The Dead War Series (Book 1): Good Intentions (22 page)

Praise for the

Knights of the Darkness Chronicles:

Desires Unleashed

"In a time when vampire books have become commonplace, DN Simmons has given her readers a unique voice among the genre." 

-  #1 Best Selling Author GA Hauser 

"This author's work is award-winning material, and D. N. Simmons has stepped into the paranormal arena with such greats as, Christine Feehan and Sherrilyn Kenyon" --
ParaNormal Romance Review
"Simmons has written the vampire hit novel of the year! With so many middle of the road paranormal books being published, Simmons took up the torch and blazed a whole new avenue for the readers to delve into." - 
Janalee Ruschhaupt - Warrior of Words.

The Guilty Innocent

"D.N. is a true literary genius!" -
Love Romances and More
In a genre filled to the brim with vampire/paranormal novels, 
The Guilty Innocent: Knights Of The Darkness Chronicles Book 2
 by D. N. Simmons stands out in the crowd.
- Reviewed by Janalee. --A Romance Review

The Royal Flush

"This series certainly isn't losing any momentum! Usually in a longer series, book 3 is the flop where things are starting to drag or become redundant. That is NOT the case here." -
Tiffy Fit Reviews
"Once again, D. N. Simmons stepped up to the paranormal plate and hit a grand slam with The Royal Flush. This author's intuitiveness to the wants and desires of the paranormal readers will leave your screaming for more before the end of this novel."

- Paranormal Romance Review

Hostile Territory

“The characters are well developed, believable, and lovable. As I said before, Darian is OMG YUMMY!! Sweet and Loving, yet, Firm and Ruthless when called for. I could go on and on cause I fell in LOVE with all of them. Thank you D.N. Simmons for bringing the Knights of Darkness to us readers to enjoy. “

--Lovetiggi's Book Reviews

The Lion's Den

"Simmons is incredible with a pen and paper (or keys and screen, whichever works for her). This book will scare you and probably give you some nightmares, but it is worth it. The Lion's Den will be one intense read you won't soon forget."

--
Offbeat Vagabond Book Reviews. 

"Ms. Simmons is a talented author who is going places. I anticipate seeing her work right alongside Sherrilyn Kenyon and L. A. Banks."


                 
Love Romance and More

Unholy Alliance

Nominated by Love Romance and More For: Best Book of 2012 & Best Paranormal Book of 2012!!!

Author D. N. Simmons is a writer that will thrill you, chill you and take you in directions that leaves you on the edge of your seat with her entire The Knights of Darkness Chronicles series."

- 
Reviewer Dawn Roberto (Dawn's Reading Nook

I TOTALLY enjoyed this paranormal series. It was sexy, it was gritty, it was horrifying, it was gory, it was heart-warming, and I think that Simmons did a fabulous job of capturing different aspects of "humanity."
 - TiffyFit (Book Reviewer)

You've seen the reviews, critics and readers alike love the

Knights of the Darkness

Chronicles.

Now, here's the free preview.

Desires Unleashed

Chapter One

Detective Warren Davis shuffled through the messy stack of files on his desk. He was searching desperately for his drawer key. He had hidden a box of
Crunchy Crème
glazed donuts inside and wanted to indulge selfishly in the delicious sugary taste of, in his opinion, “
the best damn donuts to hit the 21st century
.” Finally after turning his desk into a disaster area, which didn’t take much, he located the key to his treasure. He glanced inconspicuously over one shoulder then the other to make sure no one was watching. He knew how irresistible
Crunchy Crème
could be and he didn’t want to share one morsel. He slowly turned the key and unlocked the drawer.

There they lay, the sweets of gods. Warren didn’t know of a soul alive who could turn down a
Crunchy Crème
donut. Slowly, he opened the box, pulling one glazed donut from the container. He stuffed the sugary treat, in its entirety, into his mouth, taking pleasure in the gigantic burst of sweetness that followed.

"
Mmm
,
delicious … There‘s got to be some smack in these donuts to have me so addicted,
” he thought to himself as he closed the drawer and settled back in his cushioned leather chair. He stretched his long legs out in front of him as he chewed the donut slowly, savoring every bite.

"What are you eating?” his partner, Detective Matthew Eric, asked as he approached him.

He stood beside Warren’s relaxing figure, noting the huge bulges in the insides of his partner's cheeks. Matthew Eric stood six-feet-three, very muscular and extremely handsome. His physique reminded Warren of a light-weight wrestler. Matthew’s skin was a perfect soft-golden shade which complemented his light-brown eyes hidden behind the mop of dark brown curls. His hand came up brushing the curls from his eyes as he studied Warren.

