Night's Master (27 page)

Vicki Cavendish shows she should be careful. After all, there’s a killer loose in town—one who drains women of blood, women with red hair and green eyes just like her. She knows she should tell police about the dark, gorgeous man who comes into the diner every night, the one who makes her feel a longing she’s never felt before. The last thing she should do is invite the beautiful stranger into the house…

Cursed to an eternity of darkness, Antonio Battista has wandered the earth, satisfying his hunger with countless women, letting none find a place in his heart. But Victoria Cavendish is different. Finally, he has found a woman to love, a woman who accepts him for what he is—a woman who wants him as much as he wants her…which is why he should leave. But Antonio is a vampire, not a saint. What is his, he’ll fight to keep and protect. And Victoria Cavendish needs protecting…from the remorseless enemy who would make her his prey…and from Antonio’s own uncontrollable hunger…

He Has Found His Soul’s Desire…

The Dark Gift has brought Roshan DeLongpre a lifetime of bitter loneliness—until, by chance, he comes across a picture of Brenna Flanagan. There is something hauntingly familiar about her, something that compels him to travel into the past, save the beautiful witch from the stake, and bring her safely to his own time. Now, in the modern world, Brenna’s seductive innocence and sense of wonder are utterly bewitching the once-weary vampire, blinding him to a growing danger. For there is one whose dark magic is strong…one who knows who they both are and won’t stop till their powers are his…and they are nothing more than shadows through time…

One Kiss Can Seal Your Fate…

Cara DeLongpre wandered into the mysterious Nocturne club looking for a fleeting diversion from her sheltered life. Instead she found a dark, seductive stranger whose touch entices her beyond the safety she’s always known and into a heady carnal bliss…

A year ago, Vincent Cordova believed that vampires existed only in bad movies and bogeyman stories. That was before a chance encounter left him with unimaginable powers, a hellish thirst, and an aching loneliness he’s sure will never end…until the night he meets Cara DeLongpre. Cara’s beauty and bewitching innocence call to his mind, his heart…his blood. For Vincent senses the Dark Gift shared by Cara’s parents, and the lurking threat from an ancient and powerful foe. And he knows that the only thing more dangerous than the enemy waiting to seek its vengeance is the secret carried by those Cara trusts the most…

In The Still Of The Night

The city is in a panic. In the still of the night, a vicious killer is leaving a trail of mutilated bodies drained of blood. A chilling M.O. that puts ex-vampire hunter Regan Delaney on the case, her gun clip packed with silver bullets, her instincts edgy. But the victims are both human and Undead, and the clues are as confusing as the vampire who may be her best ally—she hopes…

Master of the city, Joaquin Santiago radiates supernatural power like heat from a blast furnace, but he’s never met a creature like Regan Delaney. She intrigues him, fires his hunger, and unleashes his desire, but before he can enter her world, or she his, they must confront a vicious, elusive killer who is an enemy even to his own…

Be Careful What You Wish For…

Only a woman with nothing left to lose knocks on a vampire’s door and asks for help. Shannah Davis is convinced that the mysterious dark-haired man she’s followed for months can save her life—if he doesn’t kill her first. But though Ronan insists he can’t give her what she needs, his kiss unleashes a primal hunger that makes her feel truly alive for the first time.

After centuries of existence, Ronan has done the unthinkable. He has fallen in love with a mortal—and one with only weeks to live. Sensing the fear and reluctance beneath Shannah’s request, he offers her a different bargain that will keep her near him during the time she has left. Every hour spent together leaves him craving her touch, her scent, her life’s essence. Soon, only Shannah can satisfy his thirst. But if he saves her from death, will she love him for it—or spend eternity regretting what she has become?

And turn the page for a sneak peek at Rane’s story, NIGHT’S ILLUSIONS,
coming in February 2009 from Zebra…

“I still want to know about you.”

“There’s not much to tell. I’m a reporter for the Kellton Chronicle. I live at home with my father. And I’m not very good at getting interviews with magicians.”

A slow smile spread over Rane’s face. “If I was going to tell anyone my secrets, Savanah Gentry, it would be you.”

“That’s very flattering, but I still don’t have a story.”

“Maybe there isn’t one.”

“I don’t believe that.”

She ran the tip of one finger around the rim of her glass. “What do you do when you aren’t mesmerizing audiences and ignoring reporters?”

He shrugged. “Nothing very exciting. Watch the sports channel. Go to the movies. Take long walks…”

“Walks? Really?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

“I don’t know. I guess I pictured you more as the zero-to-sixty type.”

“Can’t I enjoy both?”

“I knew it! So, what do you drive? Something incredibly fast, I’ll bet.”

“Fast enough.” He had tried his hand at racing for a while, until he got into a monumental wreck that no mere mortal would have survived. They had pronounced him dead at the scene. He hadn’t raced under his real name, of course. There had been quite a stir the following day when his body turned up missing at the morgue. The newspapers had had a field day speculating on what had become of his corpse. “Would you like to go zero to sixty with me?”

He wasn’t talking about cars and they both knew it. For one impulsive moment, Savanah was tempted to go with him, to indulge in one crazy, wild, once-in-a-life-time night of passion, to bask in the sound of his voice, to do something totally outrageous and out of character. And then her good sense kicked in. “I don’t think so.”

“Afraid of me?” he asked, a challenge lurking in his dark eyes.

“Not exactly.”

“Then what, exactly?”

“I don’t make a habit of hot rodding with men I hardly know.”

He learned forward. “Afraid I’ll make you disappear?”

Savanah nodded. That was exactly what she was afraid of. She had covered too many stories where women got involved with seemingly nice, wholesome guys and were never heard from again. Sometimes their bodies turned up in a ditch, sometimes they were discovered by joggers in remote areas of the mountains, and sometimes their bodies were never found. When Savanah got her name in the paper, she wanted it to be in the byline of a great story or as the recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature, not as the victim of a violent crime.

He grunted softly. “Smart girl.” He gestured at her glass. “Can I buy you another?”

“I don’t think so. I’d really like to know how you transform into the wolf.”

“You and a couple hundred other people.”

“Would you tell me if I promise to keep it a secret?”

“I’ll show you,” he said, “but it will cost you.”

“How much?”

“No money involved.”

She canted her head to the side. “What do you want?” she asked suspiciously.

His gaze slid across her lips. “A kiss.”

She blinked at him. “A kiss? That’s all, just a kiss?”

“Along with your promise that this is completely off the record.”

Her expression betrayed the battle between her hunger for a good story, her ethics, and her curiosity.

He leaned back in his chair, his elbows resting on the arms, his chin resting on his folded hands as he waited for her to make up her mind. Even if she wrote the story, most people wouldn’t believe her. The wars between the Vampires and the Werewolves had ended more than eighteen years ago. Mortals being what they were, they had quickly brushed aside what they couldn’t explain once the conflict was over. Since that time, the Supernatural creatures had been keeping a low profile. But it would only take one sensational story to bring the hunters out again.

“So,” he said, “do we have a deal?”

“Yes.”