BROKEN DAWN
Copyright © 2020 by Dianne Duvall
Published by Dianne Duvall, 2020
www.DianneDuvall.com
Editor: Anne Victory
E-book ISBN: 9781734555622
Print ISBN: 9781734555639
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
No part of this copyrighted work may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
BROKEN DAWN
Immortal Guardians Book 10
Delve into an exciting new stand-alone novel in New York Times bestselling author Dianne Duvall’s “fast-paced and humorous” (Publishers Weekly), “utterly addictive” (RT Book Reviews) Immortal Guardians series.
Nick Belanger can’t stop thinking about the single mother who lives next door. She’s smart. She’s funny. She’s so beautiful he can’t stare at her too long for fear his eyes will start to glow. But Kayla thinks he’s just an ordinary guy who works in security. Finding out he instead is a powerful immortal warrior who hunts and slays psychotic vampires for a living may not go over well, particularly since she has a daughter she doesn’t want to endanger.
Kayla Dorman can keep neither her gaze nor her thoughts from straying to the man next door. Who can blame her really? He is the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome with smart, charming, and honorable thrown in. He’s also a few years younger than her and surely would not be interested in a single mom who hasn’t dated since her divorce. At least that’s what she thinks until an accident nearly takes her life and Nick risks all to save her.
The dynamics of their relationship swiftly change. The friendship they’ve developed over the years deepens into love as the two spend every minute they can together, laughing and teasing, never suspecting a threat may lurk in the shadows. But that threat soon strikes, making it clear that Nick is the target and his enemy doesn’t care if Kayla gets caught in the cross fire. Though Kayla bravely rises to the occasion and is determined to do whatever it takes to help Nick defeat his enemy, Nick is terrified of losing her. Can he identify and eliminate his new nemesis before the man takes everything from him?
Other Titles by Dianne Duvall
Immortal Guardians
DARKNESS DAWNS
“A strong start in what looks to be a thrilling and chilling new paranormal series. Fantastic!”
—RT Book Reviews
NIGHT REIGNS
“Crackles with energy, originality, and a memorable take-no-prisoners heroine.”
— Publishers Weekly
PHANTOM SHADOWS
“Done so well that I truly want to live in her world regardless of the threat of vampires!"
— Smexy Books
IN STILL DARKNESS
“Readers will appreciate the rich characterizations and the kick-butt action … as Richart d'Alençon, a 200-year-old Guardian, woos charming Jenna McBride with warmth and passion.”
— Publishers Weekly
DARKNESS RISES
“Featuring a fascinating take on vampires, Darkness Rises is a thrilling, action-packed, suspenseful, funny, steamy paranormal romance readers won't be able to put down.”
— Affaire de Coeur Magazine
NIGHT UNBOUND
“Hello epic kick-ass forbidden love story! Night Unbound is simply A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!”
— Saints and Sinners Books
PHANTOM EMBRACE
“Duvall's hauntingly beautiful novella, set in the world of the Immortal Guardians, portrays the deep love between two people who can never touch, with a wonderfully unexpected ending.”
—Publishers Weekly
SHADOWS STRIKE
“Full of awesome characters, snappy dialogue, exciting action, steamy sex, sneaky shudder-worthy villains and delightful humor.”
— A Voracious Reader
BLADE OF DARKNESS
“Between the banter, the steamy scenes, and all the twists and turns, I was engrossed from start to finish.”
— Little Shop of Readers
AWAKEN THE DARKNESS
“This series is earth-shattering awesome and Dianne has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Each of the stories … has been heart-stopping, intense, humorous and powerfully romantic.”
— Reading Between the Wines Book Club
DEATH OF DARKNESS
“Teeming with passion, humor, action and suspense … a perfectly paced paranormal urban fantasy paired with a timeless romance.”
— Reading Between the Wines Book Club
The Gifted Ones
A SORCERESS OF HIS OWN
“Full of danger, intrigue and passion… an addicting and exciting new series. I'm hooked!”
—Reading in Pajamas
RENDEZVOUS WITH YESTERDAY
"I loved this book! It had pretty much all of my favorite things—medieval times, a kick-ass heroine, a protective hero, magic, and a dash of mayhem."
—The Romance Reviews
Aldebarian Alliance
THE LASARAN
— Releasing in 2020 —
THE SEGONIAN
— Releasing in 2020 —
An Immortal Guardians Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR
Dianne Duvall
www.DianneDuvall.com
Dianne Duvall Books Group
© 2020 Dianne Duvall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Table of Contents
Other Titles by Dianne Duvall
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Preview - The Segonian
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Chapter One
Nick Belanger strode down the deserted sidewalk, the buildings that composed the University of Houston rising up around him. The night sky above bore thick clouds that hid a crescent moon, deepening the darkness that lurked wherever campus lights didn’t reach.
