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Description edit
Mary Luce is dissatisfied with her life and her job. But when she is unwittingly thrust into the vampire dominion, everything changes. Falling under the protection of the Brotherhood's strongest member, Rhage, she soon finds herself drawn to his animalistic urges.
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly war raging between vampires and their slayers. And there exists a secret band of brothers like no other - six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Possessed by a deadly beast, Rhage is the most dangerous of the Black... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- Rhage: Nicknamed "Hollywood", is the pretty boy of all the brothers. He was cursed for angering the Scribe Virgin because of his recklessness and uncontrollable lust as a result the Scribe Virgin gave him the beast, which resembles a huge dragon. It was a punishment designed to regulate Rhage's energy and moods whenever he gets out of control, the beast comes out.
- Mary Luce: Human female to whom Rhage is inexplicably drawn to, has leukemia
- David Ormond: Lesser known as Mr. O
- Mr. X: Fore-lesser, leader of the Lessening Society.
- The Scribe Virgin: Mother of all vampires.
- Wrath: The last purebred vampire on the planet and the vampire race's king. He is the leader who is not willing to lead until he is forced to care for a half-breed he falls in love with. Mated to Beth.
- Beth Randall: Wrath's mate, Vampire Queen
- Marissa: Vampire female, Butch's love interest. Haver's sister.
- Havers: The vampire race's physician. Marissa's brother.
- Vishous: The most intelligent and the one who is specially gifted. His curse is his ability to prognosticate: he sees the future, though not the 'when' of events so he is tortured by his inability to save those he loves from danger.
- John Matthew: A young man who is drawn to Mary; he's also unaware that he is a vampire on the cusp of transition. John is also mute. 23 years old but looks like a prepubescent boy
- Zsadist: One of the Brothers, twin brother of Phury. The most lethal of the brothers. A former blood slave who was mercilessly tortured during the first hundred years of his life, Z is the one who has fallen farthest from grace. But he is utterly worthy of redemption.
- Dr. Susan Della Croce: Mary's doctor
- Fritz Perlmutter: Doggen to the Brotherhood. Butler extraordinaire.
- Wellesandra: "Wellsie", Tohrment's mate. Pregnant with their first child
- Tohrment: Leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood and hellren, or mate, to Wellsie. The steady one, the calm one.
- Phury: One of the Brothers, twin to Zsadist. The loyal one, the one who sacrifices himself for others. Phury is Zsadist's twin brother and a celibate who cannot truly live because of everything his biological brother has lost. Used to giving rather than receiving, he needs love coming back at him to bring him alive.
- Butch O'Neal: V's Roommate, human who interacts with the brotherhood. Former police detective
- Bella: Rehvenge's sister, vampire female, friend to Mary.
Quotes edit
-
“Hal, do you have any kind of filter between your brain and your mouth?”
Mary -
“Hold up, female." Rhage took off his trench coat, the chest holster, and the belt. "Get back over here. I like the way you welcome me home.”
Rhage -
“Do you normally wear all that to bed?" she asked. "Absolutely." "Then why's the tag still on that robe?" "In case I want another, I'll know what it is.”
Mary & Rhage -
“I like to think of myself more as an outcome engineer.”
Rhage -
“No sunlight. Funky choppers. Take a guess.”
Rhage -
“He wanted to give her another word to say, something like luscious, or whisper, or strawberry. Hell, antidisestablishmentarianism would do it”
Rhage -
“Let me guess. You waited around in hopes of catching a-""In the bushes, Rhage. I sat in the bushes. Under her bedroom window.""Wow. That's...""Yea. In my old life I could have arrested me for stalking.”
Butch and Rhage -
“I'm a vampire. I'm a warrior. I'm a dangerous beast. At the end of this evening, you aren't going to remember you ever met me. And the idea of not even being a memory of yours makes me feel like I've been stabbed in the chest.”
Rhage -
“You got a transporter hiding somewhere around here?" Rhage looked at her and disappeared. Not as in left-the-room-really-fast disappeared. But poof! disappeared.”
Mary -
“Even if it means you're going to have to live with the beast? Because the curse is perpetual now. Set in stone. Forever." "I told you, that's fine with me. I mean, come on. He's kind of cute, in a Godzilla sort of way. And I'll look at it as a two-for-one kind of deal.”
Rhage and Mary -
“What is your name?" she murmured. He cocked an eyebrow at her and then went back to staring at his brother. "I'm the evil one, in case you haven't figured it out." "I wanted your name, not your calling"."Being a bastard's more of a compulsion, really. And it's Zsadist. I am Zsadist.”
Zsadist -
“Fine, dandy. Then lose the shirt, peel off those leather pants and lay down on my tile. We’ll take turns being on the bottom.”
