Offering to the Storm

Offering to the Storm
Dolores Redondo

<h2>It begins with a murdered child. It ends in a valley where nightmares are born.</h2>When Detective Inspector Amaia Salazar is called in to investigate the death of a baby girl, she finds a suspicious mark across the child’s face – an ominous sign that points to murder.The baby’s father was caught trying to run away with the body, whether from guilt or grief nobody can be sure. And when the girl’s grandmother tells the police that the ‘Inguma’ was responsible – an evil demon of Basque mythology that kills people in their sleep – Amaia is forced to return to the Baztán valley for answers.Back where it all began, in the depths of a blizzard, she comes face to face with a ghost from her past. And finally uncovers a devastating truth that has ravaged the valley for years.

Copyright (#ua3e92a81-94f0-5908-bd3c-8a54345460b6)

HarperCollinsPublishers

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London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2017

Copyright © Dolores Redondo 2014

Translation copyright © Nick Caistor and Lorenza García 2017

Dolores Redondo asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Originally published in 2014 by Ediciones Destino,

Spain, as Ofrenda a la tormenta

Cover design by Holly Macdonald © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018

Cover photographs © Wojciech Zwolinski/Arcangel Images (statue), Shutterstock.com (http://www.shutterstock.com) (other images)

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

This is entirely a work of fiction. Any references to real people, living or dead, real events, businesses, organizations and localities are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. All names, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and their resemblance, if any, to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books

Ebook Edition © AUGUST 2017 ISBN: 9780008165550

Source ISBN: 9780008165543

Version: 2018-04-20

Dedication (#ua3e92a81-94f0-5908-bd3c-8a54345460b6)

For Eduardo, as with everything I do.

For my aunt Angela and all the proud women in my family, who have always done what had to be done.

And above all, for Ainara.

I cannot bring you justice, but at least I shall remember your name.

‘It is never too late, Dorian. Let us kneel down, and try if we cannot remember a prayer.’

‘Those words mean nothing to me now.’

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

‘All things that have a name exist.’

A popular Baztan belief, recorded by José Miguel de Barandiarán in Brujería y brujas

Table of Contents

Cover (#u453d534a-90ac-5caa-9849-76dba3e4b5a9)

Title Page (#u3c06d27c-0971-5a92-bd08-2890cbc63f57)

Copyright (#u2a76a274-9a3c-56de-87de-ac5f68b02f36)

Dedication (#u81e7945d-45a5-5d6f-86f3-bf20c3b89a87)

Epigraph (#u6c1f7bc5-88c8-5ead-a357-4b8ceb5d5711)

Chapter 1 (#ua65933ae-905a-558e-a22d-183879412461)

Chapter 2 (#uf346d3b1-db6e-5355-992f-1f2ddeb9e130)

Chapter 3 (#ud519dc77-8c1d-523c-803f-c3f46c7bceca)

Chapter 4 (#u849d1bf3-d384-52a8-a3ff-0b5fecce788f)

Chapter 5 (#ud550445f-2795-5824-8b0d-a96852286b80)

Chapter 6 (#ub2fdcc4d-d5fb-54cd-bf21-fe2077e71e7e)

Chapter 7 (#u6526641d-e26e-59d5-8d57-04d8671ded36)

Chapter 8 (#ue4e45841-203e-5d23-9adc-da7cff01f3dd)

Chapter 9 (#ub7be1556-df30-5bcd-90f3-83389ef23438)

Chapter 10 (#u4c445990-423f-580e-87b7-0fa376b1b443)

Chapter 11 (#u50845a2b-b8a7-518e-a3e5-6f7fb1ed182d)

Chapter 12 (#ue7bebc26-f9be-5021-ac5a-b215d4b56b5c)

Chapter 13 (#ufc2b19a0-95e7-5766-b19c-5ec7a5c720e3)