Darkness Awakened: Blood Secrets, #1

By Mandy Rosko

Awaken your inner wild side...

Lilac has led a picture-perfect life, full of designer clothes and brand name makeup, not knowing that all of it was bought and paid for through a devilish deal her father made before she was born. But now, her vampire master has come looking to collect.

Believing her fate to be sealed, Lilac travels to the wealthy vampire's private island to serve out her father's contract as a blood donor. However, it's not until she meets her captor's sickly niece that she understands her role in this game. The powerful, handsome, and dangerous vampire may be full of warmth and compassion for the girl, but Lilac cannot shake her distrust of Warrick's  motives.

Even so, there is more about Warrick that she can't seem to stop thinking about…

Lilac wants to keep strictly to business, but something about him calls to her. Despite the trouble it might lead to, Lilac finds that the more she's around Warrick, the less she cares about the risks.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mandy Rosko
• Release date: Nov 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393291138

Mandy Rosko

USA Today Bestselling and award winning author Mandy Rosko loves writing paranormal romances with werewolves, dragons and people with special powers. She is the author of the Things in the Night Series, Night and Day, and the Dangerous Creatures Series.She does M/F, M/M, a touch of medieval under her other pen name, Rizzo Rosko, and pretty much anything else she's in the mood to write (which makes things confusing for readers since that means she's too much of a flake to stick to any one brand).Favorite authors right now are anyone who writes dangerous and tortured heroes ;)If you want to keep up to date on the sexy guys in my hot new releases, then sign up for my Newsletter and receive a free copy of The Vampire's Curse: http://mandyrosko.com/contact.htmlAnd on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MandyRoskoRomanceThings in the Night Series:The Vampire's CurseThe Legend of the WerewolfThe Shepard's AgonyThe Dragon and the Wolf (A prequel novella)Night and Day Series:Night and DayThe Calm Before The StormAll Hell Breaking LooseBook Four Coming Soon!Dangerous Creatures:Burns Like FireA Shock To Your SystemAs Cold As Ice Coming December 8th 2015

Book preview

DEDICATED TO MY PATRONS…

Darkness Awakened is here! As always, thank you so much for being with me while I get to write these books. I can’t believe we’re almost at 10 Patron books. It feels like we just started this yesterday and already there’s a small library of books that exist because of you. I’ll never get over that, so thank you for your part in making this real. You’re honestly the best.

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Hugs

Mandy,

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Any names missing from this dedications page are accidental and entirely my fault

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Thank You

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Tami Gryder, Jessica Ripley, Nicole Henry, Nancy McDonald, Barbara Burdette, Johanna Snodgrass, Andi Downs, Alisha Derr, Nicole Cook, Michelle Fortune, Teresa Ward, Sherry Smith, Angie Kyle, Melinda Miller, Saleena Chamberlin, Ramona Cabrera, Dusty Weller, Daria Donnelly, Stephanie Pittser, Kayla Reindl, Clare Parrott, Traceylyn Norrie, Patricia Cassar, Sheryl Tegtmeyer, Anne Rindfliesch, Stacy Ittersagen, Megan Mills, Christina Morgan, Leanne Ede, Melinda Kaye, Anne Samson, Pauline Dixon, Rachelle Binkley, Rebekah Snyder, Thomas Werner, Kaer Baer, Sharron Anthony, Roxanne Johnson, Rachel Morse, Karen, Julie Spencer, Wendy Custer, Annette Alex, Shelia Deal, Carolyn Lown, Jill Micklich, Confused child, Samalee Johnson, Sandy Folz, Janet Rodman, Jeanne Clark, Lizzy, SoshanahLila, Alexandra Smith, Donna Hogel, Nanci Quinn, Janice Richmond, Stacey F, Barb Sands, Charlotte Brincat, Sharon Manning-Lew, Teresa Albarrab, GerryAnn L., Gail Powell, Rose Allen, Opal Carew Lori Trask, Toni McConnell, Maria T, Laura Furuta, Angela Cowen, Beth Wolfe, Valerie Cobb, Valerie Jondahl, Tiffany Villeda, Iona Stewart, Alisha Derr, Kathryn Wohlford, Samantha Quinones, Seen Cassell, Melissa Carlton, ugo, Amanda Barker, Tricha Fely, Corrina Mayall, Alexis Abbott, Selena Kitt, Essie Munro, Anna Garcia-Centner, Biggi Ziegler, Jill Morrison, Kerrin Brittain, Destiny Malone, Ruth Roberts, Carol Ingham, Cynthia Powers, Tanya, Yolanda Pedroza, Belinda Jarrell, Miriam Loellgen, Pam Van Veen, Valerie Marshman