No students walked the path tonight, having been chased to their dorm rooms or their homes off campus by the heavy rains that had fallen earlier. A few puddles here and there reflected the lights along the sidewalk, their surfaces rippling as drops that collected on the trees above slid off leaves and plunged to the ground.
“It’s weird.”
Nick glanced at the woman beside him. Like him, she wore black cargo pants, a black shirt, and a long black coat that concealed the many blades she carried. About a foot shorter than Nick, she barely reached five foot one with boots on. That, combined with her slender form, lent her a delicate and vulnerable appearance that was mightily deceiving. Eliana was one of the fiercest warriors he’d had the pleasure of hunting with over the centuries.
“What is?” he murmured.
“It’s been so quiet of late.” She glanced around, her long black braid sliding across her back. “We just defeated Gershom. I would think we’d be facing the fallout for quite
some time.” That fallout being the dramatically increased vampire population left behind after Gershom’s machinations.
As usual, just the thought of the bastard made anger slither through Nick and curled his hands into fists. The Immortal Guardians had never in his lifetime—hell, never in anyone’s lifetime—faced such a powerful adversary. Both the immortals and the human network that aided them had suffered serious casualties in their quest to identify and defeat their nemesis.
Eliana likely wouldn’t be by his side right now if they hadn’t. She’d been stationed in New York for decades with a number of other immortals, hunting and slaying the psychotic vampires who thrived in the busy city. Then Gershom had started wreaking fucking havoc in North Carolina, setting a plan into motion that had come damned close to launching Armageddon. Twice. Seth, the immensely powerful leader of the Immortal Guardians, had transferred two of Eliana’s closest immortal friends to North Carolina temporarily. Then shit had gone really wrong and… the two had never returned to New York.
Eliana had needed a change after that, so Seth transferred her to Houston. Under Gershom’s leadership, vampires had stopped killing their victims and instead started transforming them. Vampire populations around the globe had swollen to insane numbers. And instead of encountering two or three vampires in a night, Nick and his fellow immortals found themselves battling a dozen or more in one sitting.
He glanced around. Only a couple of weeks or so had passed since they’d defeated Gershom. Like Eliana, he’d thought it would take longer for the vampire population to dwindle. “Maybe the rain chased them away.”
She snorted. “Wusses. When did vampires get to be so damn sensitive?”
He laughed. “I don’t know. But I don’t mind if it gives us a quiet night or two.”
“I suppose.”
“Where’s Rafe tonight?” The immortal male usually hunted in Houston and sometimes partnered with Eliana.
“Puttering around Austin, I think.” The last big battle with Gershom had taken place at a military base not far from the state’s capital.
Nick frowned. “I thought the network tied up all the loose ends there.”
“They did. I think he’s just bored.”
Quiet fell. Or as much quiet as there could be in a city the size of Houston.
“So…” Eliana slid him a look from the corner of her eye.
He arched a brow. “So?”
“How’s the missus?”
He shook his head. The world of the Immortal Guardians could be a dark one, so many of them liked to razz each other to lighten things up a bit.
As Eliana was doing now.
The missus to whom she referred was Nick’s next-door neighbor, Kayla Dorman. Eliana knew he was besotted with the lovely single mother and liked to tease him about it.
But Kayla had gone through a messy divorce a few years earlier and—based on the conversations Nick’s preternatural hearing had allowed him to overhear—had no interest in ever marrying again. No interest in dating either. Throw a teenaged daughter who’d once had a crush on Nick into the mix and… yeah. There was no way he could pursue anything romantic with Kayla.
“She misses Becca.”
Eliana nodded. “Becca started at Duke University this semester, right?”
“Yes.”
“Didn’t you say Kayla homeschooled her?”
“Yes. Kindergarten through twelfth grade.”
“Kudos to her. That must have been hard as hell after the divorce.”
He nodded.
Her brow puckered. “After spending so much extra time together, I would think it would be difficult for them to be apart now.”
He thought of the phone calls and Facetime chats he’d overheard. “It is. Kayla thought it would only be hard for her, but… Becca misses her, too.” Anger rose. “She called Kayla every night at first, but the other students started fucking with her about it, calling her a baby for missing her mommy and shit like that.”
Eliana frowned. “What are they—seven years old?”
“Mentally? Yes, apparently.”
Eliana made a sound of disgust. “Everyone is so eager to be ugly to each other today, so quick to pounce on every little opportunity to say something snide or just plain fucked up. I’m sick of it.”
“Me, too.” They turned down another path. A breeze ruffled Nick’s hair as his lips twitched. “Becca managed to shut some of the kids up though by feigning sympathy and telling them how sorry she was that their moms sucked ass so much that they didn’t want to speak to them.”
Eliana burst out laughing. “Way to go, Becca!”
