Blood for the Spilling

The final installment of Nichols’s Studies in Demonology series brings matters to a bloody crescendo. Angus is a warlock, a defector from Vinland’s Warlock College, and a demon-lover—taboo in Vinland, where demons are a lesser race. Angus’s partner, Saka, betrayed his demon tribe to save Angus and Terrance, a former spy for Vinland. Together they have defected to the Mayan Empire. Vinland has been overusing magic, wreaking ecological havoc on both the human and the demon realm. Angus and Saka want to stop this with the Mayans’ help, but the Mayans do not trust them, though many have died in wars against Vinland. While Angus finds a way to defeat Vinland, Terrance is chosen to prove his commitment via a bloody game in which losers are sacrificed to restore magic to the demon realm. A complex plot and empathetic queer characters are marred by elements of exoticism, but this is still a fun, exciting finish to Nichols’s trilogy. (Dec.)