Free Darkness Descending by Devyn Quinn Page A

wasn’t the most mature thing Maddox had ever done. At this point he didn’t care. Putting some distance between himself and Jesse Burke was all that mattered right now.
    But playing on the edge, dancing with danger had always been his style. He had been born to parents of little means, but the New World offered unlimited opportunities for a man willing to work hard.
    He’d soon discovered the strange new land was also a dangerous one. Not only were the native people resentful of losing their property and livelihood to the European invaders, but the Europeans themselves were also locked against one another in a battle to control the rippling plains and lush valleys teeming with precious resources.
    The wars he’d seen were many; the conflicts fierce. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears were shed as a new nation rose from the ashes of colonialism.
    Yet even as the new country was undergoing its difficult birth, nocturnal beasts haunting the shadows, just out of human perception, were also crossing the wide, deep waters. Creeping ashore in the night, the dark ones insinuated themselves among the native peoples. Countless victims fell to the disease the Telave had unleashed. Yet more people willingly sold their souls to join the unholy legion, the prey becoming the predator. Poisonous roots took hold and grew. The power of Xaphan’s unholy kings and queens became entrenched as the collective grew and spread.
    I could have been one of them , he thought.
    Maddox had come so damn close to joining their side. Had it not been for Serafina, a Creole huntress with snapping black eyes and a body made for sin, he might have gone back and offered his soul to experience again the bittersweet pain of a vampire’s forbidden kiss. He could thank the Enlightened One that Serafina had been stronger than he was. In time she would become more than a wise teacher and leader. She was his lover and his mate, the goodness in his soul.
    Without Serafina, he would have turned against his own kind. He wouldn’t have been the first.
    I still miss her . . . Her brutal murder at the hands of the Telave continued to hang like a millstone around his neck, threatening to drag him down into an endless pool of despair. He’d never forgive himself for leaving her defenseless. Never.
    Maddox lifted his head, staring at the image reflected in the cracked mirror hung above the sink. His eyes were bloodshot, their corners deeply lined with the stress of the centuries he’d thus far endured. He’d stopped aging at twenty-seven, but he looked much older. His hard, rugged life had exacted its toll.
    “Have a care, Maddox,” an inner voice warned. “You’re a step away from the edge, and there’s no rope to grab.”
    Giving Serafina no further consideration, he concentrated on cleaning himself up. Fifteen minutes later, he was squeaky clean and freshly shaved. It suddenly occurred to him that his clean clothes were in the other room where Jesse waited.
    “Shit.” Maddox considered his dilemma. He had no shame in showing off his nude body. As for Jesse . . . Well, she was surely a grown woman who’d seen a naked man before.
    A wicked thought occurred to him as he tucked his damp towel around his waist. If she hasn’t, she’s about to get an eyeful.
    Opening the door, he sailed back into the adjoining room.
    “Hi,” he said by way of a greeting. Jesse was still sitting on the bed.
    “Hey, yourself,” Jesse responded, her eyes saucer wide. She quickly averted her gaze.
    Fighting to suppress a small smile, Maddox sauntered toward a couple of battered trunks shoved into one corner of the room. He dug around, coming up with a bundle of fresh clothing. Giving the towel a brazen flick, he revealed himself down to the last bare inch.
    He didn’t have to turn around to know Jesse was watching him. His heightened senses picked up the quickening of her breath. “Oh my,” she murmured in a voice human ears couldn’t have possibly detected. He could almost