He smiled. “Yeah. She’s strong like her mother. But the shit still gets to her. I can hear it in her voice.”
Eliana snorted. “It’s getting to me, and I’m not even the one having to deal with it.”
“Becca’s dorm mate is the worst. She seems to grab every chance she gets to make Becca feel bad. I admit I almost called Rafe and asked him to teleport me to Duke so I could give the little snot a firm talking-to.”
Eliana’s face lit up. “Ooh! Let me do it! Let me do it!” Clasping her hands together under her chin, she jumped up and down. “Please, please, please? Becca is such a sweet kid. She doesn’t deserve that crap. Let me put that mean girl in her place.”
“You can’t. Becca would recognize you and wonder why the hell you’re there.”
“Oh. True.”
When Nick had begun to suspect Becca was developing a crush on him, he’d asked Eliana to come by his place several times. Though he had never actually referred to Eliana as his girlfriend, Becca had drawn the expected conclusion and the problem had been solved.
“Ooh!” Eliana exclaimed. “I know. Get Lisette to do it. She’s a telepath, so she could read the little snot’s mind and threaten to expose all her most embarrassing secrets if she doesn’t start playing nice.”
He stared at her. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I’ll think about it and…” A foul stench reached him.
Eliana grimaced. “Ugh. Why is personal hygiene the first thing vampires abandon when insanity starts to kick in?”
Humans who were infected with the vampiric virus suffered progressive brain damage that rapidly eroded their impulse control and drove them insane. Fortunately, Nick and Eliana had escaped such a fate. Both had been born gifted ones with advanced DNA that granted them special gifts and protected them from the more corrosive aspects of the virus. Since they hadn’t descended into insanity when they were infected, they spent their nights hunting and slaying psychotic vampires to protect humans. And unlike the vampires, they actually enjoyed taking showers.
The stench that floated on the breeze mingled with a subtler aroma: perfume.
He shared a look with Eliana. She nodded her head in the direction of the building to their right. A security camera perched on one corner.
He whispered a curse.
Winking up at him, she stepped closer and slipped her small hand into his as they picked up their pace.
It was a ploy they had used often when hunting together on college campuses. He smiled.
The first time she had taken his hand, she had burst out laughing at the surprised look on his face. “Relax,” she’d said. “It’s just for show. If they think we’re a couple, they won’t freak out over the way we’re dressed.”
An unfortunate number of the mass shooters in the United States had garbed themselves all in black. So instead of thinking him a Goth or some guy trying to look cool or tough, people now often viewed Nick with suspicion… particularly on college campuses. But vampires tended to be creatures of habit and often preyed upon students who were too drunk or distracted to pay attention to the dangers that lurked in the shadows.
Hunting on U of H’s campus could be tricky. There were somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,400 security cameras scattered about. The last thing immortals or vampires needed was to be caught on camera. An overwhelming majority of humanity remained oblivious to the existe
nce of both preternatural beings, thanks to the network of humans and gifted ones Seth had built over the years. Vampires might be crazy—or well on their way there—but most remained lucid enough to understand that any humans who found out about them would hunt the vampires as vigorously as the Immortal Guardians did. And it was far easier to evade one enemy than it was to evade two.
Immortals and gifted ones also understood the dangers discovery would unleash because most had already been subjected to the consequences at one time or another. Whenever humans got a whiff of gifted ones, the advanced DNA they possessed, and the gifts that DNA bestowed upon them, the humans hunted the gifted ones mercilessly, either wishing to kill them for the supposed threat they posed or to use them for their own personal gain.
In recent years, the few outside the loop who had learned about immortals and vampires had tried to capture them and use them to create a race of supersoldiers they could hire out to the highest bidder. Such had resulted in some pretty catastrophic battles with mercenary outfits. Nick still didn’t know how the hell the network had managed to cover it all up.
The stench on the breeze thickened.
“Damn, they stink,” Eliana muttered.
They really did. Humans might not detect it, but Nick’s enhanced sense of smell was picking up body odor, old blood from multiple victims, and more.
As soon as they reached a portion of campus that lacked cameras, he released Eliana’s hand and the two shot forward at preternatural speeds the human eye couldn’t follow. They could run right past a human and the human would only feel a breeze. At most, he or she might see an indistinct blur. But most humans walked with their heads down, staring at their phones, so they remained oblivious.
He and Eliana stopped in the shadow of a building across campus, then peered around the corner.
Three female students walked along a path, heads bowed over their phones. Bright screens cast blue light upon their faces, flickering as the young women scrolled through whatever held their interest. All three wore skinny jeans. One wore a tank top, her bare arms beaded with chill bumps in the cooler autumn air. The other two wore long-sleeved sweaters that left their stomachs exposed. One of the latter wore sneakers. The others wore boots with chunky high heels.
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