PRAISE FOR THE GUILD HUNTER NOVELS OF NALINI SINGH
“Paranormal romance doesn’t get better than this.”
—Love Vampires
“Intense, vivid, and sexually charged.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[A] remarkable urban fantasy series.”
—RT Book Reviews (Top Pick)
“World-building that blew my socks off.”
—Meljean Brook, New York Times bestselling author
“[A] heart-pounding, action-packed story line of love and loss; death and destruction; family and friends; intrigue and suspense.”
—The Reading Cafe
“It’s dark and edgy, and so atmospheric.”
—Book Chick City
“Mesmerizing . . . Fascinating world-building.”
—Bitten by Books
“The Guild Hunter series is not set in a peaceful world and Singh doesn’t pull any punches.”
—The Book Pushers
“Completely awe-inspiring.”
—Fallen Angel Reviews
“Stunning, original, beautiful, intriguing, and mesmerizing.”
—Errant Dreams Reviews
“[Ms. Singh] has a knack for writing characters that are truly believable, and admirably strong and resilient.”
—Dark Faerie Tales
“One of the most immersive and consistently creative works in urban fantasy.”
—Grave Tells
“[A] fabulous addition to the paranormal world.”
—Fresh Fiction
“[A] powerful, riveting novel. I found myself wholly absorbed.”
—Dear Author
“Dark, lush urban fantasy, steeped in violence and power.”
—HeroesandHeartbreakers
Berkley titles by Nalini Singh
Psy-Changeling Series
SLAVE TO SENSATION
VISIONS OF HEAT
CARESSED BY ICE
MINE TO POSSESS
HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE
BRANDED BY FIRE
BLAZE OF MEMORY BONDS OF JUSTICE
PLAY OF PASSION
KISS OF SNOW
TANGLE OF NEED
HEART OF OBSIDIAN
SHIELD OF WINTER
SHARDS OF HOPE
ALLEGIANCE OF HONOR
SILVER SILENCE
Guild Hunter Series
ANGELS’ BLOOD
ARCHANGEL’S KISS
ARCHANGEL’S CONSORT
ARCHANGEL’S BLADE
ARCHANGEL’S STORM
ARCHANGEL’S LEGION
ARCHANGEL’S SHADOWS
ARCHANGEL’S ENIGMA
ARCHANGEL’S HEART
Anthologies
AN ENCHANTED SEASON
(with Maggie Shayne, Erin McCarthy, and Jean Johnson)
THE MAGICAL CHRISTMAS CAT
(with Lora Leigh, Erin McCarthy, and Linda Winstead Jones)
MUST LOVE HELLHOUNDS
(with Charlaine Harris, Ilona Andrews, and Meljean Brook)
BURNING UP
(with Angela Knight, Virginia Kantra, and Meljean Brook)
ANGELS OF DARKNESS
(with Ilona Andrews, Meljean Brook, and Sharon Shinn)
ANGELS’ FLIGHT
WILD INVITATION NIGHT SHIFT
(with Ilona Andrews, Lisa Shearin, and Milla Vane)
WILD EMBRACE
Specials
ANGELS’ PAWN
ANGELS’ DANCE
DECLARATION OF COURTSHIP
TEXTURE OF INTIMACY
A JOVE BOOK
Published by Berkley
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
© 2017 by Nalini Singh
Penguin Random House supports . fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader.
A JOVE BOOK and BERKLEY are registered trademarks and the B colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
Ebook : 9780451488251
First Edition: October 2017
Cover art by Tony Mauro
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.
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Contents
Praise for the Guild Hunter Novels of Nalini Singh
Berkley titles by Nalini Singh
Title Page
Birth
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
Birth
She pushed with a silent scream and it was born, the child that shouldn’t exist and that she would love with all her being. But when she opened her arms for that longed-for child, she saw that the healer hadn’t picked up the babe from the bed, was instead backing off toward the door.
Fury a savage storm through her, she sat up to rescue her helpless child . . . and saw.
1
Holly hugged her sister good-bye one final time, her heart aching. “Shoo,” she said when Mia hesitated at the entrance to the security line. “You’ll be late for your flight if you don’t get going.”
Mia sank her teeth into the fullness of her lower lip, her chin-length bob gleaming obsidian under the white fluorescent lighting inside the terminal building. “I miss home already.”
“You’ll be fine.” Though Holly was going to miss her elder sister—and best friend—desperately, she took Mia’s face in her hands, met eyes as brown as hers had once been, and said, “You’re the smartest person I’ve ever known. You’ll knock this out of the park.” Her newly minted doctor sister had been offered a prestigious residency at Massachusetts General in Boston.
“I’ll be so far from everyone.”
Holly didn’t point out that her sister’s new base of operation was only a few hours’ drive from New York, less at the speeds Holly liked driving. She knew what it was to be homesick. She’d felt that way in the vibrant city her family called home when she’d isolated herself from them for several long months in the aftermath of the attack that had changed her into a being who