Something came for Christine Knight the night her son was born. By morning, a hospital had been levelled. Six hundred people were dead. The records had been erased and the building replaced with a retirement home, its lawn trimmed and unremarkable.
Her son survived.
His name is Robert. He is eight years old when the story begins, and he has spent every year since watching two men build a wall of silence around him and calling it love. He has noticed the locks checked twice, the curtains drawn before dusk, the way adults stop talking when he enters a room. He has noticed the clocks.
He has started to take notes.
Set across seven years in the rain-soaked hills of Derbyshire, Cambion is a supernatural thriller about family, deception, and the long cost of protection â about what two men will burn to keep one boy breathing, and what he will find when he looks at the ash.
The first volume in the Book of Thoth Saga, part of the Aethereal Stories universe.
The truth has been waiting for him since before he was born.
It has been very patient.
Something came for Christine Knight the night her son was born. By morning, a hospital had been levelled. Six hundred people were dead. The records had been erased and the building replaced with a retirement home, its lawn trimmed and unremarkable.
Her son survived.
His name is Robert. He is eight years old when the story begins, and he has spent every year since watching two men build a wall of silence around him and calling it love. He has noticed the locks checked twice, the curtains drawn before dusk, the way adults stop talking when he enters a room. He has noticed the clocks.
He has started to take notes.
Set across seven years in the rain-soaked hills of Derbyshire, Cambion is a supernatural thriller about family, deception, and the long cost of protection â about what two men will burn to keep one boy breathing, and what he will find when he looks at the ash.
The first volume in the Book of Thoth Saga, part of the Aethereal Stories universe.
The truth has been waiting for him since before he was born.
It has been very patient.
Derbyshire, 1995
Danielâs dad had three rules for living in a quiet village.
Donât start trouble, but donât walk away from someone in it.
Know your place, know your people.
If something isnât human, you treat it like itâs loaded.
Stepping Stones Primary squatted under decades of grime, its limestone walls dulled beneath streaks of bird droppings. Beyond the wire-fenced playground, northern peaks hid behind dark evergreens, the hills glowing faintly with heather.
The lunchtime bell screeched. Doors burst open. Children poured outâcheeks flushed pink, jackets flashing in berry, navy, fuchsia. Scarves snapped in the wind, woollen hats bobbing like bright buoys on a dark sea.
Beneath the staffroom windows, two boys crouched over a shoebox of glossy football cards. The cards rasped in quick flicks; their breath made brief ghosts in the cold. A cough drifted from the staffroom, thin as a warning.
A few paces away, the playground turned to chaosâshouts, laughter, the rhythm of battle. Pebbles flew in uneven arcs, cracking against the ground. Wrists met as if to strike sparks; the gravel bit their palms, but they didnât stop.
Across the yard, Daniel Marsden advanced in neat, measured strides. His jumper was smoothed flat against his chest, his collar folded with military careâsave for a single, defiant lime-green cuff.
Dad called it keeping your wits about youâa work phrase, from a job he never properly explained. He liked to turn it into jokes that didnât feel like jokes: if anyoneâs eyes ever changed colour, you ran and called him, no questions asked.
Daniel simply understood that you kept your head up and your eyes open, even in a playground. Monsters, Dad said, didnât always look like monsters.
He had been oddly firm about it on the first day of school: âBefriend Robert Knight. Stick close.â Daniel had never quite been told why.
Robert Knight stood beside him now, holding a scuffed football to his chest. His jumper hung long and loose, waiting for him to grow into it.
Two girls darted past them, their boots cracking a sheet of ice; Mrs Patelâs sharp glance scattered them mid-laugh.
Older boys thundered by, boots clacking like hooves.
âOi, Marsbar!â one called.
âKnighty needs his blankie!â another said.
Robertâs grip tightened on the ball. Danielâs expression did not change, but his stride slowed.
At the far end, a football game consumed the court. Jackets marked the posts. Robertâs gaze tracked the ball skidding across slick groundânot his, theirs. The one that moved. His fingers loosened as a boy his age trapped it cleanly and passed. When the ball sailed towards the makeshift goal, Robertâs weight shifted with it, as if the motion could pull him into the game.
âWant to play?â Daniel asked.
Robertâs lips parted, shaping a silent yes.
âWe could ask to join,â Daniel offered.
Robert leaned towards the idea, briefly, then withdrew. His chin dipped.
âOr we could find somewhere quiet,â Daniel said, saving him. âKick yours around.â
Robert nodded once.
