, she was sure her sister was yelling in her direction to not let herself lose her wings as the High Lord held her under him, his claws digging into her back, making 3 symmetrical jagged cuts on her otherwise smooth back, if she had her wings out they would have been easily pulled apart by those scary precise cuts. The powerful male held her like he was a cat toying with a helpless bird. Rheana didn't feel the pain of it, even as tears fell, they were for his mother and for the fact her sister would be next after her if she did not let her wings out.

She could hear her sister yelling at her to not let them take her, she could feel her sister in her head.

If one of us is to survive, it should be you. I need it to be you. You can get revenge. Between the two of us. Revenge is more in you than me.

Before she could find the voice to disagree with her sister, Cedrica offered herself up, summoning her wings to her death. The sounds of the wind moving with the spread of large Illyrian wings made Rheana look up.

They made eye contact, anger and resentment in both their eyes, for the murder of their mother. Rheana then held the eyes of Tamlin, who looked at her guilty as he watched his brothers take on defenceless females.

Rheana watched in horror as her younger sister was dragged next, and no amount of pleading or begging made them stop, not even for a second. There was no emotion on their faces as they ripped the wings from her sister, giving her sobbing self the same treatment as they did her mother. Cedrica cried as the drags of the blunt knife, one wing after the other falling on the ground, there was no sound in the wood as the glare Cedrica had thrown at the High Lord, who still had his claws lodged in Rheana's back, soiling her clothes in blood, stood in the tense air.

With her sister's death, her breathing laboured as if their power flew into her, her eyes covered in darkness as she was surrounded by the Spring Court men. She had to get out of this, get revenge on them for what they've done.

"You will die for this" Her voice was hoarse from crying and screaming, "You will die."

Her eyes were full of pain and anger. Survive. Survive. She chanted to herself. Darkness from all around rose and fell with her breathing. She couldn't kill them, not now. Survive first.

She screamed and the darkness of the woods roared at her command, a newfound power. No one was coming to help her, so she would get the darkness to her side, every dark thing would be by her side.

The men around her started to whisper in fright as the shadows grew, covering her as if keeping her safe from them. Then there it was, something who had heard all the screaming. A monster of the Illyrian mountains.

She was covered by darkness like a blanket of cold, but the sound of the monster sniffing reached her ears. The next thing she knew whatever cover the High Lord had set up to negate her powers went down, she guessed they had winnowed away seeing the horrifying creature.

Then each message she had tried to get out to her brother and father reached them. They winnowed in instantly, the monster backed away slightly, sensing the power of his High Lord. Rhysand was instantly by the side of her darkness as both of the males saw the females they cared for dead.

"Rhea?" Rhysand whispered to the darkness, the darkness shimmering away from her to reveal her tear-covered face and her back with large wounds that all three of them knew wouldn't go away.

"I've got you, Rhea... I've got you."

"I've got you, Rhys... I've got you."

She whispers, by her brother's side in an instant. Holding Rhysand in her arms as the magic of their bargain woke him up, feeding him strength. She held him close as he groaned and tried to sit up on the bed.

"Is it our thing, little sis?" He cracked out as Rheana jumped to hug him, "For me to be all dirty and gross and for you to not care and hug me?"

She slapped him upside the head at his attempt at the joke, "Shut up! I'm just making sure you're ok before I beat you up for fucking leaving me and our entire court when you told me you felt something off about Amarantha's party invitation."

"I'm so mad at you." She claimed as they hugged tighter.

"And I love you too, Rhea..." Rhysand chuckled, melting in her hold.

Rheana rested her head on his shoulder, "I'm glad you're safe."

"I'm glad you're safe too." He replied instantly.

"Everyone is ok... As ok as we could have been." She told him, ending the hug, "All thanks to you."

Rhysand stretched on the bed, his joints popping loudly, with a groan, he noticed his body was nearly as healthy as it was before everything. "How did you...?"

"I don't know," She sighed, taking out some new tunics and pants for him. "I just said I needed you and our bargain glowed you back to health."

Before Rhysand could comment, she summoned some food, for both of them. "Forget that. we are going to eat together."

Rhysand gave a soft sigh, "I'm... Not really hungry. Whatever you did... It's as if I've never been fuller."

