1967.
It was the Summer of Love. But in the midst of peace and flower power, a group of hippies unleash an unspeakable horror that will threaten the future of the planet . . .
The King Series.
The Serendipity Series.
Recipe for Death Series.
Every battle. Every win. Every loss. All the intrigue, pain and mystery . . . it all leads here.
In the ultimate fight against an ancient and powerful evil, Carruthers agents join with old friends as well as new allies to save the world.
Tasmyn and Michael, Nell and Rafe, Jackie and Lucas—and of course, Cathryn Whitmore—all of them will risk their lives and futures to stop the dreaded Hive.
Some will live. Some will die. None of them will ever be the same.
Redeem yesterday. Survive today. Save tomorrow.
Tomorrow Dawns on April 7th. Preorder here.
~~~***~~~
As much as I hated to admit it, Seamus had been right. The nap, which had stretched to two solid hours thanks to what Seamus claimed was his inability to figure out how to set the alarm correctly, invigorated me and gave me a clearer mind.
“My time’s all off, though,” I complained to him as we dressed. “Right now, it’s seven o’clock here, but since we were up all night driving, and then slept today, it feels as though it should be morning. Of course, my body thinks it’s ten o’clock, since that’s the time on the East Coast.”
“Think of Daeglan and Cill and me, grappling with the extra change in time as well. In Ireland, it’s smack in the middle of the night just now.” He had pulled a heather gray Henley over his head and was rolling up the sleeves. “I don’t know if I’m coming or going at this point.”
“True,” I sighed. “Well, we’ll get this talk over with tonight, and then we can go to bed for a real night’s sleep. Won’t that be wonderful?”
“It will, and you’ll be all the more relaxed for having this part over with.” He winked at me. “Now shall we go down then? You don’t want to keep your audience waiting.”
I made a rude face at him and might have said more, if we hadn’t heard a knock at the door. I could feel Veronica’s now-familiar signature, and I called for her to come in.
“Did you sleep?” she asked immediately, peering into my face as though the answer to her question lay there. I tried to remember that she’d spent centuries essentially alone, having sacrificed her right to be with her own beloved family when she had given her life for them by becoming a vampire. She looked at me as a surrogate granddaughter of sorts, and although I was still cautious with her, I allowed her to fuss over me . . . within reason.
“I did. We got a couple of hours of rest.” I paused before adding, “This room is beautiful, Veronica. Thank you for making it perfect for us.”
She beamed. “I hoped it would be, and I’m glad you like it.” She looked as though she might have said more before giving her head a little shake. “I’m sorry to interrupt you now, but I’ve just gotten word via my secure network that your necroloquitar has arrived in the city. I’d like to send a group in to retrieve her.”
I sighed and rolled my shoulders. “We were just about to have our meeting and lay out the plan. But it’s probably a better idea to wait until Julia’s here, too, anyway. All right, let’s send Rafe and Lucas out to bring her in. Oh, and maybe Nell would go, too, just to provide some protection if they need it.”
“Good thinking.” Veronica nodded. “I have a brand-new car that’s registered to one of my dummy corporations in the garage, so they can take that. I don’t think anyone wants to try to maneuver that goliath RV around the sharp turns and hills of San Francisco. Julia’s waiting at a bar in Haight-Ashbury.”
“All right. Will you give them the information they need and ask them to head out? If they don’t hit too much traffic, we could still gather tonight, so I can at least introduce the basics of the plan.”
“Of course.” Veronica patted my cheek. “I’ll take care of it, darling.”
Seamus closed the door behind her retreating back. “A little reprieve, then. Is this the last of our noble band?”
“It should be. Marica and Nicoleta are here, and the rest of us traveled together. Oh, there’s Joss . . . we need to reconstitute her, or whatever it is they’d like to call it. I think Lucas says we’ll bring forth her essence from its containment.” I snorted. “I shouldn’t have sent Nell with the boys, I guess. We need to her power to make Joss viable here.”
“What about the other witch? The one who brought her husband and her mother-in-law?” Seamus cocked his head.
“Tasmyn?” I hesitated. “I’m not sure. She has the power to do it, but she’s so timid about using it. When I spoke to her in King about joining us, she told me that she’d been keeping up with her training, working with Aline—she’s part of one of the gifted families in King, and she uses her empathy in her job as a therapist. And yes, I checked with Aline, and she assured me that Tasmyn would be an asset. But . . . I don’t know. Maybe it’s being around Nell and Rafe again that’s making her more afraid of accessing the power. But she’s got to figure out a way around it, or she won’t be able help to us at all.”
“It could be that asking her to help with this Joss business is exactly what she might need to help her boost that confidence. It’s not a dangerous spell, is it? I’d have her give it a go.”
“You might have something there.” I was beginning to discover an additional benefit to having a partner—I wasn’t quite ready to call Seamus my boyfriend yet, though he was undoubtedly that. Having another brain at my disposal gave me another point of view and helped me to think beyond my own limited scope.
“Look at that. I seem to have found a little value for myself.” He was grinning mischievously, but I wondered if there weren’t some underlying truth beneath the tease.
“Seamus, you are invaluable to me.” I wrapped one arm around his waist and cupped his cheek with my other hand. “Never think otherwise. And it’s not only for your grand ideas. You make me a better person, and you bring me . . .” I searched for the right word. “Peace. And some measure of joy, too, even under the worst circumstances.”