They crossed the yard towards the rainbow-painted bike shed. The sound around them flattened, as if the air itself were thickening; the playgroundâs clamour thinned into a distant, muffled roar.
Robert slowed. Daniel matched his pace. A tremor ran through Robertâs frameâa tiny vibration humming beneath his skin.
His gaze drifted back towards the football gameâthe ball arcing, boys colliding, the shouts of victory. Something shifted in his eyes. Not colour, exactlyâa flicker of gold in the blue, gone before Daniel could be sure.
For a moment, Danielâs stomach dipped. He blinked hard, willing it to be a trick of the light.
The cycle shelter hunched against the limestone wall, its translucent roof sweating meltwater. Diesel and leaf-rot soured the air.
Kevin balanced on the balls of his feet, holding a grey handheld console just out of reach. Wiry and sharp-faced, with ginger hair sticking up in tufts, he grinned as he dangled it. Adam jumped for it, frantic, his skinny legs sliding on the white-dusted tarmac. His glassesâwire-rimmed, constantly sliding down his noseâfogged with each breath. Each time he jumped, Kevin raised his arm higher or shoved him back, laughing.
Adam crashed into the racks, setting off a clatter of painted metal. A pedal snagged his jumper; he caught a crossbar.
From the wall, Michael watched, arms folded, grin slack and lazy. He was stocky for Year Four, thick-necked, his hair gelled flat to his skull like his older brotherâs. A flick of his fingers tapped Kevinâs shoulder; a tilt of his head said prey.
Dadâs voice, from some rainyânight lecture: âYou donât throw the first punch, you donât dogâpile, but if someoneâs getting battered in the corner, youâre not the extra on the sidelinesâyouâre the one who steps in so theyâre not on their own, like youâre the mate who actually shows up when the fight breaks out.â
Kevinâs grin cooled. He let the console drop into Adamâs waiting hands. Adam clutched the console, eyes flicking to Michael. Michael arched a brow.
Daniel touched Robertâs elbow. âCome on.â
Robertâs grip shook around the ball. The tremor ran through the worn leather, whitening his knuckles.
âYou all right?â
Robert didnât answer. His gaze caught on the translucent roof, where meltwater gathered in slow beads before sliding free.
Drip. Drip.
Each one left a dark coin on the tarmac.
Daniel glanced back towards the playground. Mrs Patel was crossing the netball court, her attention fixed on a cluster of Year Threes. The football game roared on. The gate stood open, fifteen paces away. Easy.
Dadâs second rule: âLearn the villageâteachers, neighbours, whoâs solid and whoâs trouble; the shortcut past the shop and the corner you can vanish toâand if you tell a mate youâve got their back, you prove it, especially when everyone else bottles it and turns theirs.â
âWe could still go back,â Daniel said quietly. âFind another spot. By the field, maybe.â
For a heartbeat, Robertâs shoulders eased. His weight shifted forward, towards the light.
âLook whoâs here,â Kevin said, his voice pitched just enough to bridge the space.
Michael spat onto the tarmac. âWeirdo and his boyfriend, out for a stroll.â
Daniel gave a slight nod, mechanical. Beside him, Robert stared at the ground.
Lazily, Michael drifted closer, rolling his thick shoulders back. His gaze trailed over Daniel before settling on Robert. âWell,â he said, voice low and drawn out. âThis is our bit, innit?â A beat. âYou lost or summat?â
Robert shuffled behind Daniel.
âJust walking,â Daniel said evenly.
Michaelâs lids lowered, boredom sharpening into cruelty. âHear that, Kev? âJust walking.â Thatâs a crime now, innit?â
Laughter cracked. Adam shrank into the wall, his shoulder brushing damp brick.
Michael kept his eyes on Robert. âWhatâs the matter, Knighty? Cat got your tongue? Some people say you donât talk at all. Proper freak.â
Daniel moved forward. âLeave it.â
Kevin snorted. âOoh, leave it. Big man.â
Michael didnât. He tilted his head, studying Robert like a bug under glass. âCome on, Knighty. Say something. Crack a joke.â He leaned in, eyes glinting. âOr maybe tell us what you did to your mum.â
Robertâs face drained of colour; his body went still.
Adam pushed his glasses up his nose, then spoke before he meant to, the words bursting out too loudly. âWhatâs wrong with you, anyway? Why canât you talk?â His voice broke mid-sentence, then shrank to nothing. He stepped back, chin ducking.
