Twilight's End Chapter One Sneak Peek

I know that a lot of you guys have had a long wait since the last Val and Irulan full-length story. Since work on their next book, Twilight's End, is in full swing, I have decided that I would share a small snippet of each chapter as I go.

What I share will be unedited from the first draft, so things will change by the time it is released. And some snippets will be larger or smaller than the ones before it. But it will give you guys a sneak peek at what's to come.

So here we go. Here is your first peek at Twilight's End.

...“As a general rule, I’m not scared of a fight. If the past few months have taught me anything, I’ve learned that with enough time, I can punch, kick, or blast my way out of any situation,” I sighed as I turned to look at my wife, “but this is different. I can’t punch my way into making the Vampire Council see things my way. I trust my brother, but putting the arguments in Vedo’s hands makes me feel helpless.”

Instead of the words of comfort I expected Irulan to give me, she frowned and folded her arms across her chest. “Our way,” she said. Her voice was so low that if it wasn’t for my enhanced hearing, I wouldn’t have heard her.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, trying to keep the annoyed tone out of my voice. We’d all been through a lot and I didn’t want to get upset with her. Not now when we had to leave in an hour.

“We want them to see things our way,” Irulan replied. “David is my son as well, or have you forgotten?”

“I can’t believe that you even had to ask me that,” I spat, unable to hide my anger. “I know you love him just as much as I do. Why would you−”

“Because you, Val, and Tamerlane spent half the night going over vampire protocol and archaic rules and never once thought to include me in the discussion,” Irulan huffed. “Did you not think I needed to be a part of that, or am I supposed to show up today and be the supportive, but silent wife and let you all handle everything?”

I was pissed. I wanted to scream and shout, but because of what I’d become since awakening my Fae genes, losing control was dangerous for the people around me. Not only could my ill mood spill over and affect others, if I wasn’t careful I could draw strength from their emotions as well. Feeding from someone's emotions drains them in a way that a few pints of blood never could. I might be irked with my wife, but I would never risk hurting her like that. So I took a moment to pull back my growing anger before I responded.

“Ire, your day was just as fucked up as mine was. Maybe I was just trying to be a good wife and let you get some rest,” I sighed.

“That’s a lie,” Irulan spat, not missing a beat as she touched the side of her head. “Aside from the fact that I’ve known you your entire life, I also have a direct line to your thoughts. So please don’t stand there and pretend that leaving me out wasn’t your way of getting back at me for her.”

She did it. She brought up her ex. I didn’t want to have this conversation now. I’d intentionally avoided it because I need to have a clear head. But there was no way around it now. She’d opened the door.

“Not all of my thoughts,” I grunted as I tried to push by her and head for our closet. But Irulan grabbed my arm, refusing to let me go.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means exactly what I said,” I sighed. “You may be my equal in many areas, but shielding isn’t one of them. If you caught a glimpse of my thoughts it’s because I let you.”

“So why the thoughtful wife line if that’s how you feel, Val?” Irulan huffed. “By the gods, say what you mean. It may sting but at least I can respect the truth.”

The truth. I thought about the many truths that were running through my head and an icy wave spread through me, replacing the anger with cold calm.

“Alight, Ire, here’s the truth. Your demented ex almost killed my grandmother. My family lost good vampires trying to protect her. She helped that banshee cut a path of devastation through the city that will take months and millions of dollars to repair. She could have gotten not only my brothers, and my best friend, killed, but our son and his friends as well, and when it came down to the wire, you hesitated. I could have died and you hesitated. Hell, she was in this realm because of you. So part of this entire mess is on you.”

Irulan gasped and tears filled her eyes as the human glamour faded and was replaced by raging storms. I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth. “Oh my god, Ire. Baby, I didn’t mean it.”

I reached for her but she leaned away from my touch.

“Don’t,” she muttered as she wiped away tears. “We both know that you did. At least now it’s out in the open and we can deal with it. But for now, I’ll leave you to finish getting ready for the tribunal. I’ll get dressed in my old room.”.