Rising Dawn, the final book of the Watchers trilogy, will be out on Wednesday, June 7th, so here’s a little teaser from early in the novel!
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“Ah, Serena.” His fingers curled around mine, cool, strong. For some reason, though, I didn’t feel like pulling my hand away. Was it only because he’d just shown me a rare moment of vulnerability? “I do consider you to be a great gift. I am so glad that you were wise enough to abandon your foolish infatuation with Silas Drake.”
What could I do except smile? Of course I hadn’t abandoned Silas — I loved him now more than ever. He had tried to save me. Now I would have to do my best to save him. Lucius didn’t seem to notice my diffidence, thank God. “We — wouldn’t have worked out in the long run,” I said. “You were right about that. I don’t think I could have handled that kind of life. We didn’t have much in common.”
“But you and I…?”
I leaned my head against his shoulder. The gesture served a dual purpose — it would help to make Lucius think I wanted to be close to him, while at the same time it allowed me to look forward, so he couldn’t see my face. “All right, on the surface most people would say that a woman in her late twenties from Southern California doesn’t have a lot in common with a centuries-old vampire from…?” I paused there. “Where are you from, anyway?”
I could feel his body shift beneath my cheek, but he answered quickly enough. “I have lived so many places that it doesn’t seem as if I’m from anywhere in particular anymore.”
It figured that he wouldn’t give me a straight answer. He could call me his precious gift and offer me the world…but clearly the world he was offering didn’t include the truth. I knew better than to press him, though. He still wouldn’t give me the answers I wanted, and my insistence would only anger him and probably arouse suspicions I’d done my best to quell.
Letting it alone, I said, “Well, I’m sure that most people would think you and I didn’t have anything in common, either, but we seem to appreciate a lot of the same things. Art, and beautiful antiques, and books. Your library is amazing.”
He passed a hand over my hair. “I am glad you see it that way. I had hoped….” The words trailed off, and he didn’t complete the thought. “At any rate, if we can convince your brother to lend his assistance, then you and I will have a great deal to look forward to.”
“Walks in the sun.”
“And so many other things.” His arm tightened around me, and we rode the rest of the way to my brother’s house in silence, all our thoughts focused on the future.
I had a feeling the future I imagined looked very different from his.
