V

Back at the moment Sahvage’s throat was slashed, he had one, and only one thought, going through his brain: Maybe he was finally getting off this fucking train.

That’s what he was thinking as he went down on his knees and felt the warm pump of his blood breaking through his fingers and falling free to soak into his pants and pool on the concrete. As the fight crowd bolted, the scent of incoming death was loud in his nose and his brain was already slowing down- so he had some hope, some optimism that finally, after all these years—

Who knew that human had it in him.

And speak of the stupid, the skinny guy with the knife in his hand scrambled out from under and tore off like his life depended on it. Sahvage let the fucker go. The quick bastard deserved the bid for freedom given that slick move with the hidden blade. Although if that female hadn’t been such a distraction—

Before he lost consciousness, Sahvage’s brain ordered his head to turn to where she’d been standing. But things were draining rapidly, energy, awareness, cognition. So he didn’t make a lot of headway with that. Instead, the world went on a whirl, spinning around him.

The funneling sensation ended with a clapping impact, something cold and hard hitting the side of his face—and he wondered who had swung a frozen salmon at his jaw like a baseball bat. Except no, it wasn’t a pescatarian assault. It was the concrete floor he’d been standing on rushing up to grab his body and hold it down.

Wait, that didn’t make sense.

And wasn’t that great, he thought as his vision tapped out, even though his eyelids were still open.

Maybe this time, he thought with an exhausted anticipation. Maybe . . . this . . . time . . .

He was momentarily surprised as his vision got back with the program, but then he recognized that another brilliant, blinding light was calling him to attention. At first, he thought it was the Fade, but no. The source of it swung away. And then there was another. And another—

The cars that had lit the fighting area were getting out of Dodge.

And someone was standing over him.

That female . . . the one who had shouted at him. And even as he bled out, he took note of her. Which was so much better than having his life flash before his eyes.

She was tall, and dressed simply, her jeans and thick fleece out of place with the elaborate, revealing shit that the humans wore. Her hair was pulled back, so it was hard for him to tell what color it was, and her face was angular, the cheekbones high, the jaw strong, the hollows between the two suggesting she was hungry some portion of the time.

What the hell was she doing in a place like this?

As another car took off, its blue-bright headlights streamed over her and her wide, scared eyes.

“Go,” he told her as she knelt down. “Leave me.”

When she didn’t move and didn’t acknowledge his words, he wondered if he’d only spoken in his head—

Sahvage started to cough, but it was weak because there wasn’t a lot of air in his lungs. And goddamn, his mouth was full of copper.

The female looked around, and that was when he saw the ponytail she had her hair in. Dark hair, but with blond streaks. Then she was down on his level and her mouth was moving.

What the hell was she doing? She needed to take care of himself—

Herself. She needed to take care of herself.

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In this heart pounding installment in J. R. Ward’s #1 New York Times best-selling series...a long lost member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood finds true love-and evil incarnate-in Caldwell, NY.

Sahvage has been living under the radar for centuries-and he has every intention of staying ‘dead and buried.’  But when a civilian female sucks him into her dangerous battle with an evil as ancient as time, his protective side overrides his common sense.

Mae has lost everything, and desperation sets her on a collision course with fate.  Determined to reverse a tragedy, she goes where mortals should fear to tread- and comes face to face with the Brotherhood’s new enemy.  She also discovers a love she never expected to find with Sahvage, but there can be no future for them.

Knowing they will part, the two band together to fight against what Mae unknowingly unleashed- as the Brotherhood closes in to reclaim one of their damned, and the evil vows to destroy them all...