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Автор Jennifer Armintrout
Praise for the novels of Jennifer Armintrout
“Every character is drawn in vivid detail, driving the action from point to point in a way that never lets up. ”
—The Eternal Night on The Turning
“[Armintrout’s] use of description varies between chilling, beautiful, and disturbing…[a] unique take on vampires. ”
—The Romance Readers Connection
“Armintrout continues her Blood Ties series with style and verve, taking the reader to a completely convincing but alien world where anything can—and does—happen. ”
—RT Book Reviews on Possession
“The relationships between the characters are complicated and layered in ways that many authors don’t bother with. ”
—Vampire Genre on Possession
“[This book] will stun readers…. Not to be missed. ”
—The Romance Readers Connection on Ashes to Ashes
“Entertaining and often steamy romances run parallel to the supernatural action without dominating the pages. ”
—Darque Reviews on All Soul’s Night
“Armintrout pulls out all the stops…a bloody good read. ”
—RT Book Reviews on All Souls’ Night
Books by Jennifer Armintrout
Blood Ties
BOOK ONE: THE TURNING
BOOK TWO: POSSESSION
BOOK THREE: ASHES TO ASHES
BOOK FOUR: ALL SOULS’ NIGHT
The Lightworld/Darkworld novels
QUEENE OF LIGHT
CHILD OF DARKNESS
VEIL OF SHADOWS
JENNIFER ARMINTROUT
VEIL OF SHADOWS
A LIGHTWORLD/DARKWORLD NOVEL
This book is dedicated to
all the family members who were angry
that I dedicated the last book to someone
who won the dedication in a Twitter contest.
Contents
Prologue
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
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Acknowledgments
Prologue
When the first of them appeared, there were skeptics. Some simply did not believe that these “creatures” calling themselves Faeries or Angels or Vampires or whatever were not part of some elaborate hoax. Perhaps a conspiracy, their own country’s governments, or a shadowy world government, working to manipulate them. Into doing what, they did not know, but still they doubted what had come to pass.
There were others, though, who did not believe the event to be false. And though they were right, they were ridiculed.
Their near-instant belief that their salvation had come—or, as some believe, their damnation, and they were, perhaps, closer to the truth—obscured how very serious and dangerous the situation was.The initial shock of their appearance, whether it inspired pleasure or suspicion, did not last. For not all the creatures were kind, and some…some had to feed.
So, it was with fear and trepidation that the Humans began to move underground. Into shelters constructed for an imagined future war, into spaces that were undesirable before the creatures came.
And since they fled of their own accord, the visitors assumed the surface of the Earth with gratitude.
Years went by. Ten, twenty, a hundred. And in the vast cities that had formed beneath the surface, a rumbling of what had happened generations before twisted, became something sinister. The creatures had come, forced the Humans belowground, ruled them with hatred and cruelty. And though no immortal creature could remember this being so, it could not stop the rage of the Humans. It could not prevent the war.
