The fourth novel to Dawné Dominique's The First series.
Can she leave behind her past in order to do what's necessary for the future?
When Paladin Sandalio, prince of the vilkacis race, shows up at her door with the same cryptic warnings as her father, Daniella Rolfe has no choice but to believe...the Nuasiar Nine walk the world again. With vamps and wolves dying side-by-side, and innocents caught in the crossfire, she knows it won't be long before the veils are set asunder. Trusting those she's detested for centuries is no easy task, but learning that entities like them were not created by accident will be the greatest challenge of all.
New vows will be taken—and she will show them real fear.
Excerpt
He was about to face the door and demand that Marie let him back in when that eerie sensation he’d experienced earlier crept over him.
He took a couple of steps down and stopped, concentrating on where the feeling stroked his senses the strongest—the deserted lot across the street. The wind picked up. Leaves rustled. Silence roared in his ears. Not even a cicada sounded its song.
As he began footnoting everything he’d learned from Daniella, a shadow caught the corner of his eye. Defense mechanisms tensed his body to stone.
Damn, he liked being a vampire.
He bolted back up the steps. When his fingers touched the doorknob, his entire arm numbed. Cold fire shot through his nerves, then he was weightless, floating, no sound, no sight…until his ass made contact with the walkway some ten feet away. Reality jarred cruelly back into focus. He leaped to his feet and patted down his shirt, his flesh tingling like a thousand fire ants feasted on him.
Grandmere had warded her house? Because of him?
He localized on the gloomy entrance until he saw the telltale threads of black magic snaking around the façade and walls. Even through the dense ivy that had claimed the outside as its own, variegated webs of spells sizzled and crisscrossed in distinctive patterns before fading from sight.
The pendant against his shirt generated a sudden spark of heat that radiated inside him, the first sense of warmth he’d felt since his veiling. Then the lump cooled.
Okay, now that was weird.
Thinking of the Wesson he’d left in England brought thoughts of Daniella and Aiden. All he had here were wits and vampiric powers, neither of which he’d quite mastered.
With the wards around the house, it also meant nothing could get in. Grandmere and Marie were safe.
Logically he should get his sorry ass out of there, but whoever was sparking these instincts of his was dangerous, not only to Grandmere, but to the public at large.
This Good Samaritan conscience was bullshit. He’d been hanging around Aidan too long.
As he walked toward the tree line behind the house, blades of grass scratched against his pant legs. No birds chirped, no insects hummed, not even a car horn sounded. It was as if the outside world ceased to exist. He lifted his nose: rich, moist earth, green vegetation, hints of animal excrement, and…wet fur?
The swaying willows played with the shadows and his imagination. Although he’d been taught some of the intricacies of flight, his powers were still in infancy stage. Travel had been limited to a few miles at a time and always under Daniella’s careful tutelage.
Well, this was as good a time as any to try a solo run.
He bent at the knees and propelled up and forward. Equilibrium took a few seconds to master. He levitated in the air, searching the thicket below. Movement on his left caught his attention. Cautiously, he willed himself down to an overgrown path fifty yards away, his landing silent. Shrouding himself within the forest’s shadows, he emptied his mind and focused, seeing the night with different eyes—vampiric eyes.
Professional Reviews
Kellie Kamyrn
From the first page, I was once again drawn into the world of The First. Ms. Dominique's writing is exquisite, and I couldn't put the book down until I'd reached the end.
A lot happens in Daniella's world this time around. New bonds are indeed forged, new characters are introduced and the Nuasair Nine walk the earth leaving destruction in their wake to both vampire and vilkacis alike. Our heroes and heroine are forced to break down old ways of thinking and living. Aiden and Spencer embrace their newfound powers. Aiden's love for Daniella is tested but as the ultimate hero, he accepts the changes he senses in her and strengthens his love for her despite his misgivings.
New information is presented to the three and battles are fought. From beginning to end, this book is a feast for the paranormal romance lover. I can't wait to devour book five.
Linda Tonis, The Paranormal Guild
Daniella, Aiden and Spencer went through hell in Kindred Blood only they are about to face much worse. Aiden still suffers from the torture he suffered at the hands of Kon and Teanna. He can't forgive himself for betraying Daniella with Teanna even though it was not his choice. Daniella is trying to cope with the changes she is going through ever since she drank from her father. She now no longer has to succumb to the vamparic sleep and stays up all the time. She keeps seeing her father's memories which are frightening in their violence. But, are they all her father's memories?