Warren remained silent as he swallowed, forcing one huge piece of donut down his throat then another. He was thankful for the time it gave him to think of a believable lie.

Matthew looked down at his partner, a smile spreading across his face as he watched Warren nearly choking to rid himself of the evidence. He waited patiently for the lie that would sure enough come spilling from those glaze covered lips. He thought Warren should know better than to open a box of
Crunchy Crèmes,
and think he wouldn’t have to share.

“Oh,” Warren managed to say, swallowing the last of his donut. “This? It’s nothing.” He followed up with a huge gulp of his decaffeinated coffee before smiling innocently up at his partner. 

Matthew took one look at his partner’s full-of-crap expression and gave him one of his own. One that said
he’d better share the goods, or else
.

“What?” Warren asked, shrugging his shoulders.

“If you don’t cough it up, there’s going to be repercussions,” Matthew threatened playfully.

“Are you sure?” Warren asked, smiling slyly.

“Un-hmm,” Matthew nodded.

“Okay.” Warren began coughing and gagging playfully, attempting to bring up what he had swallowed.

Matthew grimaced. “Oh God, man stop it. You’re fucking disgusting. Now, where’s the damn box?”

Warren laughed as he reached into his drawer pulling out his secret stash.

“I was going to give you some anyway,” he stated.

“Yeah, sure you were, ya bastard,” Matthew said, unconvinced.

He all but snatched a donut from the box then sat back in his chair devouring his treat. After a few minutes, he looked at Warren.

“Remember when we first shared a box of these donuts?”

"Yeah," Warren responded, remembering how Matthew had discovered his secret. “What made you think of that?”

“Don’t know, just nostalgia, I suppose,” Matthew replied.

“I remember how freaked you were that day,” Warren said.

“Who could blame me? I think I got over it well enough.”

“Yeah, you did.”

As Matthew took another bite of his donut, he remembered their captain wanted to see the two of them in her office. Pronto. After he swallowed, he decided to inform his partner.

“Hey I forgot, the Captain wanted us in her office ASAP,” Matthew said calmly, as he munched on more of the donut.

“Oh really? Nothing good can come from that,” Warren said as he reached in his drawer for a third donut.

Officer Brown walked over—a tall, good looking black man, he was clean shaven, well built and the health conscious/athletic type. He wasn’t the kind of person to be caught dead stuffing his mouth with calorie-laden foods. He looked down at the two detectives and shook his head in dismay. 

“Hey, the Captain is looking for you two. If I was you, I’d hustle in there, on the double,” he said, grimacing in disgust at the two men fattening themselves on the two-hundred-calories-per-serving donuts.

“Yeah, we know, we’re going now,” Matthew said, rising from his chair.

“Damn shame,” Officer Brown muttered as he walked away, leaving the two detectives to smile at each other.

They made their way to their captain’s office passing a few officers who were teasing them by making throat slitting motions. Everyone suspected the captain was going to have another difficult case for the two detectives to work on. They were right.

“What took you two so long to get in here?”

Captain Michelle Lawrence asked as she sat at her desk. The two detectives noticed that they didn't get a glimpse of her long shapely legs which were hidden behind the desk. Warren suspected that she had been gawked at by one too many officers and managed to hide her assets. Her long blonde hair fell in waves past her shoulders onto her shirt front, denying them and all others a peek of her ‘famous cleavage’ that the majority of the male−and some female cops –admired.

“Well, you know, Detective Eric, I didn’t expect to be waiting this long when I called both of you in here about five minutes ago,” she said, both eyebrows raised, a finger lightly tapping the desk.

“Sorry, Captain, but Warren here, he was in the ‘little boy’s’ room,” Detective Eric fibbed quickly, not wanting to admit the real reason he postponed getting to her office, which was, he forgot.

“There’s nothing ‘little’ about my ‘boy’,” Warren retorted as he tried hard to force back the chuckles threatening to erupt at any second.

Captain Lawrence looked at the two men and shook her head.

“
These two ...
” she thought to herself. Sometimes they worked her last good nerve, but she wouldn’t deny that they were her two best detectives.

“Look gentlemen, it's time to get right down to business. We have a report of a body found in the alley off 79th and Cottage Grove Avenue. The preliminary report stated the body appeared to be drained of blood and the head was ... well ... missing. Furthermore, there are no witnesses. I’m assigning this case to you. It’s right up your alley. Galen’s on the scene already, waiting on you. Detectives Weinstein and Johnson are there right now, questioning the employee of a bakery store who discovered the body.”

“Now get the hell out of here.”

“Hey Captain, feel like cutting us some slack? We just got off doing the Joliet case.” Warren inquired, as he glanced at the little white sheet of paper with the location of the crime scene on it. “Why not let Weinstein and Johnson handle this one?”

