Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
Ace Books by Jeanne C. Stein
PRAISE FOR THE ANNA STRONG, VAMPIRE SERIES
CHOSEN
“With each book in the series, not only have Stein’s characters become stronger but so has her writing … hard-hitting urban fantasy with a hard-hitting female lead.”
—Fresh Fiction
“I walked away from the book with a lot of thoughts and questions as well, and cannot wait to see where Anna’s adventures take her next … Chosen is an excellent book and probably the most enthralling book in the series thus far.”
—Bitten by Books
“From the opening chapter of this terrific series, Stein has sent her gutsy heroine on an uncharted journey filled with danger and bitter betrayal … In this pivotal but emotionally brutal book, skillful Stein reveals some critical answers and delivers some devastating blows. Like a fine wine, this series is improving with age. Brava!”
—Romantic Times (4½ stars)
RETRIBUTION
“The fifth book in the exceptional first-person Anna Strong series is a powerful entry in an amazing saga.”
—Romantic Times
“Ms. Stein has a true gift in storytelling and continues to add exciting new elements to this well-built world. Retribution is an engrossing read with an action-packed story line and secondary characters that are every bit as intriguing as the heroine. This is a must-read for fans of the series!”
—Darque Reviews
LEGACY
“Urban fantasy with true depth and flair!”
—Romantic Times (4½ stars)
“As riveting as the rest … one of my favorite urban fantasy series.”
—Darque Reviews
THE WATCHER
“Action fills every page, making this a novel that flies by … Dynamic relationships blend [with] complex mysteries in this thriller.”
—Huntress Book Reviews
“An exciting, fast-paced novel … first-rate plotting.”
—LoveVampires
“Dazzles readers with action-packed paranormal adventure, love and friendship. With many wonderfully executed twists and turns, this author’s suspenseful writing will hold readers spellbound until the very end.”
—Darque Reviews
“Snappy action and plot twists that will hold readers’ interest to the last page.”
—Monsters and Critics
BLOOD DRIVE
“A terrific tale of supernatural sleuthing … provides edge-ofyour-seat thrills and a high-octane emotional punch.”
—Romantic Times
“Once again Jeanne C. Stein delivers a jam-packed story full of mystery and intrigue that will keep you glued to the edge of your seat! Just like [with] the first book in the Anna Strong series, The Becoming, I could not put this book down even for a second. You will find yourself cheering Anna on as she goes after the bad guys. Jeanne C. Stein has given us a wonderful tough-as-nails heroine everyone will love!”
—Night Owl Romance
“Jeanne C. Stein takes on the vampire mythos in her own unique manner that makes for an enthralling vampire thriller. Readers of Laurell K. Hamilton, Tanya Huff and Charlaine Harris will thoroughly enjoy this fast-paced novel filled with several action scenes that come one after the other, making it hard for the readers to catch a breather.”
—Midwest Book Review
“I loved this book … hugely enjoyable … an exciting read and everything any vampire-fantasy fan could hope for.”
—LoveVampires
“ A really great series. Anna’s strengths and weaknesses make for a very compelling character. Stein really puts you in [Anna’s] head as she fumbles her way through a new life and the heartbreaking choices she will have to make. [Stein] also introduces new supernatural characters and gives a glimpse into a secret underground organization. This is a pretty cool urban fantasy series that will appeal to fans of Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson series.”
—Vampire Genre
THE BECOMING
“This is a really, really good book. Anna is a great character, Stein’s plotting is adventurous and original, and I think most of my readers would have a great time with The Becoming.”
—Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of
the Sookie Stackhouse novels
“A cross between MaryJanice Davidson’s Undead series starring Betsy Taylor, and Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series. [Anna’s] a kick-butt bounty hunter—but vampires are a complete surprise to her. Full of interesting twists and turns that will leave readers guessing. The Becoming is a great addition to the TBR pile.”
—Romance Reviews Today
“With plot twists, engaging characters and smart writing, this first installment in a new supernatural series has all the marks of a hit. Anna Strong lives up to her name: equally tenacious and vulnerable, she’s a heroine with the charm, savvy and intelligence that fans of Laurell K. Hamilton and Kim Harrison will be happy to root for … If this debut novel is any indication, Stein has a fine career ahead of her.”
—Publishers Weekly
“In an almost Hitchcockian way, this story keeps you guessing, with new twists and turns coming almost every page. Anna is well named, strong in ways she does not even know. There is a strong element of surprise to it … Even if you don’t like vampire novels, you ought to give this one a shot.”
—Huntress Book Reviews
“A wonderful new vampire book … that will keep you on the edge of your seat.”
—Fallen Angel Reviews
Ace Books by Jeanne C. Stein
THE BECOMING
BLOOD DRIVE
THE WATCHER
LEGACY
RETRIBUTION
CHOSEN
CROSSROADS
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
CROSSROADS
An Ace Book / published by arrangement with the author
PRINTING HISTORY
Ace mass-market edition / September 2011
Copyright © 2011 by Jeanne C. Stein.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
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375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
ISBN : 978-1-101-54361-0
ACE
Ace Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
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ACE and the “A” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
http://us.penguingroup.com
For the support of my family and friends, I thank you.
For Phil—these last two books are as much yours as mine.
CHAPTER 1
It’s worse when you stumble downstairs and see it’s a cop.
A cop you recognize.
My first impulse is to creep back upstairs and pretend I’m not home. But I know this cop. He’s probably already gone around back and checked the garage. Both my Jag and the Ford Crown Vic I use for work are parked inside. He knows I’m home.
Crap.
I pull open the door.
“Detective Harris. What a surprise.”
