The Druids Of Blackwater Valley: Book One: Blackbird

There is a world that exists within the world we think we know. There are gods whose presence is hidden from all but their descendants. One such group has lived for centuries in an isolated region of the northern Maine forest. Their surroundings are untamed and harsh – a reflection of their father and creator, Corvus the Beast God.
Ten years after departing this world, Michael Singleton must return to the valley nestled along the Blackwater River. Michael suffers from a rare disease, the curse of his tribe. Because of this curse, Michael’s soul will be damned to wander the Shadowlands – the domain of the Witch Goddess – for eternity.
To escape this fate, Michael must unlock the spell that opens the portal to Corvus’s kingdom, the Otherworld. It is a secret known to only one man – the powerful Guardian of the Dead.
Michael is convinced that if he can invoke the spell and travel through the portal, he will finally be rid of his painful, debilitating torment. He cannot believe his luck when he stumbles upon the key in the form of Alena Andrick.
Alena is the only child of the Guardian of the Dead. Her safe and predictable life, studying to follow in her father’s footsteps, is turned upside-down when she meets Michael at the Solstice celebration. Alena is inexplicably drawn to the handsome, charismatic stranger. But when Michael is arrested and accused of murdering the Captain of the Guard, Alena is forced to choose between obeying her instincts or the laws of her people.