She frowned slightly, "Alright, if you say so, I won't force you to eat, but let me know if you need anything."

She instantly moved to a chair with some clothes on it, then threw them at him. "Wash up, I'm not letting you stink up the room any longer."

"Ugh, fine..." Rhysand groaned as he got up, and opened the door to the giant bathroom joint to his room.

Rheana excused herself from his room and stood just outside it, she leaned back and slid down on the floor, a smile formed on her face, her blood was suddenly pumping faster through her body, and her heart was beating stronger. Whatever their bargain had done, Rhysand had quickly gotten healthy again. She stroked her hand tattoo, signifying the bargain.

She could hear Rhysand turn the bath tap on to fill it, she didn't know why she stayed just outside his door, but a piece of her wanted to stay as close to him as possible. Half a century away from each other, all she wished to do was sit next to him and learn about what had happened. Certainly, something good had happened at the end of it, Rhys had found his mate, and she smiled at the thought, of her brother's mate.

But the gnawing feeling that something far worse than just torture had happened to her brother before it all stayed with her. She could see it in the ghostly man who he was before their bond healed him, he was physically better but there was something about him that just seemed, gone.

She looked up when she saw a pair of feet approach her, she looked at the male who stood in front of her and smiled, "He's up, Az.."

Rheana got up from the floor with Azriel's help, a soft smile on her face. "He finally woke up."

Azriel, the rather quiet Illyrian male mirrored her smile, "I heard a little," He claimed, the shadows sitting on his shoulders moving against his neck and jaw, whispering in his ear. "Spy remember."

She rolls her eyes at him and his gossip addict shadows, "You're not meant to listen in on your High Lord, you know."

"Forgive me, my Princess." Azriel gave a teasing bow, "Please do not mist me."

And with that, she chuckled, a louder laugh escaped her lips when he took her hands in his scared one to kiss over her knuckles, "I suppose he doesn't have to know."

Azriel smiled hearing her laugh, straightening his back up. "You haven't laughed like that in so long, Rhea..."

"Well, he's back... Rhys is back." Her laugh abruptly ended, but a smile stayed, "And even if he could be broken with what might had happened, but we can heal."

Broken. Broken meant something could be fixed. She would help him fix whatever had been broken Under the Mountain. If she thought about it, everyone in their lives was broken to some extent, and they had all helped each other

"We always do..." He smiled slightly, his burn scared hands stroking her rather scarless ones, "Even if it takes decades."

He led her to the open living room, night had fallen, and the stars covered the sky. The air felt lighter when she looked outside, a peaceful silence between them. The city was lit up under the stars and the moon. The power in the city felt increased tenfold simply by Rhysand's return.

Azriel had got her some food to eat, A damn busybody Rheana smiled to herself as she ate, her food floating on his shadows with a canteen of water by the bread.

"Come on, baby! We can finally bring out the drinks!" Cassian flew in, crates and crates of alcohol in his hands. A big dumb grin on his lips. "Our Rhysie is alive, and he's back!" He almost hollered, anyone could have easily felt the power of their High Lord fueling the city.

Azriel and Rheana look at each other, then at Cassian, "Maybe not just yet, he's just got back, let him rest." Rheana whispered, swallowing her bite.

Cassian frowned as he set all the alcohol down on the ground, giving her a look that he knew would make her get what he wanted, a look of the boy who had once never seen the inside of a house, they all paused when they heard Rhysand's voice, "I won't mind... Bring out the drinks, Cass."

The three of them turn to face Rhysand, cleaned up in his usual tunic and pants with a broad smile on his face. A smile that Rheana saw through instantly. Cassian and Azriel moved fast to tackle him in a hug, she looked at the three of them and noticed how he'd gotten quite uncomfortable with their touch as he tried to pass it off with a smile.

She finished the last of her meat as she let her talons gently scrape his dark fortress of a mind shield, and he carved out a piece of his mind to let her in, something that had made her raise her brow, he's never actually blocked her out before, he'd always trusted her to not snoop around in his thoughts and feelings.

Rhys...? Are you sure you want to party and drink?

I'll be ok, please, let me enjoy this, I've not had some good alcohol since I was taken, I just want to forget... Everything.

