The Silver Scar

When Trinidad was twelve, his Wiccan parents blew themselves up in an ecoterr attack that killed several Christians. Orphaned and disillusioned, he fled his home with his best friend Castile to become a soldier for the powerful Christian church operating inside the fortress city of Boulder, Colorado. Raised by a priest and trained by a godless warrior, Trinidad learned the brutal art of balancing faith and war. He is the perfect archwarden, disciplined and devout.

But when the church's bishop arrives with a silver scar she claims is proof of angelic orders to crusade, Trinidad alone knows her story is a lie. The silver scar comes from a mystical, ancient graveyard called the Barren—a place of healing reached only by Wiccan magic, a place that could turn Christianity on its head.

Accusing her outright would be treason. Searching for proof would mean committing heresy. Either is a death sentence for an archwarden. Instead, torn between the lure of powerful magic, his love for Castile, and his vows to defend the Church, Trinidad must turn to the very people he'd left in his past to stop the crusade. But as everyone he trusts is mired in betrayal and vengeance, he soon realizes his own righteousness is no weapon against the slaughter of thousands.

Betsy Dornbusch is the author of several short stories, novellas, and novels, including the Books of the Seven Eyes trilogy. In addition to speaking at numerous conventions and teaching writing classes, she has spent the past decade editing the online magazine Electric Spec and writing on her website, Sex Scenes at Starbucks (betsydornbusch.com).