A wince flickered across Robertâs face like a shadow. Daniel eased forward, angling his body to block the view. âHe hasnât done anything to you,â he said. âHeâs harmless. Leave him alone.â
Michaelâs laugh slid in, thin and cutting. He shoved Danielâs shoulder. The push wasnât hard, just enough to claim ground. He stepped into the space Daniel had occupied. âBig words, Marsbar. Playing at being his mum?â
Daniel held still. He didnât puff up. He planted his feet, his weight dropping low. âHe just wants to play,â he said, his voice flat, stripped of fear. âWalk away.â
Michaelâs grin hardened, all boredom gone. âOr what? You gonna tell your dad?â His words turned blade-thin. âYou know what happens to snitches.â
Behind him, Kevin edged closer to Robert, emboldened. âOi, just hand the ball over, yeah?â He reached. Robert pulled it back against his chest.
Michaelâs chin jerked onceâdo it.
Kevinâs hands shot out, quick and darting. He yanked. Their arms tangled. The ball jolted free. It bounced across the ground to rest by Adamâs feet.
Adam hesitated, his fingers brushing grit. The console sat heavy in his jacket pocketâhis, finally returned, only because theyâd found new prey. He lifted the ball, holding it at chest height, caught between them. His eyes flicked to Michael, then back to Robert. The air thinned into expectation.
âChuck it over,â Michael said.
Adamâs arms faltered before the throw, but he obeyed. The ball slipped through his fingers, bounced twice, and nudged Kevinâs leg. Silence followed, sharp and clinical, like the hush before a teacherâs verdict.
Michael cracked his knuckles, then closed in again, narrowing the space until Robertâs back nearly brushed the fence. âThatâs what I thought,â he murmured. âEmpty, arenât you?â A finger tapped Robertâs skull. âWhatâs it like, then? No mum. No luck. Bet your uncles hate you.â
Robert made a rough, strangled soundânot words, just pressure forcing its way out. His arms clenched at his sides, fingers curling as if his body was fighting to contain something that wanted out.
The wind died. For a second, the only sound was the distant hum of traffic, thin and irrelevant.
âDonât.â Daniel shifted between them, shoulders squared, his body forming a shield. If monsters didnât always look like monsters, then maybe the people who stood in front of them didnât look like heroes either. âYouâre all right,â he said to Robert, quiet but steady.
Michael shoved him harder this time.
Daniel staggered, arms flailing for balance, but stayed upright.
Michael leaned in so close to Robert that their foreheads almost touched. âYou know what my dad says about you, freak?â Michaelâs voice dropped, losing its mocking edge. âSays you killed your mum. Says youâre cursed. Says men like him know what you are.â
The phrasing snaggedâtoo close to the way grown-ups in Hopeâs End talked when they thought children werenât listening.
Adam stepped back. Kevin kept the ball tapping against the brickâthud, rebound, thudâsteady as a wrong heartbeat.
Robert stilled. His breath turned hot and tight against his ribs. His eyes lifted.
Beyond the bike shed, a whistle blew. A teacher called a name. It sounded distant, as if it belonged to a different world entirely.
The gold flared againâno mistaking it this time. Danielâs skin prickled; the air itself seemed to hold its breath.
Dadâs third rule surfaced, cold and clear: âEyes change, air goes thin, stories sound too oldâwhatever it is, you get the vulnerable one out, you make it look ordinary to everyone else, and you call me before you decide if itâs a monster or not.â
Colour bled from the air around Robert, its edges paling under the pressure of some deeper, older light breaking through.
Robertâs fist was already moving.
The punch was clean. It connected just under Michaelâs jaw with a sound like splitting wood.
Daniel knew, with a cold, simple certainty, that no eight-year-old should be able to hit like that. Dadâs old warnings stopped being warnings; they started sounding like instructions.
Michael crumpled. Metal clattered; the bike rack rang hollow.
No one moved. The white dust on the tarmac lay undisturbed. Then something small and white spun across the groundâa tooth, streaked with red, skittering to rest.
The air froze. Even breathing stopped.
Then came the scream.
Michaelâs howl tore the silence open. He dropped to his knees, hands clamped to his jaw, blood leaking between his fingers. His eyes rolled up towards Robertânot angry, not defiant. Shocked. Hurt. Small.
The playground noise rushed back inâshouts, laughter, the thud of the football. Everything normal. Everything wrong.
Kevin had gone absolutely still, his restless energy snuffed out like a candle. He stood staring at Robert, pupils blown wide, skin gone waxy. His mouth opened, closed. No mockery now.