For a pain-in-the-ass cop, he’s not bad looking. Five-ten—probably one hundred eighty pounds. Dark hair touched at the temples with gray. Square jaw, serious eyes. Beneath that off-the-rack suit, a body I suspect is neither lean nor flabby. Carries himself like he was once an athlete—a boxer, maybe. Now he’s a fortysomething man fighting middle-age spread and from the looks of it, winning the battle.
The suit tells me he’s not here on a social visit.
He gives me the once-over. I’m barefoot, wearing a pair of running shorts and a tank top. As a vampire, I’m not bothered by the effects of ambient temperature so I could be wearing anything. Or the nothing I was wearing two seconds ago when I crawled out of bed.
A bed still occupied, by the way.
Harris purses his lips, glances away as if uncomfortable. “Sorry to disturb you so early. Would you like to run upstairs and put some clothes on? I can wait.”
I pull the door open wider and motion him inside. He’s the one who appeared at the door at seven a.m. on a Sunday morning. Unannounced. I’m not exposing anything more than the joggers he sees every day on the street. I wave away the suggestion. “I’d rather put the coffee on.”
He follows me to the kitchen. He watches silently as I go about filling the coffeemaker, grinding beans, setting the machine to brew. He still hasn’t said why he’s here. We’re not friends. Our paths have crossed a few times. Most recently, with the death a couple of months ago of the ex–police chief, Warren Williams, a vampire, too, though of course Harris doesn’t know that.
Or that Williams was killed by another vampire.
Could it just be a few weeks? Seems like much longer. Williams’ death set into motion a chain of events that changed my life.
Forever.
I’ve got my back to Harris and allow a smile. To a vampire, forever takes on a whole new meaning.
Harris clears his throat. I turn, grab two mugs and join him at the table.
He takes one of the mugs, says, “Thanks.”
That’s it?
I pause, waiting to see if he’s going to tell me the reason for this early morning visit. The bell on the coffeemaker chimes before he does. I take cream from the fridge and sugar from the counter, set out spoons and pour us each a cup of coffee before plunking myself down on a chair across from him.
I take a sip, let the magic of caffeine awaken half-sleeping brain cells. Harris seems to be doing the same. He’s avoiding my eyes now. Concentrating on the mug in his hand with far more attention than he needs to.
This is getting old.
“Did you have a reason for stopping by unannounced at seven a.m., Harris? Or was my place closer than Dunkin’ Donuts?”
When he looks up, there is a strange expression on his face. And I’ve been on the receiving end of plenty of his expressions. Negative expressions, mostly. Anger, frustration, exasperation being the most common. This one is different. Hesitant. He’s got something on his mind and he doesn’t know how to bring it up.
That’s certainly out of character.
I wish I could worm my way into his head the way I can with vampires. But Harris is human and there is no psychic connection between vampires and humans. A design flaw for sure.
Finally, whatever battle he’s been fighting is resolved. He sits up in his chair and pushes the cup aside.
“I don’t know why I’m coming to you with this,” he says. “You always seem to be mixed up in cases you have no business being mixed up in. The child molester a while back, the murder investigation involving that model, the missing DEA agent. But you had the respect of Warren Williams, and he was a good man. You were one of the last people to see him alive.”
My turn to fix my mug with a riveting gaze. Where is he going with this?
“I know his wife believes you had something to do with his death,” Harris continues. “I don’t. But we just got the last of the forensic reports from his car. We found something—”
He pauses, as if searching for the right word. After a moment, he shrugs. “Odd. We found something odd.”
I wait, wondering. Williams was set on fire by another old-soul vampire. There would have been nothing left but ash.
Wouldn’t there?
I compose the question carefully. “What could you have found? I thought the body was completely burned.”
“So did we. At first.” He pulls a sheet of paper from an inside jacket pocket and smoothes it open on the table. “But turns out, our CSI’s found something. DNA. And what they learned about that DNA has us baffled.”
To keep the shock from registering on my face, I hoist my coffee mug and take a long pull. I don’t know much about DNA, but I do know about vampires. When a vampire is immolated, there’s nothing left to run tests on. Williams was identified by his badge and wedding ring.
Finally, I lower the mug. “I don’t understand.” An understatement.
Harris raises his eyebrows. “Neither do I. When a body is burned at high temperature, like cremation, there’s usually no testable nuclear DNA left. But in this case, three things were able to be determined by something called mitochondrial DNA found in a bone fragment fused on his ring. It was human. It was Williams’. It was over two hundred years old.”
My hand tightens around the mug, a gesture not lost on Harris. He leans toward me.
“The FBI lab is asking questions. Questions I can’t answer.”
“And you think I can?”
Evidently Harris can’t or won’t answer that question, either.
My turn now to stall, my brain racing into overdrive, as I rearrange silverware, straighten the sugar bowl and creamer. I have no idea what I’m supposed to say to Harris. That Williams was indeed two hundred years old—a two-hundred-year-old vampire, to be exact—and he was killed by another vampire who was even older? That sitting across the table from him drinking coffee is yet another vampire? Not so old, but even stronger than either of them. One who had fought Williams many times and won. One who was kidnapped by Williams’ killer, and in turn, killed the bastard when he tried to rape me.
I feel Harris watching, waiting. I throw out the only lame explanation I can think of. “Maybe there was someone else in the car.”
Stupid.
Harris doesn’t mock me, though. He simply says, “Someone two hundred years old?” A shake of the head. “The DNA belongs to Williams. There’s no doubt about that. The comparison sample was taken from a hairbrush found in his locker at SDPD. The big question isn’t who the DNA belongs to, but how it could be two hundred years old.”