DESTINY
Present Day Boston, Massachusetts and the City-State of Lagash, Sumer, 2501 B.C.

Between his antique store and his quaint little home, Nathan Ian King has built himself the perfect little kingdom. Of course, Nathan is accustomed to ruling his own world -- four thousand years ago, he was King Eannatum of Sumer, known to his friends as Natum. After all these years as an Immortal High Witch, Nathan has grown tired of constantly battling the Dark Witches who see his heart as a prize, and has settled into the quiet life of an ordinary mortal. Then, one morning, life as he knows it comes crashing down around him with a picture in the paper. An unknown woman apparently tried to commit suicide by jumping from a tall building, but revived in the ambulance and is now catatonic and being held at a mental institution. As hard as it is for Nathan to believe, this woman looks like Nidaba, the only woman in four thousand years, that Nathan has ever loved.

They met as children: Natum, the Prince of Lagash, and an orphan training to be a High Priestess, and quickly became friends. As they grew up, the relationship matured, also, and Natum and Nidaba fell deeply in love. But a marriage between them was impossible, no matter how much either of them wished it. For all of these centuries, Natum has believed that Nidaba and her child perished in a fire, but obviously she survived, and Nathan vows that they will never be parted again.

Alternating between Ancient Sumer and modern Boston, Natum/Nathan’s and Nidaba’s tale of DESTINY is told. First introduced in INFINITY, an earlier title in this series, Nidaba is a tortured soul -- quite literally -- who has skated the edge of madness, thanks to her grief over her son’s second death and the imprisonment and torture she has endured. Her catatonic state is mostly because of her reaction to the drugs she was given at the hospital, and she spends the early part of the book unresponsive. Yet, through the memories of the past, readers get a glimpse of the proud, irrepressible girl she once was before tragedy and betrayal changed her. Nathan has always loved Nidaba, and losing her almost destroyed him. Even knowing the chaos she brings with her is not enough to stop Nathan from bringing her back into his life. But, someone is willing to go to any lengths to stop their reunion from taking place.

IMMORTALITY
Near the Virgin Islands - Present Day

Matthew Fairchild is stunned by the woman he finds floating in the ocean near his private island, for two reasons: first, she looks eerily like his late wife, Gabriella, and second, because she is apparently alive. As he pulls what he thinks is her lifeless body into his boat, the woman starts gasping for air and fighting his hold. When she pulls a dagger on him, Matthew seriously considers tossing her back into the ocean, but something about her draws him in and insists that he help her.

Puabi, once Queen of Sumer, managed to pull herself out of the fire that almost killed her, but jumped into the ocean figuring that eventually even her immortality won’t be able to save her. Months later, she finds herself in Matthew Fairchild’s boat and is confused by the changes in herself. She isn’t healing as fast as she should be, and when she realizes that her powers, stolen from a Light Witch, are waning, Puabi knows that she cannot kill again. As Matthew reveals the story of his marriage, Puabi can’t help but see the similarities to her own situation and, for the first time in four thousand years, her conscience begins to bother her. Yet, while Puabi feels remorse, as a Dark Witch, her time is limited -- unless she is willing to take another heart.

It’s often difficult to root for a heroine who was a villainess in a previous book, but that is what happens in IMMORTALITY. Haughty and selfish though Queen Puabi was, she also suffered -- falling in love with a man incapable of loving her back, and also when she lost her child. Though Matthew was fond of his wife, he didn’t love her as she loved him, and he feels guilty for her death. These two tortured souls find each other, but time may be limited...in more ways than one.

DESTINY and IMMORTALITY deal with the truly ancient Immortal High Witches -- both Light and Dark -- and close out Maggie Shayne’s Immortal Witches series. Don’t miss the amazing conclusion to these enjoyable paranormal romances.

Jennifer Bishop