Her brows furrowed in confusion but she let it go, a part of her wanted to know what happened, but she would never force him to tell.

Cassian and Azriel were laughing, patting him on his back, talking about how he looked a lot better after his sleep, talking over each other, asking if he was alright. Cassian was basically jumping up and down on his feet, grabbing a bottle of Rhysand's expensive whiskey to pour them glasses. Azriel was a little curious looking at Rhysand, his shadows whispering in his ears whatever they thought was the reason for his physical recovery.

Rheana picked up a glass at the same time as Rhysand, who looked at Azriel and gave a broader smile, "To my return," He smirked and clinked the glass of whiskey with Azriel's.

Mor winnowed in the townhouse with Amren, Rhysand had probably called them in through their mind link as he pulled out more bottles from the crate that Cassian had got, he took a large swig of rum, sighing at the burn in his throat.

The females greeted Rhysand happily and Amren smirked, her nose crinkling slightly at the smell of whiskey. "Good to see you up, boy. Little Rhea was about to lose her mind when you would not wake up."

Rheana playfully shoved Amren and the tiny ancient one, making her eyes glare silver, "Oh shut up, Amren, I was not losing my mind."

"YES, YOU WERE!" Came a chorus, how the lot had managed to get tipsy in seconds was a mystery to her. Only Mor was the one who said nothing since she had panicked just as much, worried shitless for her brother.

A faint blush covered Rheana's tanned cheeks, taking a sip of her own whiskey as the rest poured more drinks, clinking glasses all around.

It took at most 30 minutes before the entire Inner Circle was drunk with how quick they were drowning drinks, Rhysand was smiling and chuckling, drinking more and more by the second. Rheana, too, drank her fill, she'd not let herself have a moment to be loose since Rhys was taken, but if he wanted to get a moment to get drunk, she would do everything to keep him happy, at least once.

Cassian was the drunkest, he'd soon started singing loudly one of the songs that frequently played at Rita's, grabbing Rhysand by his arms to pull him in a slow dance, twirling him around. Mor was laughing at them, even Azriel doubled over laughing at Cassian singing loudly at Rhysand's face. Amren just stood by the side, watching them with a smile.

Five centuries-old toddlers... Rheana thought to herself before she yelled the background vocals to Cassian's singing slightly less awfully, joining in on the dancing with Cassian who held both the brother and sister to dance with.

A real smile came on Rhysand's lips as the night carried on, Mor and Azriel also joined in on the singing and dancing happening in the townhouse, and Amren loosened up well too.

Rheana and Rhysand got twirled around and let out of the dance by the drunk Cassian and the two stared at each other, she reached her hand out to him, and he held it tight, her siphons glowed slightly, a warm humm between them. Whatever happened, they would get through it like any other misfortune they faced. Rheana would be there for Rhysand. They would be ok. They would heal. Together. Alltaf. Aeternum.

{Taglist: @anuttellaa @nox-ceur}

[dreamsandstars24]

So, during the infernal training ring where the Illyrians saw how my three amazing Valkyries killed it, it is mentioned how Azriel stared them down until they left.

And I just have the feeling that the sole reason of this was because he needed to make sure that they didn't gave the Valkyries a bad glance. I am sure that if any of them had look at either of the Valkyries with murder in their eyes, Azriel would have killed them right there and then.

And if they had even sneered towards Gwyn, Emerie or Nesta?

They would have wished for death.

[bookfirstlinetourney]

Round 1

The building was on fire, and it wasn’t my fault.

-Blood Rites, Jim Butcher

Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king.

-The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson

All this happened, more or less.

-Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut

[geraniums-red]

Jim Butcher - Blood Rites

Book 6 in the Dresden Files series. 

Sometimes the heroes in this series are a bit morally grey. It makes up for this by making the villains dramatically evil, and the villains in this book are no exception. Harry is written as a noir PI, with all the biases that involves, but by this point in the series he has learned to over-rule his instincts more often than not. In Discworld terms, he has learned to have Second Thoughts.

In this book, Harry Dresden is simultaneously fighting the Black Court (normal Dracula type vampires), the White Court (sexy mind-control vampires), and whoever is using magic to kill actresses working on a particular adult film.

