Velvet Haven

HEAT
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    First published by Heat, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

    First Printing, March 2010
    Copyright © Sophie Renwick, 2010 All rights reserved

    HEAT is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

    LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

    Renwick, Sophie.
Velvet Haven / Sophie Renwick.
p. cm.—(The Annwyn chronicles series; bk. 1)
    eISBN : 978-1-101-18582-7
    I. Title.
PS3618.E64V46 2010
813’.6—dc22 2009039627

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To Fedora, for winning my contest. Thanks so much for coming up with Immortals of Annwyn! And to all those hussies who hang out at my blog, I hope Bran satisifies!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    Velvet Haven would not be here if not for the wisdom, patience, and hand-holding of my excellent editor, Tracy Bernstein. Thank you for helping me see the forest for the trees! It was sometimes a difficult task, but thanks for sticking with me and not giving up on either Bran or me!

PROLOGUE

    In the beginning there was peace. Prosperity. The fertile lands of Annwyn flourished. The trees were bountiful, bearing the most luscious fruit. The forest teemed with life, and the streams ran cool and clear. The people of Annwyn lived harmoniously alongside the human world; the gossamer veil that separated the two spheres allowed Annwyn’s inhabitants to see the mortal realm, yet protected us from man’s poisonous ways. Greed. Lust. Avarice. Such mortal vices did not penetrate the veil, for Annwyn was above all temptations.
    But now all has been transformed. Annwyn is no longer pure.
    The Dark Times have come.
    War will be waged between man and the inhabitants of Annwyn. Each side seeks a flame and an amulet that have been hidden away for centuries. Into whose hands these fall will dictate what will come—peace or annihilation.
    And these Dark Times will bring betrayals, deaths, and utter blackness before the dawn of light might once again creep between the trees of the forest.
    From this darkness will rise the sacred nine, bringing the beginning and ending of all things. But there will be one among them, a Dark Soul, whose ascent shall either be that of savior . . . or destroyer.
    The Scribe of the Annwyn Chronicles.

CHAPTER ONE

    Death. Even now it was bearing down upon him, its arrival thick, menacing. Unstoppable .
    Kneeling on the ground, eyes closed, heart beating heavily in