DARKNESS AWAKENED

Darkness Awakens

Awaken your inner wild side...

Lilac has led a picture-perfect life, not knowing that it was bought and paid for long before she was born.

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Her father sold his first born child to a vampire for a lot of money and connections, and Lilac makes it easy for him when the time comes to hand her over; she’ll go because she can’t bear to consider what would happen to him if she refuses.

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Warrick is a wealthy, powerful, and even dangerous, vampire, but Lilac learns that there is more to him than that. He’s called for her not for his own indulgence, but because he needs her to help his ill niece. That doesn’t mean that he isn’t hiding dark things from his past, though… because Lilac can’t miss all the heavy security and protection Warrick keeps around them.

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Lilac wants to keep strictly to business, but something about Warrick calls to her. Despite the trouble it might lead to, Lilac finds that the more she's around Warrick, the less she cares about the risks.

1

The time has come for you to pay your debts…

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Lilac Crawford skimmed the letter. She looked up at her father, who sat pale-faced and ragged at the kitchen table with his head held in his hands. He was barely able to look at her. He was the picture of a defeated man.

What is this?

Her father, who had always seemed so strong and proud and larger than life, hid his face in his hands as though he were confronting death itself.

I didn't mean for this to happen. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Lilac read the letter again.

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The time has come to pay your debts, after living lavishly for years off our deal. I am in need of what your daughter can supply, and I expect no objections from either of you.

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Following that was the time and date she would be collected. It wasn't even signed, but she supposed it didn't have to be. Her father knew with certainty who it was from.

She wished she could take her time with it, that she could let her eyes take in every word, focus on every perfectly scripted swirl of black ink, but she couldn't. She didn't have the brainpower to process the fact that she was apparently going to be someone’s slave. Probably their little sex kitten too. She might as well be honest about what a vampire most likely intended for her.

But, for the moment, she could only focus on her father. She wanted to strangle him. Worse than that, she wanted to slap him. For real. Literally. Without just fantasizing about it. That was something she’d never thought in her life she would want to do to her own dad.

When did you do this?

He finally looked at her, but it was with the eyes of a man who had lost his soul somewhere along the way. I swear I didn't think it would turn out like this.

When did you sell me?

He pressed his lips together. He looked ready to cry.

It was before you were born. Before you were even conceived. I didn't know you then. I didn't think having a kid would be like this.

You didn't think there was something wrong with selling your first-born daughter to some bloodsucking vampire?

He saved my life.

I don't care what he did! You sold me!

I didn't think I would be selling you. I would never sell you.

There was a very real chance he didn't realize what he had just given away with those words.

He would never sell her.

But he had been willing to sell someone.

This was her big and strong father? This was the guy who had picked her up off of the road after she'd fallen from her bike? The man who had bandaged up her scraped knees and told her stories before bed? The man who chased away all of her boyfriends in high school?

She didn't see that man anymore. That man didn't exist.

All of a sudden, Lilac was bombarded with a whole new set of information she didn't want.

She had always wondered what her father did for a living.

