Dawn Treadway - Dark Dreams - HarperImpulse Paranormal Romance

Progeny of Sin

DAWN TREADWAY & AARON SPECA

A division of HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Harper Impulse an imprint of

HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by Harper Impulse 2015

Copyright © Dawn Treadway & Aaron Speca 2015

Cover images © Shutterstock.com

Cover layout design © HarperColl‌insPublishers Ltd 2015

Cover design by Izzy Ashford

Dawn Treadway & Aaron Speca asserts the moral right

to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are

the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to

actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is

entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International

and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

By payment of the required fees, you have been granted

the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access

and read the text of this e-book on screen.

No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted,

downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or

stored in or introduced into any information storage and

retrieval system, in any form or by any means,

whether electronic or mechanical, now known or

hereinafter invented, without the express

written permission of HarperCollins.

Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

Ebook Edition © August 2015 ISBN: 9780007594702

Version 2015-08-11

Dawn:

Dedicated to my father, Dr. Gerald Treadway, who instilled in me the belief that I could achieve absolutely anything, if I did the work.

Aaron:

For Wendy, my true partner

Contents

Cover

Title Page Dark Dreams Progeny of Sin DAWN TREADWAY & AARON SPECA A division of HarperCollins Publishers www.harpercollins.co.uk

Copyright Harper Impulse an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by Harper Impulse 2015 Copyright © Dawn Treadway & Aaron Speca 2015 Cover images © Shutterstock.com Cover layout design © HarperColl‌insPublishers Ltd 2015 Cover design by Izzy Ashford Dawn Treadway & Aaron Speca asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress. Ebook Edition © August 2015 ISBN: 9780007594702 Version 2015-08-11

Dedication Dawn: Dedicated to my father, Dr. Gerald Treadway, who instilled in me the belief that I could achieve absolutely anything, if I did the work. Aaron: For Wendy, my true partner

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Dawn Treadway & Aaron Speca

About HarperImpulse

About the Publisher

Jade Shear could feel the spark of emotion ignite; like a caged electrical storm it slithered up her skin and spread throughout her body. “No, damn it, not again,” she cursed into the air. Jade’s eyes strained shut as her long, French-manicured fingernails drew into fists.

Opening her stinging eyes she watched her customers begin to twitch and look around nervously. It was as if, suddenly, something ominous had just descended. She felt a wave of anxiety sweeping through their emotions even before the patrons themselves were aware of it. She let out an audible sigh and began trying to suppress the assault on her senses.

The patron’s responses were varied. Some began to look lost; others, more strongly affected, looked almost angry.

Jade opened her fists and tried to stabilize herself inside the circular wooden countertop forming the epicenter of her store. The emotion around her relentlessly crawled through her body, like a horde of ants on a mass exodus through the inside of her spine and limbs. She leaned forward and steadied herself, inhaling deeply. She closed her eyes, grabbing a thick, red curl between her fingers and began to twist. Fixating her mind she began deflecting the patrons’ feelings, pushing them away. Get out of my head!

Her eyes opened and Jade swore she saw a man-sized shadow move behind one of the crowded bookshelves in her peripheral vision. It disappeared so quickly she thought, for sure, it was her imagination.

“Hey, gorgeous, thought it was your day off!” Matt lilted accusatorily and sauntered toward the register. Nothing ever seemed to ruin his good mood. It was one reason she could stand to be around him. The other was that he was one of the few men she could be near and not read lascivious feelings about her pouring off of him. “You all right, sweets? You look like you need a drink.” His perfectly arched brows rose slightly for a moment. “And a hairbrush.” He chuckled and tried to tame her hair.

“Can you please not start with me?” Jade tried to shake out the last bits of the obtrusive emotions around her. She actually loved when Matt “started” with her.

“Now, darlin’, what in the world would be fun about that?” He moved his hand like a wand through the air when he spoke, a gesture he always seemed to make appropriate. Whether recapping a bad date he’d been on, appraising someone’s outfit, or generally talking trash about another of Jade’s employees, there was always “the hand” emphasizing his dramatic points.

He continued, without waiting for a response. “Girl, you need to stop with the workaholic spinster act.” He gave her a cursory disapproving glance from her disheveled hair down to her beautifully attired feet. She saw a small smile escape when he eyed her footwear. “Get out of here, go dig up a life, girl, get laid, fall down drunk somewhere.” He let loose with yet another wave of his hand around the store. “You know this place is fine. I’ve got the wheel. I make a fabulous captain.” Matt laughed; the man certainly loved to amuse himself.

“I just need a book or two, then I’m out. I won’t stay,” Jade swore, even as she scanned the shop for other things she could be working on.