Dark Deceiver (Silhouette Nocturne) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Pamela Palmer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
And now Kaderil the Dark plans to invade the human realm. He's on a mission to steal back the stones of power that they possess, and kill a small band of humans immune to Esri enchantment. But in the human realm he meets Autumn McGinn, who holds the means for him to claim victory—if only she'll betray her people. Something about this vibrant beauty's sweetness and gentle kindness moves him, and though Kade vows to stay away, he must protect her from other Esri hell-bent on destroying the human race. Torn between duty and conscience, can Kade overcome his sinister desires—or will he find redemption in Autumn's vibrant embrace?

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Washington, D.C.

Autumn McGinn grimaced with embarrassment as she crawled through the rain-soaked grass, frantically searching for the lighter she'd accidentally sent flying for the third time.

"You okay, Autumn?" Larsen Hallihan's voice darted across the rainy Dupont Circle Park, cutting through the gloom. Light poles bordered the concrete circle at the center of the grassy park, illuminating the huge marble chalice that stood in the middle—the beautifully carved fountain that shared real estate with the invisible gate into Esria.

"I'm fine!" Autumn called back.

Why couldn't she have left her inner klutz home just this once? For four months, she'd angled for an invitation to help guard the gate, ever since the first Esri, Baleris, had found his way through. For four weeks, Baleris had terrorized the nation's capital, raping young women and enchanting armed cops while he tried to destroy the handful of humans immune to his magic. The humans the Esri called Sitheen. In the end, the humans had won. Baleris was dead.

But the gate remained unsealed. Apparently, it had always been unsealed, but the Esri hadn't known about it until Baleris had stumbled upon it by accident. Unfortunately, after Baleris died, one of his slaves had escaped back through the gate before they could stop him. Chances were good he'd told others and the Esri would invade again.

Fortunately, the gate only opened during the midnight hour of a full moon. One hour a month, four humans who could resist the spell of enchantment guarded the Dupont Circle Fountain. That is, they had until this month, when two of the four Sitheen had been called out of town.

Autumn had been invited to help, finally, though not quite the way she'd wanted. Ordered to stay far back from the fountain, she'd been enlisted as an extra pair of eyes. If one of the creatures came through, her only job was to watch where he went. Not the greatest responsibility in the world, but she wasn't Sitheen. Even though she wore a bracelet of holly which supposedly gave her immunity, they still feared she could be enchanted.

She sighed as she crawled through the soaked grass. If only she could do something truly important for once. But considering she was spending most of her time on her hands and knees, watching was probably the safest job for her…for everyone's sake.

Her numb fingers finally brushed against something hard as the rain beat a tattoo against the raised hood of her jacket. With relief, she grabbed the renegade lighter and scrambled to her feet, her soaked jeans clinging to her legs.

Fire, combined with the Esri death chant, was the only known weapon against the Esri. Logically, she knew her little lighter wasn't going to do an ounce of good in the rain, especially since she didn't know the death chant, but she felt safer with it in her hand. If she could just keep hold of the darned thing.

"What time is it?" Larsen called from the other side of the park. Larsen Vale, now Hallihan, had been her roommate in college and one of her best friends for years.

"One-thirty," Larsen's husband, Jack, replied. The two of them stood on opposite sides of the fountain, each a distance from Autumn. "We'll give it another ten minutes, then call it quits for the night."

Autumn sighed. She hadn't really expected to see an Esri tonight—none had come through the gate the past three full moons. Still, she'd hoped. As a curator for the Smithsonian, she was too much of a history and folklore buff not to be excited by the prospect of other-worldly creatures, even if they were armed with powerful magic and malicious intent.

"I'm heading straight for a hot bath when we get home," Larsen said.

Autumn couldn't hear Jack's reply, but knew it was something suggestive. Jack and Larsen had only been married a couple of months and couldn't seem to keep their eyes—or hands—off one another. Autumn was happy for her old friend, but sometimes life was so unfair. Larsen was blond, beautiful, married to one of D.C.'s hottest cops, and Sitheen. Autumn was six foot four with flaming orange hair, two million freckles and a gene for klutziness. Where was the fairness in that?

The rumble of thunder shook the ground as the rain turned to a downpour. Cold and miserable, Autumn huddled beneath the hood of her raincoat while heavy drops beat at her shoulders and back. Okay, now she was ready to call it a night. Clearly, the Esri weren't coming.

Jack's shout made her jump. She jerked her gaze to the lit fountain just in time to see a large, dark-cloaked figure leap from the marble base as if he'd been encased in stone all these years.

An Esri!

The creature, taller than Jack, jumped over the low wall of the fountain's pool and took off running at warp speed. Jack sprinted after him, his flamethrower arcing at his side.

A real live Esri.