It's a fun book in an 'action film' sort of way. Monsters are killed, crises are narrowly averted, and Harry accidentally acquires a dog. There are also some revelations which change the way Harry sees some of his allies, and I'm looking forward to finding out how they change the character dynamics in later books.

[thedragion]

I am re-reading(listening) Blood Rites and now I want a puppy to carry around in my pocket

[checkoutmybookshelf]

The One That Takes Place on an Adult Film Set

So if Grave Peril was where we really got to know the Red Court and really dig into one type of vampire, this is where we get the rest of the vampires. This book is a weird amalgamation of Harry breaking an entropy curse on a porn set and Harry LARP-ing the fast few chapters of Dracula. There is just so much weird mirroring in this book too, everything from Harry learning about the real nature of his relationship to Thomas, which mirrors Lara and Inari's relationship to Harry's "porn stars are people too" stance that gets really contradicted by the fact that the only non-Ex-Mrs.-Genosa casualty is the single mother of two who keeps a roof over their heads and food on the table by starring in porn films. Like...For all Harry's protestations of open-mindedness, the entire *premise* of the adult film chunks of this book are "we are punishing porn stars for being porn stars." So let's talk Blood Rites.

This is your SPOILER WARNING and also your CONTENT WARNING for discussions of sex, pornography, and mental assault.

There are three main thrusts to this book (pun sort of intended, but I feel bad about it). There's Harry's Family Stuff and the White Court, there is the Black Court, and there is Arturo Genosa and the adult film. Let's take those in reverse order, because that just feels easiest.

The thing that pulls Harry into this book is Thomas Wraith showing up and asking Harry to help a buddy of his who is cursed. Arturo Genosa apparently really likes sticking his dick in crazy, because he has three ex-wives who have banded together after finding out that he's planning to marry again, but the new bride does not have to sign the same prenup they did, which will screw them out of their shares of Genosa's estate when he dies. Unfortunately, because fax machines are not great, the name of the new bride is smudged to hell and back, so rather than trying to decipher it and target just one person, the ex-wife brigade adopts a spray-and-pray method (double entendre also intended, and I feel less bad about this one). So they basically curse the studio and every woman around Genosa is in the firing line, which is what Harry has been hired to stop.

This gets WEIRDLY slapstick at times, since someone tries to take Harry out with a blowgun, and a frozen turkey quite literally falls from the sky. What is decidedly not slapstick is the sheer level of catty woman-on-woman violence, pettiness, and vitriol. Like, yes, this bullying and violence dynamic exists and deserves page time, but the point is WILDLY undercut when you drop the whole conflict into a highly sexually charged environment and trip into classic horror tropes like the final girl, the brides of Dracula (which is absolutely the vibe in the Wraith Deeps), and punishing sex workers for sex work. You've just basically undercut any other point you're trying to make, because you haven't subverted jack shit and you are so buried in tropes and heteronormative sex that any sense beyond "women are literal monsters" gets completely eclipsed. Like, I'm genuinely shocked that Butcher didn't somehow work a vagina dentata or a sarlacc joke into this book.

Now, running in the background of Harry and the Porn Film is Mavra, a Black Court vampire who is full-on coming for Harry and working to rebuild her court. Harry decides that the best course of action here is to go old school: Find the nest and burn it out before the baby vamps can hurt anyone else. Which, frankly? I support. The Black Court can and should get wiped off the face of the earth. And for the most part, this section is just fun to read. Harry, Murphy, and Kincaid--with Ebenezer McCoy as their wheelman--track the scourge of vampires to their lair in a homeless shelter and proceed to wreck shop on them. Harry even manages to get a group of captured kids out of there in one piece. Well, the kids are in one piece. Harry gets his hand dry-roasted because his shields aren't designed for thermal regulation. That's going to be extremely relevant in terms of lore and character building for the next few books, until Butcher basically forgets about it. But in general, it's a kickass quest and is largely successful.

