Everafter Series 2 - Nevermore

Table of Contents

• Synopsis
  
• By Nell Stark and Trinity Tam
  
• Acknowledgments
  
• Dedication
  
• valentine
  
• Chapter One
  
• Chapter Two
  
• Chapter Three
  
• Chapter Four
  
• Chapter Five
  
• Chapter Six
  
• Chapter Seven
  
• Chapter Eight
  
• alexa
  
• Chapter Nine
  
• Chapter Ten
  
• Chapter Eleven
  
• Chapter Twelve
  
• Chapter Thirteen
  
• Chapter Fourteen
  
• Chapter Fifteen
  
• Chapter Sixteen
  
• Chapter Seventeen
  
• valentine
  
• Chapter Eighteen
  
• Chapter Nineteen
  
• Chapter Twenty
  
• Chapter Twenty-one
  
• Chapter Twenty-two
  
• Chapter Twenty-three
  
• Epilogue
  
• About the Author
  
• Books Available From Bold Strokes Books
  

Synopsis

A coup. A plague. A falling soul.

In this sequel to
everafter,
Valentine Darrow and Alexa Newland are separated when Alexa is caught in the middle of a Wereshifter civil war halfway around the world. Meanwhile, a mysterious disease begins to ravage the shifter population of New York City. Unable to reach Alexa to warn her, Val must penetrate the darkest secrets of the Consortium in a race against time to save her lover and friends.

Will Alexa be able to avoid the clutches of a renegade Were who wants to use her as bait? And in Alexa’s absence, will Valentine be able to resist the powerful temptation of her growing thirst?

nevermore

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nevermore

© 2010 By Nell Stark and Trinity Tam. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN 13: 978-1-60282-184-2E

This Electronic Book is published by

Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

P.O. Box 249

Valley Falls, New York 12185

First Edition, October 2010

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Credits

Editors: Cindy Cresap and Stacia Seaman

Production Design: Stacia Seaman

Cover Design By Sheri ([email protected])

By Nell Stark and Trinity Tam

everafter

nevermore

By Nell Stark

Running with the Wind

Homecoming

Acknowledgments

nevermore
is our first foray into series writing, and we are particularly indebted to our editor, Cindy Cresap, who helped us weave together the many threads of this narrative. Stacia Seaman’s careful fine-tuning of the manuscript is also very much appreciated

We are likewise indebted to Radclyffe for sowing the seed of this idea years ago and for the opportunity to publish with Bold Strokes Books. We’d like to thank all of the wonderful, hardworking, and selfless people at BSB—Connie, Lori, Lee, Jennifer, Paula, Sheri, and others— for helping to put out and market quality product year after year. The members of Team BSB, including our many fellow authors, continue to inspire us!

Finally, our thanks goes out to each reader who picks up one of our books. This series is, above all, for you, and we hope you recognize yourself in it.

Dedication

To love, ever after

valentine

Chapter One

The deep rumble of the Jeep’s engine throbbed in my ears, its rhythm increasing as we accelerated. I looked out my window over the fraction of Serengeti plain we had just crossed, appreciating the aesthetics of deep blue sky converging with tawny earth at the horizon. Alexa’s fingers, entwined with mine, tightened. When I turned to glance at her, I was held captive by the elegant lines of her profile: the dark hair cascading in subtle layers along her jawline, the thick eyelashes that curled up ever so slightly at their tips, the delicate curve of her mouth. Her beauty pierced me.

Thirst flared, a link of fire arcing down my throat, and I swallowed hard against the sudden urge to lean over and sink my teeth into the pulse that beat steadily beneath her neck. I had been sated that morning, but already, my need had returned. This wasn’t surprising, given the fact that for the past two months, I’d only been able to see Alexa for a few days at a time—too-short bursts of togetherness between endless weeks of separation.

Originally, we had planned to spend the summer together in New York—she interning at a corporate law firm, and I interning at a microbiology lab. But at the last minute, she had received an offer from her sire, Constantine Bellande, the man who had sent his blood across the Atlantic more than six months ago to help her become a Were so she could feed me indefinitely, saving my soul and assuaging my thirst. I owed her. And in a way, I owed him. So despite the screaming demands of the vampire parasite that ruled my bloodstream, I hadn’t objected when she had wanted to spend the summer in Telassar with Bellande in order to learn more about her inner panther. Because Alexa was special. Already, she had more control over her beast than did many older shifters. Spending time in Telassar was a way for her to enhance her relationship with the panther that emerged every full moon, and I was glad that she had decided to go. But being apart from her had been even harder than I’d anticipated. My thirst, always a compulsion, was now laced with desperation.

