Jocelynn Drake - Nightwalker

“Don’t let him beat you,” Danaus ordered, forcing me to meet his glittering gaze. I knew he was talking about Jabari. He didn’t know about Rowe yet, and I wasn’t sure I would ever tell him. I was already enough of a danger to the world around me; no reason to up the ante.

“He already has,” I murmured. “I’m a tool. A weapon.”

“No, you’re the Fire Starter. A walking nightmare to both vampire and naturi. We’ll find a way to beat him.”

I didn’t even try to keep the skepticism from darting through my eyes as I stared up at the hunter. I couldn’t imagine what kind of miracle he expected me to work.

“You’ve eluded me for the past few decades. What trouble could a few old vampires offer?” he continued, arching one thick brow at me.

Danaus was being ridiculous, but I understood his point. We had to find a way if we hoped to survive. Our fates were linked now.

“We’ll find a way,” I whispered. “I always do.”

Danaus leaned forward and brushed a kiss against my temple, sending a wave of peace deep into the marrow of my bones, helping to ease some of the pain. “And then we’ll kill each other as God intended.”

The road here has been long, and at times ugly. The list of people who have helped me get here is equally long, and I want to thank everyone who laughed with me, held my hand when the dark closed in, and shared their lives with me, even if it was only nervous small talk in a slow-moving line. You’ve shaped me and in turn shaped my words.

However, there are a few people I need to thank specifically. Thanks to my brilliant agent Jennifer Schober. Your patience, endless enthusiasm, and belief in me have meant more than you will ever know. Thanks to my amazing editor, Diana Gill, for taking a chance on a newbie and demanding that I be the writer I always wanted to be.

A special thanks to Kim Harrison, Rachel Vincent, and Joseph Hargett. For years you have been my personal cheering section, editors, friends, champions, and when I needed it, a valuable reality check. Thanks for putting up with me.

And thank you to my family. Thanks, Stephen, for reminding me cartoons and video games are still an essential part of living no matter how old I get. Thanks, Nate, for always making me laugh, even when I thought it was impossible. Finally, thanks, Mom and Dad, for pointing out that I would be much happier as a writer than a chemical engineer. You just may have saved the world.

By day, Jocelynn Drakeis a clean-cut financial analyst writer, but in her free time she writes about a dark underworld where vampires rule. She lives in Kentucky.