Excitement pounded through her as she watched the chase until Larsen's yell snapped her attention back to the fountain where three more cloaked figures jumped from the marble base and scattered. Larsen pointed her flamethrower at the nearest one, but the pouring rain doused the fire before it could reach the fleeing target.

Autumn stared in stunned wonder until she realized the smallest of the three was headed straight for her! Her mind screamed at her to run. But as the creature passed within feet of her, some inner need to prove herself had her racing forward on frozen feet to tackle the slender creature to the ground.

As she struggled to catch her breath, she stared down into the face of a skinny, white-as-a-sheet teenaged boy peeking out of a coal-black cloak. Eyes that glowed as orange as her hair stared back at her in furious terror.

What had she done? The hair rose on her arms as she met the gaze of this inhuman monster.

The creature struggled against her hold, his face contorted with his futile effort. Either she was in serious need of a diet, or the kid had no muscle mass. His white face twisted in terror and bravado even as he blinked against the onslaught of rain.

"We'll find the power stones," he sneered. "All of them, as my king demands. You'll not stop us even if you kill me!" His eyes flooded with moisture that had nothing to do with the weather.

Autumn stared at the creature beneath her. He was crying! She'd made a monster cry. This had to be a new low in her life.

"Stop it! I'm not going to kill you."

Beneath her, the Esri youth stilled. "I don't believe you." He continued to thrash until she was sure he was going to give her a headache. "You'll set me aflame as you did Baleris. You…dark blood. You human!"

She stared at the angry hopelessness that twisted the kid's mouth and felt a sharp stab of pity. She'd told him she wasn't going to kill him, but he was right not to believe her. She might not kill him, but Jack and Larsen would. This was war and there was no taking an Esri prisoner. Jack had tried that once. He'd locked up Baleris in the police station overnight. By morning, the Esri had managed to enchant the entire D.C. police force, turning them into his own personal hit squad.

They had to kill him. And yet…he was just a kid.

Her mind aimed a swift kick at her heart. She couldn't be soft on this. If she screwed up now, Jack and Larsen would never let her help again.

"Autumn, hold him!" Larsen's voice carried through the rain.

The Esri struggled beneath her. "Release me!" But the anger in his voice was crumbling beneath his fear. "I beg of you, release me. I do not wish to die." The tears ran freely from his eyes, now. "Please, my lady. Please. I mean you no harm."

Dear God, what was she supposed to do? He was Esri. Evil.

He was just a kid.

With a groan of despair, she knew she couldn't be the reason he died.

"If I let you go, you have to go back through that gate. Right now."

The boy stilled, his orange eyes widening with hope. "Aye. I shall go back. You'll not regret it. I'll make it up to you. I give you my vow."

"Right. Just make sure you go back through that gate. If you don't, my friends will catch you. And then you will die."

She rolled off him into the muddy grass, knowing she was going to regret this. Jack and Larsen were going to be furious. The kid leaped to his feet and made a dash for the fountain as Larsen tried to intercept him with her flamethrower. But the kid was fast. Before Larsen could catch him, he dove into the fountain, his cloak billowing out behind him for one brief moment before he disappeared.

Autumn rose from the soaked grass, her shoulders heavy with guilt.

"Damn, damn, damn!" Larsen's epithets rose in volume as she ran toward Autumn. "Did he hurt you?"

"No."

"Do you know what just happened?"

Autumn cringed. "If you're asking if he enchanted me, I don't think so. I'm still wearing my holly." She held up her arm, displaying the rough band of wood she wore around her wrist. Holly was the only thing they'd found that protected true humans from the Esris' mind control. "I know I had him. I know I let him go."

"Why?"

All her life Autumn had longed to be smaller. Now she felt about two inches tall. And it hurt. "Larsen, I'm sorry. He looked like a fifteen-year-old kid. And he was crying." Even to her own ears, her reasons sounded lame.

Larsen looked around with a deep sigh, her expression one of frustration, her movements agitated. "All right. Well, it's done." Larsen dug in her pocket and handed Autumn a set of keys. "Go get in the car and lock the doors. The others may come back and I don't want you to get hurt."

Autumn pressed her lips together, wanting to argue that she could help. But she'd just proved she couldn't be trusted.

"Larsen, he said something that might be important. He said they came for the power stones."

Larsen's gaze jerked to hers. "Stones? Are you sure the word was plural?"

"Positive."Autumn shoved the keys and her cold fists deep into her pockets. "He said they'd find them all."

"We thought there was only one. We have only one."

"Y...

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Silhouette (June 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373617895
• ISBN-13: 978-0373617890
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #100,086 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I hated having to stop reading even for a minute, June 25, 2008

By	Kelley Hartsell "Kelley" (Irving, TX) - See all my reviews

Courtsy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

A CK2S Recommended Read!

