Kresley Cole: Untuchable

Much love to all my fellow rabid Showalter fans, for sharing a boundless admiration and warm affection for all things Gena. To those of you about to be initiated: Yes, we have T-shirts and we meet in the bar.

And thank you to Swede, for your wintry insights and nonstop support. You didn’t have to drag me over the finish line on this one, but it means a lot to me that you were ready to.

THE LORE

“ … and those sentient creatures that are not human shall be united in one stratum, coexisting with, yet secret from, man’s. ”

• Most are immortal and can regenerate from injuries. The stronger breeds can only be killed by mystical fire or beheading.

• Their eyes change to a breed-specific color with intense emotion.

THE VALKYRIE

“ When a maiden warrior screams for courage as she dies in battle, Wóden and Freya heed her call. The two gods give up lightning to strike her, rescuing her to their hall, and preserving her courage forever in the form of the maiden’s immortal Valkyrie daughter. ”

• Take sustenance from the electrical energy of the earth, sharing it in one collective power, and give it back with their emotions in the form of lightning.

• Possess preternatural strength and speed.

• Without training, most can be mesmerized by shining objects and jewels.

THE VAMPIRES

• Two warring factions, the Horde and the Forbearer Army.

• Each vampire seeks his Bride, his eternal wife, and walks as the living dead until he finds her.

• A Bride will render his body fully alive, giving him breath and making his heart beat, a process known as blooding .

Tracing is teleporting, the vampires’ means of travel. A vampire can only trace to destinations he’s previously been or to those he can see.

The Fallen are vampires who have killed by drinking a victim to death. Distinguished by their red eyes.

THE HORDE

“ In the first chaos of the Lore, a brotherhood of vampires dominated by relying on their cold nature, worship of logic, and absence of mercy. They sprang from the harsh steppes of Dacia and migrated to Russia, though some say a secret enclave, the Daci, live in Dacia still. ”

• The Fallen comprise their ranks.

THE FORBEARERS

“ … his crown stolen, Kristoff, the rightful Horde king, stalked the battlefields of antiquity seeking the strongest, most valiant human warriors as they died, earning him the name of Gravewalker. He offered eternal life in exchange for eternal fealty to him and his growing army. ”

• An army of vampires consisting of turned humans, who do not drink blood directly from the flesh.

• Kristoff was raised as a human and then lived among them. He and his army know little of the Lore.

THE NOBLE FEY OF DRAISKULIA

“ A warrior nobility class who ruled over all the demon serfs in their realm. ”

• Were Féodals, an ancient term for feudal overlords, which became shortened to Fey .

• Masters in the art of poisons.

• Males prefer to be called Drais.

• Over time, divided into numerous subsets, including fire, ice, and forest fey.

THE TURNING

“ Only through death can one become an ‘ other .’”

• Some beings, such as the Lykae, vampires, and demons, can turn a human or even other Lore creatures into their kind through differing means, but the catalyst for change is always death, and success is not guaranteed.

THE ACCESSION

“ And a time shall come to pass that all immortal beings in the Lore, from the Valkyrie, vampire, Lykae, and demon factions to the phantoms, shifters, fey, and sirens… must fight and destroy each other. ”

• A kind of mystical checks-and-balances system for an evergrowing population of immortals.

• Occurs every five hundred years. Or right now…

“ They say I’m as fickle as winter, as shy as frost, and as indifferent as a blizzard. It’s rumored my body is pure as driven snow. Nobody imagines that I might be full of fire. ”

— DANIELA THE ICE MAIDEN, VALKYRIE AND RIGHTFUL QUEEN OF THE ICERE , THE FEY OF THE FROZEN NORTH

“Women are like bottles of liquor. They should be sampled, savored, then discarded. Matrimony is for men who can’t handle their liquor. ”

— MURDOCH WROTH, EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY WARLORD, MODERN VAMPIRE SOLDIER

The French Quarter, New Orleans Present day

“ SHE’S… near. ”

At his brother’s weak and broken words, Murdoch Wroth’s eyes narrowed in anger toward the one who’d brought the proud Nikolai so low.

Myst the Coveted, a female immortal with a vicious heart.

And Nikolai’s fated Bride.

“How can you tell?” Murdoch asked.

“Because I can feel her,” Nikolai said.

Murdoch adjusted Nikolai’s arm, which he’d slung across his shoulders to help his brother walk as they searched. The humans milling all around them merely assumed Nikolai was another drunk.

Proud Nikolai . He was exhausted from consuming too little blood, his body racked with never-ending need for a mad Valkyrie who delighted in his pain. Nikolai had lost weight, his face turning gaunt, his muscles flagging.

“Murdoch, when I find her… I want you to trace from here.”

He shook his head. “I’ll stay until you’ve secured her—”

“No. Don’t want you to… see me.” Nikolai’s weary gaze darted away from Murdoch’s. “I will lose control.”

Which would shame his stalwart older brother as little else could.

Murdoch couldn’t imagine how Nikolai would react when he found Myst. Five years ago, she had blooded Nikolai, as only a Bride could, bringing to life his dead vampire’s body. She’d made him breathe, made his heart beat, and stoked his newly reawakened lust with no intention of slaking it.

That same night, another Valkyrie had shot him through with arrows and still another had mocked his desires. Myst had fled with the two, dooming Nikolai.

A blooded vampire could only take release for the first time while touching his Bride in some way. If she wasn’t available, then he would remain in a state of constant sexual readiness, aching indefinitely.

Which she well knew.

“Promise me you’ll leave,” Nikolai grated.

At length, Murdoch said, “I will.” If Myst was indeed here tonight, it would make sense that there’d be more Valkyrie out on these very streets. More of their deceiving, manipulative, violent kind. “But only to find another one,” he added.

He could capture one and interrogate her about the Lore, the world of not-so-mythical beings he and his brother were now a part of.

Murdoch’s knowledge of the Lore was as limited as that of any of the vampires in their warrior order of Forbearers. Their army consisted mostly of turned humans, and the Lore creatures kept their secrets well guarded from them.

“Don’t underestimate the Valkyrie as I did,” Nikolai rasped. “Else suffer as I have.”