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OF NIGHT AND DESIRE
Mia Bailey
EROTIC ROMANCE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
OF NIGHT AND DESIRE
Copyright © 2010 by Mia Bailey
E-book ISBN: 1-60601-743-8
First E-book Publication: May 2010
Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All cover art and logo copyright © 2010 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
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All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
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Of Night and Desire
by Mia Bailey from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
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DEDICATION
Night Flights
I escape my fears in the Night
I touch the moon and stars
They are my companions—
They guide me, and give me Purpose
They console me, and give me Strength
They challenge me, and give me Courage
They embrace me, and give me Love
I fear not the Night
As Selena's radiance bathes me in warmth
she cradles me in her arms
For a time, life is Serene
To my friends and family for their love and support as I strive to make my dreams a reality.
OF NIGHT AND DESIRE
MIA BAILEY
Copyright © 2010
Immortals are an ancient race—as old as the mountains lining the
European border. Powerful and mysterious, they possess great power.
Governed by an elemental Code of Morality, they walk the Earth protecting
their race and the lives of those in the mortal world.
Dedicating their lives to protecting all from evil, Immortal males
become hunters. Their prey are all those who seek to destroy life, whether it
be mortal or immortal. They can be found in all walks of life, in every land
seeking to protect the innocent, and render swift justice upon the guilty.
They can be found in moments of war on the battleground with those to
whom they have sworn allegiance. They can be found in moments of peace,
pursuing wisdom, serenity, and love.
If they are fortunate, they will find their true life mate and complete an
ancient ritual that will bind him to her and her alone. Giving all to protect
and cherish her, he will fight even to the end of his very life. Together, they
serve their race in the hope that one day they can save all those of their
people who walk alone.
An Immortal’s life mate is the light that fills the dark void within him,
saving him from the emptiness of his soul and memories of violence,
retribution and death from centuries of lonely nights. Only with her does he
continue to feel the raw emotions and see the beauty and color of life. She is
the day to his night, the heart to his soul that come together as one. Their
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Mia Bailey
love is a power, an undeniable energy that promises light and life. Without
her, faith and hope are destroyed, and there is only desolation.
When an Immortal does not find his life mate, they lose all hope and
plunge into a despair so deep there is no return. They turn to the darkness
and become Vampyres, destroyers of light and life. Desperate creatures with
no morals, no ethics, no chance of hope, they terrorize humanity, still
searching for their lost life mate. It is a search that is destined to fail. For
once an Immortal turns Vampyre, no life mate can save them.
The Living Death—where all rhyme and reason vanish and all that is
left is an unquenchable thirst—for the life in the light they can never have as
the darkness consumes their bleak soul; for the blood that sustains their
cruel lives as the blood of their life mate is the only essence that can truly
sate their hunger; but most of all, for love, as their life mate remains lost
forever. It is this dark irony that serves to feed their madness.
Between these two lines of light and darkness, there is only death. An
Immortal who can no longer face the isolation without his life mate will find
his way to the mountains for the Final Sacrifice. He will stand on sacred
ground and make his peace with The Great One, healer to the Immortal
Race, before he faces the morning dawn. In this way, he can save his
immortal soul rather than be condemned to The Living Death.
For Valya, the Guardian, it has been more than an eternity he has
walked the narrow line between good and evil, between darkness and light,
his soul tormented.
He has searched for his life mate. He can hear her voice
calling to him on the night air and sense her close to him while he dream-walks through the World. He can feel her reaching to him, beckoning him to
find her and join with her, to become one.
For reasons unknown even to himself, he leaves his beloved home for a
new world, a strange place called Detroit. He does not understand why, he
knows only that he is compelled to go. With no fear, no reservations, he
seeks what destiny is drawing him so far from his home in the Mountains.
Valya has spent centuries as the hunter, and now, in this new world, he
will become the hunted.
Of Night and Desire
9
The Beginning
Adelaide Sommers wore a somber expression while she bustled her daughter along, dragging a suitcase behind them. She had only enough time to pack a few clothes, a bit of food, and her journal in the worn bag before she woke her daughter and dressed her for the evening chill. The dream that had roused her from her sleep had been vivid. There was no doubt.
They
were close. Too close.
It was what she had feared—that
they
would find her. When they caught up to her, they would also find Richelle. She had to protect Richelle.
Adelaide was a rare phenomenon. She was a Germanic witch with the power of sight, inheriting her gifts from her mother, and her mother before her. As a young child, she was taught the craft. Meticulously honing her skills with herbs and spells, her psychic powers grew. It was when she tried to save a young schoolboy that her powers were discovered and the hunt began.
She remembered the day with great clarity. She was only eleven years old when she
saw
a classmate slip into a diabetic coma. She tried to warn the boy, his parents, and the teacher, but no one would listen to her. When she told her father, an eminent pediatrician, what she had seen in her vision, he interceded and convinced the parents to bring their son in for a check-up.
But by then it was too late. He had slipped into the coma on the way to the doctor’s office, seizing with severe convulsions before expelling a breath and closing his eyes. His parents were hysterical when Adelaide’s father met them at the office. They rushed to the hospital, but the damage was done.
The poor boy passed away four days later, never awakening from the coma.
His parents were inconsolable, out of their minds with grief. All they could think was that somehow Adelaide had known what was going to happen. They accused her of vile, derisive acts of malevolence. They called her a devil child, spawn of Satan. It wasn’t long before the town believed that Adelaide had something to do with the boy’s death. A local pastor had come to speak with Adelaide’s family.
All through their conversation he kept staring at Adelaide, who quietly sat on the hearth combing the hair of her cherished porcelain doll, a gift from her now deceased grandmother. She remembered being afraid when
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Mia Bailey
the old priest sprang from his chair and began his manic ranting, coming toward her. She remembered how her parents had to pull her from the priest’s grasp against his proclamations that she was a weapon for God. The demented look in his eyes as her parents spirited her away into the night struck a chord of fear in her, even at her young age.
Her parents had left everything behind when they escaped to America, making their way to New York. Her father had changed their names, even returned to school to change specialties to veterinarian medicine. At every turn, he would be watching, ever vigilant against those who were seeking his family, his daughter. Adelaide’s mother warned that there were others pursuing them, coming for her. It was several years before any of them realized to what extent they would go to get their hands on Adelaide.