Mary Luce -
“I will not fall in love with you. I can't let myself. I won't." " That's all right. I'll love you enough for the both of us.”
Mary and Rhage -
“I'll tell you this. Your destiny's coming for you. And she's coming soon." Rhage laughed. "Oh, yeah? What's the female like? I prefer them-" "She's a virgin." A chill shot down Rhage's spine and nailed him in the ass. "You're kidding, right?" "Look in my eye. Do you think I'm jerking you off?”
V and Rhage -
“She's not just any female to me," he murmured. "I would have her as my shellan, if I could.”
Rhage -
“And I know your voice is the loveliest sound my ears have heard. I know all about you, and everything I see is beautiful. Everything I see is mine.”“I’m not yours.”“Fine. If I can’t have you, then you do the taking. Have all of me, a part of me, a small piece, whatever you want. Just please, have something.”
Rhage and Mary -
“I am barren of words, my female. For no sounds from my mouth are worthy of your hearing.”
Rhage
Setting & Locations edit
- Caldwell, New York
- Screamer's
- ZeroSum
- The Tomb: Sacred vault of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Used as a ceremonial site as well as a storage facility for the jars of lessers. Ceremonies performed there include inductions, funerals, and disciplinary actions against Brothers. No one may enter except for members of the Brotherhood, the Scribe Virgin, or candidates for induction.
- The Fade: Non-temporal realm where the dead reunite with their loved ones and pass eternity.
- Dhunhd: Hell.
Organizations edit
- Black Dagger Brotherhood: Highly trained vampire warriors who protect their species against the Lessening Society. As a result of selective breeding within the race, Brothers possess immense physical and mental strength, as well as rapid healing capabilities. They are not siblings for the most part, and are inducted into the Brotherhood upon nomination by the Brothers. Aggressive, self-reliant, and secretive by nature, they exist apart from civilians, having little contact with members of other classes expect when they need to feed. They are subjects of legend and the object of reverence within the vampire world. They may be killed only by the most serious of wounds.
- Lessening Society: Group of undead trying to rid the world of Vampires
First Sentence edit
"Ah, hell, V, you're killing me." Butch O'Neal mined through his sock drawer, looking for black silk, finding white cotton.
Table of Contents edit
Chapter 1 - 51
Glossary edit
- Ahstrux Nohtrum: Private guard with license to kill who is granted his or her position by the king.
- Ahvenge: To commit an act of mortal retribution, carried out typically by a male loved one.
- Black Dagger Brotherhood: Highly trained vampire warriors who protect their species against the Lessening Society. As a result of selective breeding within the race, Brothers possess immense physical and mental strength, as well as rapid healing capabilities. They are not siblings for the most part, and are inducted into the Brotherhood upon nomination by the Brothers. Aggressive, self-reliant, and secretive by nature, they exist apart from civilians, having little contact with members of other classes expect when they need to feed. They are subjects of legend and the object of reverence within the vampire world. They may be killed only by the most serious of wounds.
- Blood Slave: male or female vampire who has been subjugated to serve the blood needs of another. The practice of keeping blood slaves has recently been outlawed.
- The Chosen: Female vampires who have been bred to serve the Scribe Virgin. They are considered members of the aristocracy, though they are spiritually rather than temporally focused. They have little or no interaction with males, but can be mater to Brothers at the Scribe Virgin's direction to propagate their class. Some have the ability to prognosticate. In the past, they were used to meet the blood needs of unmated members of the Brotherhood, and thatpractice has been reinstated by the Brothers.
- Chrih: Symbol of honorable death in the Old Language.
- Cohntehst: Conflict between two males competing for the right to be a female's mate.
- Dhunhd: Hell.
- Doggen: Member of the servant class within the vampire world. Doggen have old, conservative traditions about service to their superiors, following a formal code of dress and behavior. They are able to go out during the day, but they age relatively quickly. Life expectancy is approximately five hundred years.
- Ehros: A Chosen trained in the matter of sexual arts.
- Exhile Dhoble: The evil or cursed twin, the one born second.
- The Fade: Non-temporal realm where the dead reunite with their loved ones and pass eternity.
- First Family: The King and Queen of the vampires, and any children they may have.
- Ghardian: Custodian of an individual. There are varying degrees of ghardians, with the most powerful being that of a sehcluded female.
- Glymera: The social core of the aristocracy, roughly equivalent to Regency England's ton.
- Hellren: Male vampire who has been mated to a female. Males may take more than one female as mate.
- Leahdyre: A person of power and influence.
- Leelan: A term of endearment loosely translated as 'dearest one'.
- Lessening Society: Order of the slayers convened by the Omega for the purpose of eradicating the vampire species.