I breathed in deeply, struggling to regain some equanimity. The tension manifested in a sharp ache in my jaw and a hard knot between my shoulder blades—a stress reaction that was automatic now after months of fighting against my own need. But at that moment, I didn’t have to fight. I could relax. Alexa wasn’t an ocean away—she was sitting right next to me, and she would gladly let me take her blood and her body as soon as we returned to the lodge. Anxiety had no place here. I focused on the sensation of our palms pressed together, and my heartbeat began to slow.

Our hands were a study in chiaroscuro, my pale skin contrasting with the deep tan she had developed during her time in Africa. And she was leaner than she had been—even in relaxation, the muscles in her upper arms rippled. Life in Telassar was hard work. The city was essentially medieval, unencumbered by modern conveniences like electricity. Alexa had described it as “camping in a castle.” Not for the first time, I wished that I could have a glimpse of its walls—just enough to feel connected to Alexa when we were apart. But vampires were not invited, and its location in Africa was a jealously kept secret. Rumor had it that no one without four legs could even so much as approach the city.

This was my third and final visit to her. Each time, we’d met somewhere different: once in South Africa, where we’d learned to surf; once in Casablanca, where I had dipped into one of my “emergency” bank accounts and splurged on a fancy hotel; and now here, on safari in the Serengeti. I had no idea which of the locations was closest to Telassar. Alexa had made her travel arrangements privately. I didn’t like having secrets between us, but I could understand the shifters’ paranoia about maintaining the secrecy of their most treasured city. From the little I’d heard of it, Telassar sounded like a welcome haven for those who wanted or needed distance from the human world. I hoped Alexa was happy there. Sometimes it was difficult to tell, since she could say so little.

I was surprised that she hadn’t yet noticed my scrutiny, but she seemed entranced by the view out her own window. I didn’t see the allure—her line of sight was almost completely blocked by a large outcropping of granite that our driver, Amiri, had referred to as a koppe. At that moment, she leaned over so her mouth was next to my ear.

“On the other side of that rock,” she said, her warm breath cascading over my sensitive earlobe, “are two giraffes, four elephants, a herd of gazelle, and five…hmm, no, six wildebeest.”

I laughed and rested my hand on her knee, feeling the last of my anxiety melt away. “Compared to you, our guide is useless.” I nodded toward Amiri, who had bragged about his ability to seek out exotic animals.

Alexa smiled. “It’s comforting to know that this could be my backup career if the law doesn’t work out.”

“Bite your tongue. You’re going to be an amazing lawyer.”

“Mmm. How about
you
bite my tongue, when we get ba—”

The car lurched to a halt; we had rounded the leading edge of the koppe. “Just as I promised,” Amiri declared smugly as he pointed toward a small watering hole that had attracted a wide variety of herbivores. “Look at all of those animals!”

I snickered quietly as he began rattling off the different species that we were seeing—which, of course, corresponded precisely with Alexa’s list. We lingered for a while as late afternoon gave way to dusk. I found myself captivated by the improbable grace of the giraffes and the playful antics of a young elephant. Alexa, on the other hand, looked bored after about ten minutes. Given the fact that she’d been spending most of the summer in panther form, it made sense that the wildlife here no longer held her interest the way it once would have. I wondered just how many gazelle she had consumed over the past few months and barely managed to suppress a shudder. The irrational, human part of me didn’t want to think about her sharp teeth tearing at the flanks of such a beautiful creature. But the predator that lurked in my bloodstream understood that kind of hunger all too well.

Amiri started up the Jeep again, taking us back not the way we’d come, over the plain, but around the watering hole and into a forest of acacia trees. I closed my eyes, letting the rich smell of growing things wash over me, and trailed my fingers up and down Alexa’s thigh.

The muscles beneath my hand tensed. I opened my eyes to see Alexa staring into the forest’s canopy, surprise and apprehension warring on her face. Before I could open my mouth to ask the question, a massive cat, its tawny fur mottled with dark spots, dropped from the thick tree branch above us and onto Amiri. He screamed in pain and fear, and the sharp tang of blood sliced through the air, parching my mouth. The car lurched—listing first to the right before sharply curving left toward one of the larger trees. I curled one arm around Alexa’s waist and used the other hand to brace myself against the seat in front of me. The impact reverberated up my arms, and I set my teeth against the cry that wanted to escape from my chest.