Long before man knew of their existence, a bond formed which allowed Vampires to protect the Bitten and destroy the Beast so the Were and Humans survived.
His bitten beloved turned Beast and murdered by a cold Hunter, Talen continues as a Gatherer. When a Bitten stirs his heart, moves his soul and ignites his blood, he fears a repeat of the past, but fate tightens his grip.
Liana longed for someone who would love all of her, plumpness included. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine something like the handsome boss her company stuck her with.
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A Cry in the Night
Copyright © 2007 by Paula Calloway
ISBN: 978-1-55410-810-7
Cover art and design by Martine Jardin
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Smashwords Edition
A Cry in the Night
Tarot: The Tower
By
Paula Calloway
Dedication
To my husband and daughter, with love.
Tarot Card: The Tower
Wisdom flows like a tranquil river if accepted, but if blocked, the serenity can erupt like an enraged tsunami to destroy all it touches. Energy is detrimental and resourceful as old must be replaced by new and obsolete viewpoints and values must adjust with the ebb and flow of time’s tides.
Giving up ones ideals is difficult, but the endeavor to maintain may lead to disastrous change, which will agonizingly take what you hold. The power of the spirit and the psyche are stronger than any corporeal item and stays with you at all times. One must release the physical so one can discover command and refuge internally rather than externally.
To believe the physical more valuable than psychological builds falsehoods on unstable foundations. If it stands, you will soon see the other side and destroy it yourself. If it falls, chances are something within couldn’t endure the strain upon it. Either or, it gives way with a humbling experience that teaches no one is indomitable. A strong focus on the negative disregards opportunity. When the negative fades, the positive shines.
If wisdom must be forced or ignorance taken, prepare for a rude awakening. That which seems secure may not be since fighting needed change is impossible. If you build walls to conceal your secrets or true self, the stones will crumble. Fantasies shatter like fog in sunlight and daydreams cannot help you. Faith placed in illusions of security falter when reality makes its presence known.
Prologue
In the centuries of time before the here and now, many Humans disappeared or their mutilated bodies turned up days later. Blamed for the horrible deaths, Vampires became the hunted. Over several centuries, the truths of the crimes were discovered as Vampires, no longer targets, witnessed the slaughter of the innocent Were and Wolves caught in the sweep for the Beasts. The horrendous tragedies formed a bond when Vampires became Gatherers or Hunters to Weres who sought protection.
The Lunacy consists of the week of the full moon each month, which starts three days before and ends three days after the rise of the full moon.
The Beast is neither Wolf nor Were, but is fierce in its hunt and hungry for the taste of flesh. This coldblooded killer is an untamable feral disaster that lurks in the shadows for its next unsuspecting prey.
A Bitten is a Human with blood tainted by the bite of a Beast that is driven to either madness or a new life with the pull of the moon.