Other little girls had often complained that they never saw their daddies. That they worked too much at their office jobs and couldn't spend time with them or their families. Not Lilac. Not her father. He had always been around. He was always there when she needed him. He had always been strong in the face of a storm. Now, he looked as defeated and wilted as a dying flower in the fall after snow.

Because his time was up.

The luxury around them, this big house, the cars, the nice dresses and shoes that her father had bestowed upon her, it all stemmed from this. He paid for those things with somebody else's money.

The thick paper in her hand, not a sheet of thin printer paper, was a sign that his debts were due.

You sold your first-born child for money.

It isn't that simple, her father said with a shake of his head.

Lilac held up the letter. Dad, there's a coat of arms printed on this paper. Somehow, I get the feeling that even the gold trim might actually be real gold. Jesus Christ, how loaded is this guy? How much money did he have to give you to do this? Did it even matter to you?

Her father opened his mouth and then shut it. As though he thought better of what he was about to say.

Or maybe not. At the time…I didn't care. I didn't think I would have kids. I never thought it would happen. I shouldn't have been able to have kids. The doctor said it was nearly impossible. Not without heavy medical treatments.

Lilac had friends who were going through fertility treatments right now. She even knew a woman who, after years of being told that it most likely wouldn't happen, after she and her husband had finally made the decision to adopt, found out two months later they were pregnant.

Well, the doctors clearly made a mistake. Is that why Mom left? Because she found out about this?

He shook his head again, still seeming so defeated and small. I would say yes if I thought it would make you feel better, but no. That's not why she left.

Ouch. That…actually stung a whole lot more than she thought it would. Right, her dad had sold her for money before she was even born, and her mother was just a gold digger who took off after the responsibilities of having a kid got to be more of a hassle than it was worth. Even the fun of getting weekly facials, expensive spa treatments, and liposuction weren't enough to keep her around after a snot-nosed little kid came into the picture.

Her dad pushed back the chair he was sitting in with a heavy screech and shot to his feet. He went to her, taking Lilac’s hands into his. She didn't want to touch him, but he wouldn't let her go.

"I'll fix this. I swear it.’

How are you supposed to fix this? This guy is a vampire. And a loaded one at that.

Her dad shook his head. I don't care. I'll figure it out. I'll give everything back; I'll make a new deal. He has to see that this is wrong.

You didn't.

He flinched.

Lilac wasn't in much of a mood to feel any pity for him.

All she felt was empty.

The world is different now, her father insisted. "It doesn't matter if he's a vampire or about the deal I made. He can't just do this. You can’t just buy a person. Not in this country."

Dad, come on. She wasn't in a mood for any of his feel-good pick-me-ups. Not when he was the reason she was in this predicament to begin with.

No. I won't let him!

Can you at least give me a solid answer why? He hadn't done that yet, and she was getting tired of waiting.

He got that helpless expression on his face again, but she knew he had an answer.

He just didn't want to give it to her.

I wanted an easy life. I didn't want to struggle like my dad did and have nothing to show for it.

Grandpa had something. He had a lot. He had you, he had his family, his house—

Which I paid for.

Lilac snapped her mouth shut. She was so angry with him. She wanted to hate him. Her own father. But she couldn't. Realizing he was a flesh-and-blood man who was not above doing stupid shit seemed punishment enough.

For both of them.

Lilac glanced back down at her invitation.

It was dated a week ago, but she was expected to meet her new vampire master tonight.

You could have told me about this before tonight. Kind of last-minute, isn't it?

I wasn't going to tell you at all. I asked you to pack a bag and come here for a trip. I planned on us leaving town for a while. Laying low to make sure he doesn’t find us.

Lilac rolled her eyes. That's great, Dad. Because suddenly you’re an expert on living life on the run.

His face cracked with his anguish. I know! I knew when you got here that it wasn’t going to work, but we can still work something out. He can't make you do this.

Are you willing to empty out your bank account to keep me here? He's going to ask for everything back.

