Many of you have been asking about the next book in THE CALLING vampire novels and I wish to thank all of you for writing and letting me know how much you love the series! It really makes it all worthwhile.
The news on THE CALLING is that the next book, FURY CALLS, will be out in March 2009 from Silhouette Nocturne! Remember that if you download the FURY CALLS countdown widget and put it on your website/social network page, you can get a free CALLING t-shirt!**
ARDOR CALLS, featuring Stacia, one of my favorite vampires, will be out in 2010 along with VENGEANCE CALLS. VENGEANCE introduces two new characters for you, including one who is a different kind of immortal.
To help you with the gap between FURY CALLS and the other books, there will be a Nocturne Bite e-novella titled HONOR CALLS which features FBI ADIC Jesus Hernandez who you have seen in a number of books. To also help you bridge the gap, I’ll be writing a series of free short stories for you to let you know what’s been happening with Diana and Ryder behind the scenes of all the books.
My editor and I have already spoken about another book for Diana and Ryder, so I’m really excited about that although it will likely be a long way off. In the meantime, here’s your first free short story read in THE CALLING:
This free read occurs in the months after the conclusion of DEVOTION CALLS.
**T-shirts while supplies last! I am in the process of sending out those to the first people who posted the widget, so look for them soon if you’ve already done that.
Diana Reyes stared at the pile of files precariously stacked on the side of her desk. Earlier that night she had just finished the last of the paperwork from the day before when an apologetic clerk had dropped this fresh load in her office.
Anger surged through her at the thought of another day at her desk, checking references and other information so that the subjects of the files would receive their proper security clearances. This wasn’t why she had joined the FBI, but then again, there had to be some kind of punishment for failing to prevent the deaths of so many agents during her last real assignment.
Those deaths and the nearly crippling injuries to her partner David Harris weighed heavily on her mind as did the personal aftermath from the night of the failed raid.
The santero’s words to her from months earlier still troubled her.
I can’t heal what you have.
What she had, Diana thought, laying her hands out before her and staring at them hard.
Human hands. Warm and filled with life. But within that life was something new. Different than before. And something that worried her still.
Deciding that she couldn’t linger a moment longer, she escaped the confines of her office, racing past David’s empty one and onto the elevator.
Out on the street before Federal Plaza, she stopped and breathed in the warm summer air. Thick and humid. The faint scent of garlic wafted from the Italian restaurant a few doors down. Her stomach growled with hunger.
She hadn’t eaten dinner that night, but she’d grab a bite later with Ryder.
Right now, she had something else to do. Something that called to her more than the physical demands of her body.
With a blast of inhuman speed, she surged to the nearby subway entrance. She stopped to catch a breath and still the wild beating of her heart. A wave of weakness ripped across her body, reminding her that all was not right.
The superhuman healing and powers that had taken over her body after her injuries during the raid were slowly leaving her. Worse, even her everyday tasks seemed to take more of her energy than before.
She worried that soon she might not have the strength left for even the every day things and after that . . .
Diana drove that thought away and headed for the subway for the trip up to Spanish Harlem.
Ricardo may have told her that he couldn’t heal what she had, but she had never asked him just what that was.
She intended to do so that night.