Kristie Cook: Devotion

First and foremost, I thank God and His Son. You have truly blessed me. Let me count the ways…

Shawn, for being there when no one else was, in all the different ways that you have. My family–Zakary, Austin and Nathan, Mom, Dad and Keena, Terry, Grandma (RIP)–for your love, support and understanding.

Chrissi Jackson, we've come a long way and still have far to go. I'm so happy and proud to be sharing this journey with you. Thank you for picking up my pieces and holding them all together. Lisa Adams, thank you for lifting me up.

Author Brenda Pandos, your friendship means the world to me. We got it now (a little too much–haha!). Still living for the KM dream, but even if it never happens, this crazy journey brought us together and I am truly blessed for that. Thank you for your prudent picking apart of my story and my writing and for encouraging me to make it better. Thank you for all the extra help and, most of all, for your virtual shoulder when I needed it.

Lesley Turnpaugh, my sexy model, and Jennifer Trammell, the fabulously talented photographer, for bringing Alexis to life, and Brenda, for making my covers gorgeous. I can't stop staring and drooling. Thank you!

Author Heather McCorkle, Author Lani Woodland, Tina Moss, Judy Spelbring, Jennifer Nunez, for your time, patience and wonderful insight that has made this book shine. Heather Call and Patti Oaks, for taking your time to scrutinize each word and phrase.

Book bloggers around the world, for all that you do for authors and readers. Thank you to those who participated in my virtual tours and for taking the time to read my books and write your reviews. A special shout-out to Mindy, my favorite book whore and pimp, and to Lisa and Jessica, for your friendship. You all are much appreciated.

Last but certainly not least, I am blessed to have the best readers and fans a girl could ask for. Thank you for making my morning each day when I open my inbox to find your heartfelt fan mail or when I discover a new review posted online. I have had so much fun chatting and interacting with you. Oh, and your taste in men! Because of you, Tristan was the 2011 Indie Pick for Best Badass Hero and the Daemoni the 2011 Indie Pick for Best "Slimeball" Villain. You all ROCK! Let's see what we can do in 2012!

I stood in the sitting room of the ancient Amadis mansion, stared at the giant tapestry spanning the entire stone wall and wondered how I could change the future it told for my son. A long vine, embroidered with gold and green thread and with leaves on each side, wound and climbed its way across and up the wall-hanging, a golden name on each leaf. These were the names of my ancestors. The Amadis Family Vine only showed the mothers and their children, the fathers deemed irrelevant in our matriarchal society–most had died young, long before their widows knew their real heritage.

Silvery-green thread outlined most of the leaves–the ones with female names, the daughters–but some were brown and separated from the vine. The names on the brown leaves were all male, a twin to a green-leafed sister, and each had an asterisk next to it. A seemingly insignificant little symbol ominously marking the fate of each boy. The meaning looked disproportionately large on this huge hanging: *Converted to the Daemoni.

A much smaller rendition of the image spread across the inside cover of the leather-bound book I hugged to my chest: The History and Life of Alexis Katerina Ames Knight. My history. The book explained that not only Angel blood coursed through my veins, but so did the blood of vampires, were-animals and mages. The book, which I'd already devoured beginning to end, was full of such fascinating details.

I stared at the enormous vine in the wall-hanging, however, because it better reflected the magnitude of my feelings than the tiny one in the book. At the top of the Family Vine, right above my leaf, scripted in gold like all the others, was the name Dorian, my son. His leaf, unaccompanied by a female twin, an anomaly in itself, was brown, though not separated from the vine. Yet, anyway.

I had no idea what I would do to keep it that way. I was too new to this Amadis life. But I vowed to do something. I could not let my son become part of the Daemoni, our innate enemies, servants to Satan himself.

"Ma lykita," murmured a smooth, sexy voice from the doorway, "staring at it doesn't change anything."

Tristan stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, sending electric currents under my skin.

"I know," I said with a sigh. "I'm just thinking about what we can do that will change it."

He kissed the top of my head. "We'll figure something out. Fortunately, we have a few years."

"According to the book and history, yes. But if he's anything like me or you, unique in so many ways, he could go early."

"But not tonight or tomorrow or anytime soon. Right now, we have more pressing matters to worry about."

"More pressing than our son's life?"

Tristan sighed. "Nothing is more important than Dorian's life. But there's a difference between important and urgent and, for now, the issue isn't urgent. We have time. But tomorrow morning–in a few hours–we have a council meeting and I expect it'll be intense. It's late and you have to be tired."

My body did feel heavy with exhaustion, not surprising with the combination of jet lag and a lack of sleep. Excitement to learn about my heritage combined with being overwhelmed by my new mind-reading ability prevented me from sleeping on the flights from Miami to Athens. I'd been awake for nearly forty-eight hours, which included fighting a psycho vampire intent on killing me. I didn't think I could shut my mind down, though. Between all the information I just learned about my history and my genetic make-up and figuring out what to do about Dorian, there was too much to think about.

"How am I supposed to sleep?"

"I put Dorian to bed. Let me take you. You might be surprised once you let yourself relax. And, if you can't relax," he kissed my ear, giving me goose bumps, "I can help with that, too."

"That's stimulating, not relaxing," I said, my body already trembling for his touch.

"Hmm … good. After all, we do have that other matter and the council will want to know we're working on it." He nuzzled his face into my hair, pressing his lips against my neck. As usual, my body immediately responded. I couldn't help it–he'd always been irresistible to me.

"We do need to keep trying," I conceded with a smile. "And it has been a while."

"It's been way too long." He took my hand and led me up the stone stairs, lit by torches affixed to the stone walls.

Two days certainly felt like a long time, for us, anyway. We'd never before gone more than twenty-four hours without making love–if you didn't count the seven-and-a-half years while he was held captive by the Daemoni. Our eight-year anniversary was less than four months away, but we were still newlyweds in a very real sense, having had a total of three weeks together as husband and wife.

We also had a mission to accomplish: we needed a daughter for the survival of the Amadis–my family, our society. And if the Amadis didn't survive, neither would humanity. It would be lost to the Daemoni.

"Can't we flash to our suite?" I asked as we continued up the stairs to the third floor.

"If you flash everywhere, you'll get lazy and I won't have a lazy wife," Tristan teased. "More importantly, you don't want to create bad habits. We'll have to mainstream soon and you can't be flashing all the time around the Normans."