My only real beef with this scene is the five or so minutes where Murphy is traversing a set of lasers wired to claymore mines and Kincaid has to take her pants off to buy her a quarter inch of space. Which like, is fair enough in practical terms, but Kincaid, Harry, and the book itself sexualize this in a way that is just absolutely gross and unnecessary, and I'm pretty sure it was 100% just so that Harry could smirk about Murphy gunfighting in panties with a little bow on them. Which made me want to take his staff and clock him across the jaw. Multiple times. This was not required, and it just keeps adding to the pattern of sexualizing women in deadly situations...holy crap, did we accidentally wander into a Joss Whedon project?

This scene does set up Murphy and Kincaid's relationship though, which will be relevant for like...maybe one other book? So fine. It also highlights that Kincaid and the White Council DO NOT get along, since he and McCoy draw on each other on sight and Harry almost doesn't manage to talk them down. So we do get some interesting insight into who the White Council does and does not approve of.

I suppose I have to stop stalling now, and actually address the White Court and the Family Stuff.

For any of this book to make sense, we need to know a little bit of history. Mostly that Lord Wraith, Thomas, Lara, and Inari's father, had just the biggest boner for Harry's mother, Margaret Le Fay. Margaret spent a lot of time in the White Court, gave birth to Thomas, and then peaced out. On her way out the door though, she cursed Lord Wraith so that his hunger--the demon that makes him a White Court vampire--couldn't feed. So he hasn't been able to feed since before Harry was born, is dangerously weak--but somehow still strong enough to be STRONGLY implied to be grooming and assaulting his children--and is losing power internally. So yes, Daddy Wraith is a piece of utter garbage, and when we start the book, Inari and Lara are both working for Genosa. Thomas is trying to spare Inari from ever becoming a White Court vampire, while Lara is actively yeeting her AT HARRY to try to awaken her hunger. This is just a bad situation all around.

That said though, this is the book where Harry starts to really gather family--blood family--around him, because in addition to leaving a curse for Lord Wraith, Margaret left mental messages for both her sons that they unlock in this book, so they would know who and what they are to each other in case she wasn't there to connect them.

And as much as I hate to admit feels for anything in this book, the messages she left and the emotional rollercoaster of discovering that you HAVE a brother and that you actually LIKE that brother gave me feels. Harry and Thomas desperately need each other, and now they have each other, and they can trust each other. That's huge for both of them. They both have to play that information very close to the chest, but THEY know, and that's kind of the important thing.

That also makes the end of this book, in the Wraith Deeps, even more complicated because family plus politics is never NOT messy. Lara full-on stages a coup to take control of the White Court, thanks to Harry outing Lord Wraith's curse and utter disregard for any of his children to her. The way it shakes out though, is with Lara in charge, Inari free, and Thomas living with Harry because Lara banished his ass.

Again though, we have Murphy being mentally and physically assaulted in the Deeps, and no, Butcher, him being "the lord of the freaking nation of sexual predators" (p. 330) does not go any distance to excusing or defending it. Like...Perhaps we could STAHP assaulting women everywhere? For five minutes?

Overall, I think this is one of the more forgettable early Dresden Files books, and it falls into horror and vampire tropes way too easily, even when Harry himself is trying to insist that he's open-minded or chivalrous. Clearing out the Black Court hideout was fun, and Harry and Thomas knowing about each other was lovely, but honestly the rest of this book is SO WEIRD about sex and consent and lust that it really did out me off.

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT MOUSE!!! Mouse is the goodest boi, and the best thing to come out of the book. He is a Foo Dog who adopts Harry, and that's basically it in this book, but keep an eye out, because Mouse is the BEST.

[rnainframe]

various warriors related doodles

[friendly-books]

Dresden files Blood Rites live blog

Blood Rites live blog

“The building was on fire and it wasn’t my fault” pg. 11 Ha and I highly doubt that 

Puppies!

Thomas!

“If so, it's a sloppy one. But strong as hell.” pg. 24 Ha Harry being critical of other people doing magic 

“Thomas was an annoying wiseass who tended to make everyone he met want to kill him, and when I have that much in common with someone, I can’t help but like him a little” pg. 30 Ha

“He was at Bianca’s masquerade. Only he was alive back then.” pg. 42 It all comes back to that party

Justine! 

“Since I’d stolen him from Justin DuMorne, my own personal Darth Vader” pg. 62 So Bob belonged to Justin before Harry?

