As the plot for Demon Spring was coming together, the third book became very clearly a story featuring two ornery women on a common goal. Having done something similar for Alliances, the second Razia book, I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into writing another book about female friendships. And let me tell you, Cam and Anya did not disappoint.
Warning: Spoilers for the second Demon Spring book ahead
Working Together
At the end of Revival, Bael takes Jack to the Underworld. Anya, of course, springs into action and makes plans to retrieve him. Cam, of course, decides she’s not getting stuck behind and invites herself along. Anya has a grudging respect for Cam, as she is Jack’s best friend, and Anya has developed a fondness for Jack. Cam, on the other hand, loathes Anya for dragging Jack into her nonsense.
The first few pages cracks and rattles with disagreements, fights, arguments, and Anya’s forlorn stares out into the distance. Cam doesn’t believe Anya will save Jack–instead, she thinks Bael will bat his eyes at her and she’ll fall at his feet again. But Cam’s mother gives her some good advice: Look at Anya’s actions and Bael’s reactions. It’s clear Anya is trying, but she needs help to get there. And who better than Cam to guide her along the way?
One of the biggest differences between Anya and Razia in my mind is that Anya very clearly cares for people. She and Cam become very close rather quickly (Because Reasons), and when the nox prince comes along, Anya reverts into Mother Mode. Lotan, who I’ll talk about in the coming weeks, is sexy, suave, and leaves Cam tongue-tied. She doesn’t like Lotan as she believes his parents killed her daughter, but eventually, as Cam warms to him, Anya warms to him. Begrudgingly.
Just Say No to Love Triangles
It’s very easy to write a book about two women fighting over the same guy. It’s also surprisingly easy to write a book about two women who love the same guy, but differently. Cam and Anya give each other the space to have their own relationship with Jack. That’s the book I wrote here. It may not pass the Bechdel test specifically, but I still really like the portrayal of female friendships.
Cam’s jealousy of Anya is rooted not in romantic jealousy, Instead, it’s the innate fear that Jack has become a different person, and she doesn’t know who she is without him. It’s the stark realization she comes to in the second book, and shines a different light on her actions in all three books. Eventually, Cam does give her seal of approval to Anya, trusting that she, Cam, can chart her own path solo.
Buy the first book in the Demon Spring trilogy
Demon hunter Jack Grenard’s life changed three years ago when his wife was brutally murdered by the very demons he’d been hunting. At the urging of his partner Cam Macarro, he’s starting a new life in Atlanta, hoping he’ll find the man he used to be. But on a routine hunt, they come across a new type of demon–one that saves instead of kills.
Meanwhile, demons across Atlanta are preparing for the quadrennial uprising of their Underworld brethren. Worse yet, there’s a rumor the so-called king of the demons, Bael, will appear for the first time in over a century. Jack and Cam must uncover the truth about the mystery woman before all hell–literally–breaks loose.
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