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Informationen zum Autor Barb and J. C. Hendee live in a quirky little town near Portland, Oregon, with two geriatric and quite demanding cats. Barb's short fiction has appeared in numerous genre magazines and anthologies. She is the author of the Vampire Memories series. J.C.'s poetry, nonfiction, and short fiction have also appeared in many genre magazines. Visit their website at www.nobledead.org. Klappentext Magiere the dhampir thought that her nights of hunting vampires were over. Settling down in her newly adopted village of Miiska-now vampire-free thanks to her and her half-elf partner, Leesil-she looked forward to quiet days tending to her tavern. But far away in the capital city of Bela, a prominent councilman's daughter has been found dead on her own doorstep-and all signs point to a vampire. Bela's town council offers a generous bounty to the dhampir if she will slay their vampire, knowing that the battered and burned village of Miiska could use the infusion of cash. Magiere resists, wanting nothing more than to forget her past-and ignore her half-vampire nature. Only Leesil, her partner and confidant, can persuade Magiere to follow her destiny-before more innocents are claimed by darkness… Praise for Dhampir "Take Anita Blake, vampire hunter, and drop her into a standard fantasy world and you might end up with something like this exciting first novel." -Chronicle "A mix of The Lord of the Rings and Buffy the Vampire Slayer…an engaging adventure."-New York Times bestselling author Kevin J. AndersonMagiere went to sit on the hearth’s edge. Her knees up in front of her, she reached out to where Chap lay nearby and stroked between the hound’s tall ears. Chap rolled his head to lick her hand. His silver-blue fur was soft, and his clear eyes seemed to express sympathy, as if he understood her suffering. A foolish thought, and Magiere shook it off. “Are you all right?” Leesil asked, walking toward her. He pulled the tied scarf from his head, shook his long white-blond hair loose, and scratched at his scalp for a moment. Stupid question. She didn’t answer. “It had to happen eventually,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for it, though you hadn’t really thought it through until today. And it won’t be the last time. Word is spreading. Maybe some of them are going to want help...and some of them...” He paused, seeming hesitant to finish. “Well, some might offer a great deal of money.” “We don’t need their money!” she responded. It was a lie. She knew it and so did he. “Yes, right, of course we don’t,” he said, mockingly agreeable. “But for the moment, I’m not talking about us, and you know it.” Leesil crouched on the floor in front of her, bringing them face-to-face. Amber eyes just slightly almond shaped, and not as slanted and large as Loni’s, stared back at her from under thin white-blond eyebrows. Magiere wanted to look away but wouldn’t. It was so hard to look him in the eyes without memories surging into her thoughts?frightening and bloody memories. She wanted to see no more pain on his face and no more scars on his body. Her gaze drifted down to his wrist and then back up. Even with his thin-lipped mouth always on the verge of a wry smile, he seemed almost sad?or perhaps bitter. “Loni may be rude,” Leesil continued. “But some of what he said is true. I burned that warehouse down and...I’d do it again without a second thought?given the same need.” Magiere remembered nothing of their flight from the warehouse, when Leesil had set the building on fire to cover their escape. But from what she’d later learned, he’d been rather thorough and zealous in executing that chosen task. They’d tried to take the family of undeads in their underground tunnels beneath the building. The heated memory of fighting Rashed flashed unwanted into her head. She’d been in bloodlust, her dhampir nature consuming her with hate and hunger as she fought with the warrior v...