“I don’t expect you to under-“ pg. 77 Ouch Murph 

“He was tall and built like a statue of Hercules” pg. 86 Bi Harry 15

“His face didn’t match the Olympian body” pg. 86 Bi Harry 16

“You always a wiseass?” “No sometimes I’m sleep” pg. 86 Ha

I like Jake 

I like Joan Dallas 

Harry you’re broke, how are you going to pay Kincaid?

“Every time I thought I had gotten through my orphan baggage, something like this came up” pg. 137  aw Harry :( 

I like Inari 

“The next time I saw Thomas, I was going to punch him right in the nose” pg. 153 Ha

“I hit him solidly in the nose with my right fist” pg. 173 Ha

“Empty Night,” she murmured, her tone one of someone speaking an oath” pg. 177 Strange curse word. Why are the first two words capitalized? None of the other curse words are. And none are described as speaking an oath there’s something here 

“Don’t feel bad. I cleverly concealed my identity as Harry the Production Assistant” pg. 177 Ha 

Thomas and Lara casually discussing patricide 

Why would Lara shoot Thomas? they’re siblings 

“So that the next time you start talking I can shoot your wise ass” pg. 186 Ha 

Inari why did you attack Harry he’s trying to help

Inari doesn’t know?!? What a rude awakening to the supernatural with Black Court vampires

“By an entire frozen turkey. A twenty ponder”

“For my next trick anvils” pg. 200 Ha 

Cool that Harry is using his amulet as a symbol of faith 

 “Thomas writhed sinuously” pg. 201 Bi Harry 17

“He was better looking than Thomas” pg. 218 Bi Harry 18

“He didn’t have Thomas beat when it came to smiles. Thomas’s grin had so much life to it was practically sentient” pg. 222 Bi Harry 19

Inari you ok there? Maybe back away from Harry 

“Our mother” pg. 247 Way to drop that bombshell Thomas

“Sank my teeth into his arm” pg. 248 Ha

“You mean he feeds his own” pg. 250 Papa Raith just as bad as Nic. Why was Margaret friends with these people? Did she know what  they did to their kids? Margret needed better friends. This circle of friends is a bad influence 

“I never celebrated Christmas as a kid, after my dad died. It hurt too much. Hell it still hurt too much. But if I had a real family, then maybe things could change” pg. 254 Don’t worry Harry you’ll get a brother and two kids 

Harry’s mom?!?

“He took it, and I drew my brother to his feet” pg. 265 Aw 

Are Bob and Harry friends? I can’t tell with Harry threatening to smash Bob’s skull

“Not now kitten” pg. 276 Well it was nice knowing you Kincaid 

“I took a small but prudent step back from them” pg. 277 Ha Glad to see Harry have some self preservation 

Kincaid keeps digging his grave deeper and deeper 

“It doesn’t count as chivalrous courtesy if you’re only doing it to a wiseass” pg. 279 Ha

Why can’t Harry do the sunshine handkerchief? 

 “Turns out that you’ve got to be genuinely happy to be able to fold sunshine into a hankie” pg. 287 Sobbing 

So the three ex wives did it for the money

“I have a bad habit of turning into a real wiseass when someone makes me nervous. It’s just a reflex” pg. 300 Ha 

No Emma :( 

“That talent had been refined by the harsh lessons of life and even harsher lessons of Justin DeMorne” pg. 331 Justin sucks! Boo hiss 

Ebenezar! 

I love that Ebenezar calls Harry “Hoss”

“You in over your head? It’s as if you’re too stubborn to know when to run” pg. 332 Ha

I love Ebenezar and Harry’s relationship it’s nice that Harry has at least one person he looks up to, respects, and cares about him

Aw Harry made his staff similar to Ebenezar’s

“Look, buddy, you’re scaring the kids” pg. 339 aw Harry :(

Murph in a dress :)

“I must have been feeling suicidal, because I took a step forward and placed myself in the middle of anger stares” pg. 346 At least Harry acknowledges his less than normal self preservation intentions 

“And this is Rich. My second husband” pg. 347 No! :0

Why is Rich married to Murph younger sister? He’s seriously older than her and why would he marry his ex-wife’s sister? Just why?

