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Dear gods:

I know Leah said that the winikin should pick specific gods to write to, but it doesn't feel right.  I'm not a magic-user, not a Nightkeeper.  I'm just support staff.  I've done my best to protect, teach and guide my charges, even when we thought the barrier was closed, the end-time war averted.  Now that we know otherwise, it's all hands on deck as we try to stretch a dozen magi over the roles of hundreds, with too little information and not enough power. 

I'm afraid, gods.  I'm afraid it won't be enough, that I won't be enough.  I already called it wrong once- I told Strike to sacrifice Leah, leaned on him hard to do it.  Where would we be now if he'd listened?  Leah is good for him, and it's important for the others to see how their love increases his magic far and above that of the others.  Which leaves me. . . where? 

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Dear Red-Boar,

Leah said I couldn't pick a god, that I had to write to you.  She also said I had to use ‘Dear Red-Boar' or even worse, ‘Dear Dad,' even though we both know ‘Hey old man, f- you' would be closer to reality- or, even better, nothing at all.  

 She seems to think I have something to say to you that I didn't get to say before you died, but we both know that's crap.  You told me exactly what you thought of me, and vice versa.  What is there left to say?  You didn't want me bound to the magic because I'm just a half-blood.  Heck, you didn't even accept me into your bloodline until Strike made you do it.  You never trusted me, never taught me, and never let a day go by without letting me know you would've traded me in a heartbeat to get even a few minutes with your ‘real' family, the one that died during the Solstice Massacre.  But that was twenty-four years ago.  Get over it already.

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Dear Destiny- or fate, or prophecy, or the will of the gods or whatever:

I'm only doing this because I know Strike's punishment for not writing this dumb letter would be way worse than just sitting my butt down and writing it.  Just so you know.

Over the past six months, ever since Strike showed up at my office, teleported me up to the roof and hung me over the side to get my attention, I've done lots of things I never would've thought possible.  I've seen gods and demons, I've done magic, and I've met a woman who shouldn't have existed outside my own imagination.  That evidence has more than convinced me that the gods exist, and their will influences our lives down here.  But I've also watched Strike defy the writs themselves to make Leah his own when the thirteenth prophecy said she was to be his sacrifice.  So I know our supposed destiny can be rewritten to a point.  That's why, for my winter solstice wish, I'm asking you to leave me the hell alone. 

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Dear Ixchel:

Okay, so maybe the goddesss of fertility and childbirth isn't exactly an obvious choice for Alexis Gray, aka "she who cannot manage to sustain a relationship to save her life, and is way not in a position (or mindset) to think about starting a family," but when Leah gave us our team-building assignment to write a Dear Santa letter to one of the Maya gods, I automatically gravitated toward you, so I'm going with it. I think it's probably your connection to weaving- I've always loved fabric, and probably would've gone into fashion if it hadn't been for Izzy pushing me into finance. But anyway... what do I want this winter solstice?

Leah said it's okay for it to be totally "me-me-me," even though according to some people, I'm always all about me. But the thing is, we've all got a more or less unlimited budget, since the Nightkeeper Fund is fat enough to fund an army of hundreds rather than the dozen magi and handful of winikin support staff we've actually got. I can pretty much buy what I want, which for a long time was what I thought I wanted in life. Unfortunately, I'm finding that the carte blanche sort of takes away the specialness of a big purchase. That's why I'm still mostly wearing my old courtesy-of-eBay couture (with a few strategic additions, of course), and while I've decorated my suite, I haven't gone overboard. At least not by my standards.

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Dear Kulkulkan:

Yeah, I know you're one of the Maya creator gods, not Santa Claus, and you get around in your winged serpent guise, not with a sleigh and however many reindeer, but Leah is making us all write ‘Dear Somethingorother' letters this winter solstice. She says it's a team building exercise. I think it's because this is her first year not celebrating the human holidays, but I'm not going to call her on it. I love her. She's my mate and my queen. Of course I'll write the letter. . . and so will everyone else here at Skywatch, or they'll answer to me.

So... on to the letter. Not that I would ever actually ask you for personal stuff when the lines of communication are open between us- we've usually got more important things to do, like kick some demon butt back where it belongs and keep it there through the end of 2012. Gods willing. But Leah says this letter should be about personal stuff, the stuff we want, as opposed to what we're prophecy-bound to do.

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Jessica Andersen is our guest blogger during the week of December 8th. If you have any questions for Jessica Andersen, add a comment to any of her posts. Here is some more information about Nightkeepers:

In the first century A.D., Mayan astronomers predicted the world would end on December 21, 2012. Modern scientists say dire solar flames and magnetic fluctuations will all occur on that exact day. In these final years before the End Times, demon creatures of the Mayan underworld-The Makols-have come to earth to trigger the apocalypse. But the Chajinal, descendants of the Mayan warrior-priests, have decided to fight back.

In Nightkeepers, a Makol uses a lost rite known as The Godkeeper to call a demon to earth. During the ritual, a sky god attempts to possess the demon's human sacrifice, a narcotics detective named Leah Ann Daniels. The rite is unsuccessful, but gives Leah magical powers, and strands the god between planes. Warned by a cryptic message from an ally, King Jaguar Striker arrives just in time to save Leah...but is exiled when he breaks Chajinal law. Leah and Striker must bond together to defeat the embodied demon and gain support of the Chajinal army-all before the next solstice, when another demon will try to pass through.

Nightkeepers combines Mayan astronomy and lore with modern, sexy characters for a gripping read. Fans of paranormal romance and urban fantasy will not want to miss Jessica Andersen's The Final Prophecy series!