And he would be legally entitled to it, too.

Yes, I will. I'll give back everything. You do not have to do this.

Lilac’s heart hurt. She looked at her dad, and for a second, she saw the strong protector who chased away the monsters in her closet when she'd been a little girl. She saw the father who chased away unsavory boyfriends and put her into karate classes so she would know how to defend herself as an adult.

But it wouldn't work.

You really want to give back the house you gave to Grandpa?

He flinched. He…he will understand. He would do the same for me.

But her grandfather was an old man, and her father wasn't getting any younger either.

She couldn't imagine him starting over with nothing.

And God help her, even she was a little scared of the idea. She was living on her own, but the amount of help her dad had given her was immense. He'd paid for her car, her condo, and while there was no returning the education she'd received, she was suddenly ashamed of all the help she'd allowed herself to accept.

Lilac had pretended she was a strong, independent woman, but looking back, she owed as much to her secret vampire owner as her father did.

Maybe she could turn this into something.

I'll go with him.

Her dad shook his head. No, baby—

It won't be that bad.

You don't know what he'll want to do to you! If you had been a boy, it would be one thing. He might make you work around the mansion he lives in and just drink your blood.

That doesn't make me feel any better, Dad.

He's going to want to make you… He's going to want to…

He couldn't even say it, and Lilac was in no mood to put him out of his misery. He'll want to fuck me.

Her dad put his hands into what was left of his hair, and she suddenly worried he was going to have a heart attack.

Don't say that. God, don't say that.

Well, it doesn't matter anyway, Dad, because it's not going to happen. I won't let it.

Her father seemed to look through her. He was still lost in his panic.

Dad! She grabbed his shoulders, stopping him before he could pace around their kitchen anymore. Look at me. He can come and collect his payment. He can try and do whatever he wants. I’ll even let him drink from me, but I won't have sex with him. I'll figure this out and come back. That's all there is to it.

Her father was actually sweating. It soaked through his chest and under his arms. Now she really was worried he was going to have a heart attack.

You said it yourself. Things are different now. It's not like it used to be. Vampires have power, but a vampire can't just decide he owns me.

"You'll want him to own you."

Lilac did not understand that.

Then it didn't matter what she understood because she heard the heavy knock at their front door.

2

Lilac didn't get the chance to open the door and greet whoever was on the other side. Not when her dad growled, grabbed her by her wrist, and yanked her behind him. And she was too tired to comment on how it was too late to get so protective.

Dad, I can answer the door.

Stay in the kitchen. I'll handle this.

She rolled her eyes and stayed right where she was.

Her father’s house was open concept. If she stayed in the kitchen, whoever was out there would see her no matter what.

Her dad waved her off, as though he expected her to hide. She crossed her arms and did not move. She was going to see this.

The banging sounded again. Three heavy slams that echoed ominously throughout the house.

Even though Lilac was ready to take charge here and make sure she was in command of her own destiny, she had to admit there was something freaky about that sound.

The best part was when her dad looked through the peephole as if either of them were confused about who might be on the other side of the door.

When he did open the door, he did it with a shocking sigh of relief.

Lilac wasn't so sure who she expected to be on the threshold, but it wasn't who she saw. The man standing on the other side of the door was huge, dwarfing even her father, who himself was no small man.

She peered closer. Even though the man was huge, he also seemed to be hunched over, with something of a hump on his back. His head was bald. As in polished-like-an-egg bald. Not like her dad, who still had some hair, though it was thinning around the middle.

When he looked at her, she saw he had a pointed jaw but round puffy face, a large hooked nose, and heavy bags under his eyes.

Poor guy must be overlooked, Lilac thought, wondering if they'd commiserate together over their horrible master.

Meanwhile, her father looked as though he couldn't be more irritated by the sight of him.

Your master couldn't come himself?

It might be a good thing that he's not here, Dad.

Her father glanced back at her,