“Oh gee, guys,” she shrugged, smiling, enjoying the moment. “I’d love to let you both sit back and eat your ‘donuts’ but this damn government insists I put you to work.”

She shrugged her shoulders as if to ask, “
What can you do
?”

“Besides, I want my best on this one. I have another case for Johnson and Weinstein.”

“As you wish,” Warren commented.

He wasn’t very thrilled about having to undertake another case that looked to be more challenging than the last one he just wrapped up.

“You want a vacation, take the time. Until then, it is what it is. If only they’d put more than one division per state, I wouldn’t have to spread your asses so thin, but being as it is, get out there, make me proud.”

“Gee, Captain, you can spread my ass thin anytime,” Matthew joked, not really meaning a word he spoke.

Warren laughed, knowing the truth.

“Get out,” Captain Lawrence said flatly, fighting the urge to chuckle herself.

The men gave each other a knowing look as they walked out of her office.

“Great, a body drained of blood and the head is missing. This has vampire written all over it. Damn, I’m hungry. How about later, we head over to
Calvin’s
for some ribs,” Warren suggested as he closed the office door behind them.

“That’s fine with me. I’ve got the nagging feeling this case is going to be a pain in the ass,” Matthew said as they grabbed their coats and headed for the parking lot.

“I’ll drive,” Warren said eagerly as he made a mad dash for the driver's side of Matthew’s car.

“Like hell you will. You have a little too much of the speed demon in you. If you want to drag race, then do it in your own shit, not mine. Now saddle your ass into the spectator's seat,” Matthew said as he pushed his partner in the direction of the passenger side of his brand new Python Triton, one of the highly desired foreign cars from Asia that everyone was buying.

It was an economy car, great on gas and it looked like a sports car. Warren admired the car and mentally noted to put the automobile on his wish list for Christmas.

“You know,” Warren started as he looked around his partner's new car, “you should give this car to me as a Christmas present.”

He smiled at his partner as he waited for an answer.

“Sure ... if you give me your Diamondback SUV. You know that I love that truck.”

“Point taken, now, let’s drop the subject,” Warren said, smiling slyly.

“Yeah, not willing to give up your ride, I see.” Matthew smiled broadly.

He had gotten the last word, which was hard to do with Warren. He reached for his emergency light and placed it on the top of the car, clicking on the portable siren as they sped through the morning rush hour traffic on the urban streets of Chicago.

“You know, it would be nice if the government increased the amount of officers on the S.U.I.T.” Warren said.

“That’d be the logical thing to do, but I don’t think they see the practicality in it. Plus, the training is hard as hell. I barely passed myself,” Matthew said, thinking back to the moments he was drafted into both the police force and the S.U.I.T.

Twelve years ago, when Matthew was twenty-one, and fresh out of college, he had joined the Police force. After being on the force for seven years, and already a seasoned detective, he was partnered up with Warren, who had been on the force for five years. They hit it off instantly and had been partners and friends ever since. They never dreamt they would become the first and only human defense against supernatural criminals.

When the supernatural race (the politically correct phrase) was exposed, the government was forced to create a nationwide policing unit to monitor and arrest certain individuals with supernatural abilities who broke the law. So they began by recruiting a hundred-thousand of the nation's top cops and military personnel who were physically fit and mentally astute enough to begin the arduous training. They worked in paramilitary tactics, and with weaponry specially designed to deal with those who possessed supernatural abilities. The training had been created to improve motor skills and heighten senses of sight, smell, and hearing, which was extremely necessary to combat and apprehend the unique criminal element in the supernatural world.

Only five hundred out of the first hundred-thousand recruited made it through the demanding process, but more were needed. The call went out for more recruits which, in the end, gave the government the additional thousand officers needed to complete the fifteen-hundred-member armed force. There was another force of two thousand civilians assigned in certain fields, specializing in forensics, chemistry, character profiling, social behaviors, and weaponry. Because of their impeccable record of being among the best of the best on the police force, Warren and Matthew were drafted by the Superintendent of Police via the Mayor of Chicago for recruitment. Due to their unique partnership and their chief's belief that it would be very beneficial to the local Supernatural Unit Investigation Team, they were reassigned as partners to the Chicago division.

“I’m glad you did pass it. I would have missed having you as a partner,” Warren said.

“You and me, both. We’re here. Would you look at this crowd?” Matthew said as he slowly drove closer to the scene.

The location of the crime scene was packed with onlookers. Uniformed officers worked to keep the crowd away from the scene. Cars were backed up for blocks as more and more police vehicles and media trucks pulled up. Matthew navigated his car through the helter-skelter of patrol cars, finally parking in a spot as close to the scene as he could get.