Adam had backed against the wall, one hand pressed flat to the brick. His glasses sat crooked. He wasnât looking at Michaelâs blood or Robertâs hands. He was looking at his own feet, breathing fast and shallow, as if trying to disappear into the limestone.
Daniel didnât look at the blood. He looked at the three of themâKevin frozen, Adam shrinking, Michael on the ground.
The dangerous ones looked ordinary, he thought, right up until they struck.
Robert stood very still, eyes dulling back to blue. Whatever had flashed through him was gone, but the space it left behind felt wrong, like a door slammed shut on a room Daniel hadnât known was there.
âYou saw nothing,â Daniel said, stepping once into Kevinâs line of sight.
âBack! All of you, back!â Mrs Jenkinsâs voice cracked the air. She took in Michaelâs bloodied mouth, the tooth on the ground, and Robertâs split knuckles. Her shadow fell over Robert. She caught his shoulder, not gently. âAndrews. Patel. Here. Now.â
Mrs Patel dropped to her knees beside Michael, steadying his chin. âLet me see. Is it loose? Can you move it?â
Michaelâs sobs broke unevenly. He opened his mouthâan incisor leaned at an ugly angle, pink spit at his lip.
Mr Andrews worked to disperse the crowd. His breath clouded as he spotted the two boys standing in the circleâs centreâand stopped.
Robert stared at his hands. The knuckles were split, blood welling slowly. They didnât hurt yet. He turned them over, studying them as if they belonged to someone else.
Up close, he seemed half-goneâbreathing hard, eyes wide and vacant, already somewhere inside himself.
âAndrews, fetch the nurse!â Mrs Patel barked.
Kevin found his voice. âHe punched him. Out of nowhere.â
Adam muttered, eyes on the ground, âHe was just standing there.â
Mrs Jenkins fixed them with a glare. âEnough. It is always the two of you. Mrs Davisonâs office. Go.â
She turned back to Robert. âYou. With me.â
Robert didnât move; he stood like prey awaiting the snap.
The gap yawned in front of them. If Robert went in alone, facing questions he couldnât answer, everything would tip the wrong way.
Dad had always said Danielâs job was to stick close, watch, keep Robert safeânever to draw attention to him. Whatever the reason for that rule, stepping forward now felt like snapping it in half.
He placed himself in Mrs Jenkinsâs line of sight. âI was involved.â
The lie landed clean.
Mrs Jenkins paused, weighing the blood on the ground against the boy blocking her view. Her jaw tightened. âThen you can explain yourself, too. Inside. Both of you.â
Daniel didnât look at Robert again. He nodded, slow and sure, and led the way towards the school doors.
From the first page, I knew this story was going to be different.
Now, 'different' is a spectrum, and Aethereal Stories has dropped Cambion far from absurdity and its jarring, disruption of suspension of belief. Instead, this unique urban fantasy lives in my favorite place: pulls me in and keeps me there.
The central character, Robert Knight, literally entered my experience on a tense note. His only friend, Daniel, finds he's once again caught the attention of bullies doing what they do best. And despite Daniel's best efforts to pull Robert out of the situation, the unrelenting bullying ends in an epic punch to the jaw of one of the other boys, which, of course, is the only thing the adult at the primary school sees.
This introduction to the protective circle around the young boy manifest, from Daniel's insistence that he'd had a direct hand in the fight, to the actions of Robert's uncles, Toby and Ben. While their outward reactions drastically differ to Robert admitting to blacking out when he punched the kid--Toby's gentleness and Ben's gruff seriousness--they share deep concern over this overt sign of his emerging powers and the danger it invites from multiple secret organizations, despite all their attempts to keep him hidden and off their radar.
Why? Because Robert Knight is a cambion, the progeny of a demon and a human, and depending on which organization you ask--ha! like you'd just knock on their door--he's a threat to be put down, a possible asset to be trained, or a power to be exploited. What a burden to bear for one kid!
I'm not a fan of spoiling the good parts. But I promise it's worth it.
Aethereal Stories builds this world and its story with layers. My only qualm is the author's clear preference of integrating multiple POVs in not only one chapter, but bouncing back and forth in an interaction. I had to reread passages more than once to ensure I understood not so much who said what, but more which actions, specifically body language and facial expressions--which the Aethereal does beautifully--belong to whom. Because these little things are made a huge difference in how a scene plays out.
I'm so happy this is the first of a series, and I'm ready for more.
Bravo.