Kaderil "Kade" the Dark is scorned by his kind, The Esri, for his imperfect bloodline. Low on magic, Kaderil is the Punisher for King Rith, using his physical strength to uphold the king's wishes. Now he has a new mission, set up to fail by his greatest enemy, Zander. Kaderil must enter the human realm through the Gate and infiltrate the small band of Sitheen who protect the humans from the Esri (see The Dark Gate for details) to find the seven magical stones that will open all gates between Esri and humans.

Autumn McGinn is not Sitheen herself but is one of their inner circle. Awkward and clumsy, the Amazonian beauty longs to prove herself worthy of the Sitheen, especially her best friend Larsen's, faith in her. When Kade enters her life, she sees her chance. With his help, she can find the stones. Kade however has other plans, but he finds himself torn between duty to his king and his inferior human heart. Autumn is everything the Esri despise, but her purity of soul may prove a lure impossible to ignore.

What will Autumn do when she discovers Kade is nothing but a Dark Deceiver?

I am a sucker for a story about the redemption of a bad boy and that is what Dark Deceiver is all about. Kade has never quite fit in anywhere. Hated by his fellow Esri for his bloodline and feared by the weaker humans, neither realm feels like home for him. He knows his mission to find the stones and destroy the Sitheen is crucial to the continued support of his king, but when he meets Autumn, a whole new world is opened to him. I felt his every battle as his heart and head fought to take charge. As the story progresses, we see Kade turn from a cold hearted punisher to a man so madly in love he would die to keep his woman safe. I was so incredibly moved by Kade's struggle that it was with a sigh that I turned the final page.

Autumn is so much like many women in the world. Tall and gangly, a complete klutz, what "ordinary" woman can't relate to her? While she always doubts herself, her inner beauty shines so brightly that it's impossible for anyone to miss. Her relationship with Kade has many hurdles to overcome, but through it all, we know they are meant to be together.

Pamela Palmer has written another compelling page turner in The Esri series with Dark Deceiver. I hated having to stop reading, even for a minute, so desperate to know what would happen next. Fast paced, dark and sexy... I loved it! Keep in mind however there are a few scenes that are extremely dark and something I normally cannot stand in a romance novel. Pamela Palmer writes them so sensitively that I was not even the slightest bit offended by these scenes since I completely understood the intentions and feelings behind them.

I thought it was impossible for Pamela Palmer to write a new story as exquisitely done as The Dark Gate, but I am very happy to say I was wrong! Dark Deceiver is every bit as fast paced, dark, shocking, and passionate, if not more. I absolutely adore Kaderil and Autumn's story. Even better, we get to visit with Jack and Larsen and the whole gang to see what's been going on in their lives since the defeat of Baleris. Run out and buy your copy of Dark Deceiver today. But be forewarned, you'll want to clear your entire schedule before starting as you'll not want to out it down.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, May 2008. All rights reserved.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars superb romantic fantasy, June 7, 2008

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Half Esri, Kaderil the Dark begins a quest to steal the magical stones needed to fully open the portal between his plane and the earth. Besides the theft of the stones, he must also kill the few humans who are immune to the Esri enchantment. Once he obtains the stones, completes the massacre, and opens the door, his full blooded Esri allies will invade and bind humanity in slavery.

However, on the earth side of the portal, Kaderil meets Autumn McGinn. She stirs his human half, which has been dormant for much of his life. He finds himself falling in love with this kind soul even as he knows she is the key to the Esri victory. Will he betray his heart or the Esri; even the confused Kaderil is unsure.

The sequel to the DARK GATE, DARK DECEIVER is a superb romantic fantasy mostly due to the suddenly conflicting nature of Kade. His human side never developed until he meets Autumn who is like spring to him. Readers will enjoy this passionate spellbinding thriller as love brings Kaderil the dark into the light, but will he choose to remain there with his Autumn or will he instead open the portal for the Esri to slaughter his beloved's species.

Harriet Klausner

5.0 out of 5 stars Power and love, November 21, 2008

By	Renee C. Mulhare "matrixrefugee77" (MA United States) - See all my reviews

This follow-up to The Dark Gate (Silhouette Nocturne) is just as well-written as the first volume and equally as hard to put down

Kaderil, a half Esri lord, is at once a fearsome yet flawed being, on the cusp of surrendering to his human side, and it is the intensely human Autumn McGinnis, the odd-girl out on the team of Sitheen who have taken it upon themselves to hold back the Esri from crossing over into the human realm, whose love helps him to find a balance between his fearsome power and his gentler side. In so doing, a man sent to spear head the destruction of the human world chooses instead to help defend it and defend the woman who helped him rediscover his heart.

The level of suspense in this book is top-drawer and the hero and heroine don't just have chemistry going on, they have something equal only to nuclear physics. An awesome read you'll wish wouldn't end!