“Will you take care of my daughter?” “Yes, ma’ am. Of course I will” pg. 356 Sobbing 

“Murphy’s gym bag thumped onto the ground and she stared at me with her mouth open” “What?” I asked “Sir?” she said her voice incredulously” pg. 358 Ha 

“I sort of like him” pg. 372 Yay? Kincaid likes Harry 

“Justin DuMorne had taught me how to do magic. But it was Ebenezar who had taught me why” pg. 376 Cool 

Harry really respects Ebenezar. He stands up to Kincaid 

“Blazing anger had gotten me into way too many bad situations” pg. 375 Ha 

“Be vewy vewy quiet. We’re hunting vampires” pg. 378 Ha

“My dick is bigger than your dick” pg. 379 Ha

“Why do they sell hotdogs in packages of ten but hot dog buns come in packages of eight” pg. 382 Ha 

Well the vampires made the mistake of in-dangering kids 

 “I had already met my quota for burning down public infrastructure this week” pg. 403 Ha

Oh no the bad guys have flamethrowers 

Oh no Harry’s hand 

“I was sending it back to the kitchen anyway. I ordered it medium well” pg. 415 Ha

Ebenezar and Harry fighting :(

Justine’s alive!

Cool that Harry used his staff as a lance

Oh no Murph 

“I’d been in a few caves that were headquarters for dark magic and those who trafficked in it. None of them had been warm. None of them had been pleasant. And none of them had been professionally decorated. Until now” pg. 493 Ha

“Leave me alone, Mister Dresden” pg. 502 oh Murph isn’t mind controlled 

“What can I say, inspiring anger is my gift” pg. 504 Ha

He Who Walks Behind is here 

“Hell’s holy stars and freaking stones shit bells” pg. 514 My thoughts exactly 

Cool that Harry used keys to attack Raith

Awesome that Harry used Lara as a cat’s paw

“Clearly I underestimated you” I said  “Don’t feel bad I mean I look stupid” pg. 525 Ha 

Ivy mention! 

Lash mention I was wondering if she’d show up in this book

“Hey, why did you get large breed Puppy Chow?” pg. 551 Ha 

Final thoughts 

I thought this book was funny. There was so much Bi Harry in this book even without Marcone. Up to 19 on the Bi Harry counter. Sadly no Marcone, why is there so little of him in books. I’m sad that Harry and Ebenezar fought, hopefully they can make up. Nicky, Papa Raith, and Justin DuMorne can all go jump off a cliff in my opinion. I love Thomas and Harry’s relationship. I liked Kincaid and the Ivy mention. I hope to see more of Lash in the next book. I loved Mouse. Rich needs to back up and I’d like to meet him in the parking lot for a chat. I thought the fights were cool. Can’t wait to see what He Who Walks Behind brings to the story. On to the next book.

[books-in-a-storm]

Currently Reading 💛

Storm Cursed & Blood Rites

[fiercefauna]

Nate: You’re not even a member.

6684: I still wanna see it. 

Nate: I’ll need blood. 

6684: How’s this? 

Nate: Holy sh- shiitake mushrooms! 

6684: Turned my merch into blood, that enough? 

Nate: Now I’ll have to use it all. 

6684: Let’s get to work then. 

6684 is not hard to handle and lives off-site so I’m not sure It would come in contact with a level 3 operative. It is a history related object though. Hope I’m not too off-cannon or out of character.

@NolanRyan - twitter is below.

[noxs-mun]

Still my favorite opening sentence In any book ever.

[rhbrand]

I need to do a reread of the Dresden Files. All of them

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Barry Nazarian - Blood Rites - Signet - 1980

[margysmusings]

An errand is getting a tank of gas or picking up a carton of milk or something. It is not getting chased by flying purple pyromaniac gorillas hurling incendiary poo!

Jim Butcher, Blood Rites

[englishbookscomtr]

Rachel Lynch's "Blood Rites" takes readers on another gripping journey through the picturesque yet treacherous landscapes of the Lake District, where DI Kelly Porter must unravel complex mysteries while confronting ghosts from her past. As the sixth installment in the DI Kelly Porter series, "Blood Rites" continues to captivate audiences with its compelling characters, atmospheric setting, and intricate plotlines.