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Prologue

1886, The Great Reckoning – Northern Ontario – Somewhere in the Boreal Forests

Talan McKenna wiped the blood froround Somewhat revived, he raced toward the deepest part of the forest He could feel the sun beginning to rise There was a prickling tightness to his skin already He dared not fight anyround before the sun rose

For the last eleven years, his kind had been at ith the humans Which wasn’t to say that the humans were any more human than his kind were They just didn’t need to drink blood to survive That single distinction set thean to dig

As he dug the shallow grave, he thought of the stories they believed about hihoulishly undead Monsters that lived only for hu of others

This, froraves of the deadthey could during the day His kind, for the most part, took only what they needed to survive, as they had done for centuries

In his lifetime, which had spanned sos he wasn’t proud of In his infancy as one of the others, as he liked to think of them, he had killed Even in war, he found it distasteful, and he certainly wasn’t proud of it The ht of her, he could still see the little girl’s eyes staring vacantly up at him as her life slipped way He had taken other lives, but hers was the only face that haunted him

He had never been a cruelthose first days when his body was changing, he hadn’t been able to control hi since dead fro to survive was so he’d done on his own There had certainly been soh

Over the years he had learned to take only what he needed He tried never to kill Humankind wasn’t exactly a renewable resource If they drank to excess, they could technically bleed their food source dry, which would destroy them all

He settled his body into the hole and covered himself as best he could with no assistance He tucked his satchel and gun into the grave beside hi with the shovel, then settled in under the moose hide he’d fashioned It was covered with leaves and dirt—not the best cover, but it hadn’t failed him yet

With any luck, it would snow again tonight Or rave would be discovered He was beginning to think maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad idea He had wandered alone for centuries now He knew others like hiiance or love for them

Talan was tired of the violence He was tired of the war and the fighting He was just plain tired Perhaps toht, as the darkness called to him Perhaps tomorroould be better

Chapter One

Present Day – Toronto, ON – Foxwood Casino and Spa

Lilly Ferguson pulled her coat htly around her slim frame as she quickly made her way to the car It was brutally cold outside The thick coat did little to protect her froid winds By the ti area, her hands ached froloves in the car?

She heard the shuffling behind her only a moment before someone ripped at the strap of her purse She whirled around and struck out blindly at her assailant She rapping up a twelve-hour shift in which she’d been cursed and spat on by a drunk when she’d cut hioddamned way she’d let some little tweaked-out punk steal her money

When her attacker landed a blow on her cheek, she felt her head snap back and crack into the roof of her old sedan She let loose the loudest screaed at the attacker with her keys She landed a blow and heard hi out at theup the row

The attacker looked up at the approaching vehicle, then took off running in the other direction As she watched the ainst the side of the car, clutching her bag Adrenaline raced through her system as the security officer jumped out of the SUV

“Miss Miss? Are you okay?” he said as he approached her

Lilly held a hand up to her cheek and said, “He tried to stealI wouldn’t let him I think I stabbed him with my keys”

She looked down at the blood that coated her car key and said, “Hopefully I got so vital Asshole”

The security guard shook his head and said, “If only,” as he eyed the mark on her face “Are you otherwise okay?”

She stepped away from the car and said, “I think so,” as she started to sway