Chapter OneChinle, Arizona. Present Day.She didn’t need to look into Carlos’s eyes or try to go inside his head to know he was pissed. The pulsing muscle in his jaw was always a dead giveaway. So was the attitude.Damali watched him stare into the distance as she said her good-byes to the team at the front screen door. There wasn’t even a flicker of silver in his irises. That hurt, but she’d live.”Okay, listen, guys—I’m only five minutes down the road, so it’s cool.” Her smile was forced, her concerns about her man’s mood growing as hugs got passed out on the front porch of Jose’s grandfather’s house.”Call us in the mornings, though, D. You ain’t gotta be longwinded,“ Shabazz said, fussing as he ran his palm across Sleeping Beauty. “All a brother wants to know is that you made it through the night. After that, we’re cool.””I will, I will,“ Damali said, kissing his cheek quickly.”Any problems, we ’round the corner,“ Big Mike added, nodding toward Rider. “I’m gonna be in Houston with Inez to visit the baby at her momma’s, but still call somebody.””You send up a flare,“ Rider said, “and you know your crazy brother, Mike, if he’s here, will launch a rocket-propelled grenade from his bedroom window to wake up the neighborhood, if he has to. If he ain’t, I got whatever in rifle range. Jack Daniel’s or not, I can still nail a target with my eyes closed.””Sho’ you right,“ Mike said giving Rider a pound.Damali smiled. Way too much testosterone was flowing in the house this morning.”Now, if you need anything, baby, you let me and Marj know, and we’ll be sure you’re stocked at the new place.” Marlene sighed, gave Damali a defeated hug, and let her go slowly.”I will,“ Damali said, wondering why this was so hard to do and why everyone was so worried at this point. It didn’t make sense. She was grown, and had shown them she could hold her own in battle, but she knew some things were just instinct. It was always hard for mother birds to watch one of their own fly away—even if it was just around the corner. She squeezed Marlene’s hand and let it go when the older woman smiled.”You need anything, you call,“ Marlene repeated, gently placing a finger on her third eye.The group seemed to be holding its breath, as though Marlene might say something at the last minute to get Damali to reconsider. But when Marlene nodded and moved away from Damali, shoulders slumped.”That’s right,“ Marj said with emphasis, picking up the mild guilt trip where Marlene had left off. “Towels, blankets, you have everything, right?””I’m well stocked,“ Damali affirmed, attempting to swallow a big smile without much success.”How about some more rounds?” Berkfield said with skepticism in his voice. He looked at Jose, J.L., and Dan. “Her weapons room is righteous?””Yeah,“ J.L. said, stepping forward on the porch. “It’s tight.””I ain’t just concerned about the realms,“ Jose hedged, glancing at the others. “You know, escaped convicts, crazy SOBs from off America’s Most Wanted, and shit like that might not show up on radar.””See, that’s what I mean,“ Dan said, nodding emphatically. “She’s a celeb, too. Somebody could snatch and ransom her, happens every day.””I ain’t worried about that,“ Shabazz said with a grudging smile. “Bastard will get his heart cut out first. It’s nightfall that concerns me.””We do have a coupla team members who specialize in night work,“ Damali reminded them, but without saying any names. Speaking of Tara in front of Rider, especially in the same breath with Yonnie, was taboo.”You ain’t scared?” Inez said, reaching for Damali’s hand and clasping it. “Girl, I ain’t trying to be funny, but—””Yeah,“ Bobby said, glancing at his sister. “Me and Kris could be over there with you as an extra pair of eyes and ears, especially on the computers. All you have to do is say the word, D.””We could take shifts,“ Kristen offered eagerly. “It would be fun.””Uh, that would be no,“ Damali said, laughing and ignoring their dejected expressions. “You two have to go into heavy training with the seasoned brothers. Nice try.”Juanita folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe. “If the Covenant brothers said she’d be fine and left this house, then I see no reason to worry.” Her cool statement delivered with a frosty bite made everyone stop clamoring around Damali for a moment.Damali ignored her, laughed, and kissed them all again, semiavoiding Jose, but offering him a quick peck on the cheek and then she stepped back. She didn’t even approach Juanita or look at her, but quietly served Juanita her ass to kiss. “I’m just around the corner, dang,“ Damali said as gently as possible, making her tone upbeat. “I’ll be fine.”Carlos cut her a sidelong glance from his position away from the group and near the steps. “She always is.” He walked farther away from the group and walked down the steps to stand by the driver’s side of her black Hummer.If he didn’t get out of here soon, his head was gonna explode. He understood where the brothers were coming from, but it was also the height of disrespect. Before, she didn’t need no serious artillery—she had him as her weapon. He had been her night security system, locked and loaded. Fuck Yonnie and Tara being that. Now she needed some old motherfuckers to blow something up or shoot a target from their windows? Mike and Rider needed to step off. Even the young bucks were talking about going over to Damali’s as a defense system? Right. The only one who had said anything that made sense had been Juanita. And if Damali called anybody on second-sight impulse, it, by rights, shoulda been him—her man!Carlos walked a hot path toward her vehicle, his back straight. With that, everybody nervously waved and went into the house, but stood huddled just inside the screen door.Damali took her time meeting Carlos by her vehicle. She had known he’d take it pretty bad when the day finally came, but she’d expected him to be cooler about it in front of the team. “It’s gonna be all right,“ she said, trying to extend an olive branch of peace. “Your place will be finished in a couple of weeks, they said, and then you’ll—””It’s cool,“ he said, cutting her off and yanking open her Hummer door. “I’ll see you around.”Damn. No kiss,

L. A. BANKS is the author of the Vampire Huntress Legend series and the Crimson Moon Novels. She had a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and a master's in fine arts from Temple University. Banks considered herself a shape-shifter. She wrote romance, women's fiction, crime and suspense, and of course, dark vampire huntress lore. She lived with her daughter in an undisclosed lair somewhere in Philadelphia.

The only way to heaven is through the gates of hell...

Damali Richards knows all about a blood rush. The kind that happened when she first went skin-to-skin with former vampire Carlos Rivera. Or the kind that happened on the streets of Philadelphia, when her crew took on the devil's own. Now, Damali, Carlos, and the Guardian team are recovering in the Arizona desert, trying to hold it all together and find out how much love, and how much war, they still need to make…until the demon consort Lilith changes everything.

THE DAMNED

The Damned are seeping out from below, and a new contagion is spreading simply by touch. For Damali and Carlos, time is running out. With Armageddon near, the ultimate truths lie strewn from a shaken underworld to the pristine mountains of Tibet, where the two lovers will approach a pinnacle of power―and the scintillating, shocking secret of salvation....

"Each book in this...series gets harder and harder to put down."
―Romantic Times BOOKreviews

"L.A. Banks writes a killer vamp series."
―Sherrilyn Kenyon