Just when the three of them are trying to sort out the events that happened they are visited by the Prince of the Vilkacis, Paladin Sandalio. This visit will bring about changes none of them could forsee. Now known as lycanthrope and not Vilkacis they are still the enemy of the vampires. He wants to have a parley between lychanthrope and vampires to fight the Nuasair Nine who have been resurrected. Both vampires and wolven are being killed by the Nine and the only hope is for the two enemies to join together. Paladin hopes that Daniella as a First can lead vampires and wolven to a new future.
Paladin comes to Daniella as a friend of her father's and because of that Daniella trusts him. She needs to call in a favor from an elder vampire named Alleandros. He is the one that can get word out to the others about the parley asking for them to attend. This meeting between him and Daniella will not end well.
Spencer has come to terms with his vampirism and now is once again a lawyer with his own office and large staff. He has taken over Connor Talbot's job of ensuring that they all pass through the centuries unnoticed.
Before long Daniella discovers that the leader of the Nine is a lycanthrope and his name is Sevlow. Sevlow's lover deNora Haber is searching for Daniella's father's resting place and when it is found he will be destroyed. Daniella has come to realize that she must accept her kin and not turn her back any more. She begins to find out more and more about herself and her father. She learns the truth of her birth and why her father never veiled her mother.
The one thing Daniella, Aiden and Spencer are sure of is the the Nine will come for them. They will go for Aiden and Spencer first in an attempt to destroy Daniella from the inside out. Losing those she loves would cause her to make mistakes. What chance do Daniella, Aiden, Spencer and Paladin have? Will they find the support they need from the vampires and lycanthrope? Can centuries of hate be put aside for the good of all?
This book is full of violence and surprise after surprise. Who is Sev really? What changes are taking place inside of Daniella? Characters that first appeared in Eden's Hell are now making an appearance again and all leading to the final book in the series. There is opposition for the parley from those we would never suspect would be against it. What will be the outcome of the final battle for the survival of vampires, lycanthrope and humans? Who is actually behind all that is happening? With this series things are not always what they seem.
Please hurry with the next book I can't wait for the outcome.
Ivy, Manic Readers
Daniella, Aiden and Spencer have scant time to recover or even process the horrific events in Kindred Blood when Paladin Sandalio, prince of the vilkacis race, comes to her door claiming to have been sent by her father. The Nuasair Nine are resurrected and killing vampires, wolves and innocents with reckless abandon. They have to be stopped and Daniella is an essential part of Paladin's plan to ensure that happens.
How can Daniella trust a race she's always despised and mistrusted? She needs to figure it out fast because the Nuasair Nine are making it personal and Daniella stands to lose those she's come to love and need.
The Nuasair Nine, ancient scourge that slaughtered so many, has been reborn. No one knows who they are but they are wiping out whole dens, covens, and any towns and villages nearby. They aren't circumspect and leave the carnage for humans to discover. Their threat and violence forces an unprecedented alliance of vampire and vilkacis with Daniella, Aiden, Spenser and Paladin at the head. The attacks have become personal, something Daniella refuses to tolerate now that she's discovered what it is to love and feel. Painful as these newfound emotions are she wouldn't go back to her old way of life even if she could.
In CRIMSON CRIES Daniella faces many challenges, changes and discovers the truth of her origins. Paladin also shares with her the history of the vilkacis. Vampires and lycanthropes aren't as far apart as she's believed all these centuries.
Aiden still suffers from the trauma he experienced in Kindred Blood. Because of this, his difficulty adjusting and his lack of knowledge Aiden often comes across as an ass. Nor is Aiden as polished as Spencer, the newest addition to their little family. His saving grace is his love and devotion to Daniella.
Spenser has taken to vampiric life like a duck to water. He has quite a surprise from his human past to add to the mix. There's much more to Spencer than meets the eye.
Paladin makes himself and his not inconsiderable assets available to Daniella in their pursuit of the Nuasair Nine. Paladin is a font of information, wisdom and is also being targeted personally by the Nuasair Nine.
There are other characters introduced but to discuss them would give too much away. All I can say is that Daniella isn't the only unique creature out there. I'm anxious to see what pivotal roles these two couples will play in the battle to come. It will be whopping too if my suspicions regarding who's behind it are correct. I confess to being startled by a key character's opposition to the alliance between Daniella and Paladin. Why and what hint or clue have I missed? In the last chapter many pieces seem to fall into place, seem being the operative word. Thankfully, The First series isn't always predictable.
In CRIMSON CRIES the circle is nearing completion and everything in Eden's Hell is relevant to the current situation in the most unexpected ways. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction; how true and horrifyingly evident that becomes.
CRIMSON CRIES is an engrossing addition to a thought provoking series that skillfully blends the biblical and mythological in its own inimitable way. I'm looking forward to and dreading Surrender ~ The Sins of the Father, V: The First. I can't wait to see if my suppositions are right even as I dread the end of such a beguiling series.
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