Immortals After Dark 09 - Pleasure of a Dark Prince

10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
    This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
    Copyright © 2010 by Kresley Cole
    All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
    First Pocket Books paperback edition March 2010
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    Cover design by Lisa Litwack
Cover illustration by Craig White
Designed by Julie Schroeder
    Manufactured in the United States of America
    10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
    ISBN 978-1-4165-8095-9
ISBN 978-1-4165-8355-4 (ebook)

Dedicated to the
Immortals After Dark
readers,
for sharing a love of the Lore with me
and for spreading the IAD word.
Thank you all!

Glossary of Terms
from
    T HE L IVING B OOK OF L ORE
    THE LORE
    “…and those sentient creatures that are not human shall be united in one stratum, coexisting with, yet secret from, man’s.”
    ♦ Most are immortal and can regenerate from injuries. The stronger breeds can only be killed by mystical fire or beheading.
    ♦ Their eyes change to a breed-specific color with intense emotion.
    ♦ Also known as Loreans.
    THE VALKYRIE
    “When a maiden warrior screams for courage as she dies in battle, Wóden and Freya heed her call. The two gods give up lightning to strike her, rescuing her to their hall and preserving her courage forever in the form of the maiden’s immortal Valkyrie daughter.”
    ♦ They take sustenance from the electrical energy of the earth, sharing it in one collective power, and give it back with their emotions in the form of lightning.
    ♦ They possess preternatural strength, speed, and senses.
    ♦Without training, most can be mesmerized by shining objects and jewels.
    ♦ Also known as shield maidens.
    THE LYKAE CLAN
    “A proud, strapping warrior of the Keltoi People (or Hidden People, later known as Celts) was taken in his prime by a maddened wolf. The warrior rose from the dead, now an immortal, with the spirit of the beast latent within him. He displayed the wolf’s traits: the need for touch, an intense loyalty to its kind, an animal craving for the delights of the flesh. Sometimes the beast rises…”
    ♦ Also called werewolves, war-wolds.
    ♦ Each possesses the
Instinct
, an inner guiding force, like a voice whispering in one’s mind.
    ♦ Enemies of the Vampire Horde.
    THE VAMPIRES
    ♦ Two warring factions, the Horde and the For-bearer Army.
    ♦ Each vampire seeks his
Bride
, his eternal wife, and walks as the living dead until he finds her.
    ♦ A Bride will render his body fully alive, giving him breath and making his heart beat, a process known as
blooding
.
    ♦
Tracing
is teleporting, the vampires’ means of travel. A vampire can only trace to destinations he’s previously been or to those he can see.
    ♦
The Fallen
are vampires who have killed by drinking a victim to death. Distinguished by their red eyes.
    THE HORDE
    “In the first chaos of the Lore, a brotherhood of vampires dominated by relying on their cold nature, worship of logic, and absence of mercy. They sprang from the harsh steppes of Dacia and migrated to Russia, though some say a secret enclave, the Daci, live in Dacia still.”
    ♦ The Fallen comprise their ranks.
    THE FORBEARERS
    “…his crown stolen, Kristoff, the rightful Horde king, stalked the battlefields of antiquity seeking the strongest, most valiant human warriors as they died, earning him the name of Gravewalker. He offered eternal life in exchange for eternal fealty to him and his growing army.”
    ♦ An army of vampires consisting of turned humans who do not drink blood directly from the flesh.
    ♦ Kristoff was raised as a human and then lived among them. He and his army know little of the Lore.
    THE HOUSE OF WITCHES
    “…immortal possessors of magical talents,