- Lesser: De-souled human who targets vampires for extermination as a member of the Lessening Society. Lessers must be stabbed through the chest in order to be killed; otherwise they are ageless. They do not eat or drink and are impotent. Over time, their hair, skin, and irises lose pigmentation until they are blond, blushless, and pale-eyed. They smell like baby powder. Inducted into the society by the Omega, they retain a ceramic jar thereafter into which their heart was placed after it was removed.
- Lewlhen: Gift.
- Lheage: A term of respect used by a sexual submissive to refer to her dominant.
- Lys: Torture tool used to remove the eyes.
- Mhis: The masking of a given physical environment; the creation of a field of illusion.
- Nalla (f) Nallum (m): Beloved.
- Needing Period: Female vampire's time of fertility, generally lasting for two days and accompanied by intense sexual cravings. Occurs approximately five years after a female's transition and then once a decade thereafter. all males respond to some degree if they are around a female in her need. It can be a dangerous time, with conflicts and fights breaking out between competing males, particularly if the female is not mated.
- Newling: A virgin.
- The Omega: Malevolent, mystical figure who has targeted the vampires for extinction out of resentment directed towards the Scribe Virgin. Exists in a nontemporal realm and has extensive powers, though not the power of creation.
- Phearsom: Term referring to the potency of a male's sexual organs. Literal translation something close to "worthy of entering a female".
- Princeps: Highest level of vampire aristocracy, second only to the members of the First Family or the Scribe Virgin's Chosen. Must be born to the title; it may not be conferred.
- Pyrocant: Refers to a critical weakness in an individual. The weakness can be internal, such as an addiction, or external, such as a lover.
- Rahlman: Savior.
- Rythe: Ritual manner of assuaging honor granted by one who has offended another. If accepted, the offended chooses a weapon and strikes the offender, who presents him- or herself without defenses.
- The Scribe Virgin: Mystical force who is counselor to the King as well as the keeper of vampire archives and the dispenser of privileges. Exist in a nontemporal realm and has extensive powers. Capable of a single act of creation, which she expended to bring the vampires into existence.
- Sehclusion: Status conferred by the King upon a female of the aristocracy as a result of a petition by the female's family. Places the female under the sole direction of her ghardian, typically the eldest male in her household. Her ghardian then has the legal right to determine all manner of her life, restricting at will any and all interactions she has with the world.
- Shellan: Female vampire who has been mated to a male. Females generally do not take more than one mate due to the highly territorial nature of bonded males.
- Symphath: Subspecies within the vampire race characterized by the ability and desire to manipulate emotions in others (for the purposes of an energy exchange), among other traits. Historically, they have been discriminated against and, during certain eras, hunted by vampires. They are near extinction.
- The Tomb: Sacred vault of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Used as a ceremonial site as well as a storage facility for the jars of lessers. Ceremonies performed there include inductions, funerals, and disciplinary actions against Brothers. No one may enter except for members of the Brotherhood, the Scribe Virgin, or candidates for induction.
- Trahyner: Word used between males of mutual respect and affection. Translated loosely to "beloved friend".
- Transition: Critical moment in a vampire's life when he or she transforms into an adult. Thereafter, he or she must drink the blood of the opposite sex to survive and is unable to withstand sunlight. Occurs generally int he mid-twenties. Some vampires do not survive their transitions, males in particular. Prior to their transitions, vampires are physically weak, sexually unaware and unresponsive, and unable to dematerialize.
- Vampire: Member of a species separate from that of homo sapiens. Vampires must drink the blood of the opposite sex to survive. Human blood will keep them alive, though the strength does not last long. Following their transitions, which occur in their mid-twenties, they are unable to go out into the sunlight and must feed from the vein regularly. Vampires cannot "convert" humans through a bite or transfer of blood, though they are in a rare cases able to breed with other species. Vampires can dematerialize at will, though they must be able to calm themselves and concentrate to do so and may not carry anything heavy with them. They are able to strip the memories of humans, provided such memories are short term. Some vampires are able to read minds. Life expectancy is upward of a thousand years, or in some cases even longer.
- Wahlker: An individual who has died and returned to the living from the Fade. They are accorded great respect and are revered for their travails.
- Whard: Equivalent of a godfather or godmother to an individual.
Series & Lists edit
This is book 2 of 13 in Black Dagger Brotherhood. (standard series)
Preceded by Dark Lover, and followed by Lover Awakened.
This is book 30 of 100 in AAR Top 100 Romances 2007. (authoritative list)
This is book 2 of 13 in Black Dagger Brotherhood (Reading Order). (standard series)
Preceded by Dark Lover, and followed by Lover Awakened.
This is book 57 of 100 in AAR Top 100 Romances 2010. (authoritative list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- J. R. Ward (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Signet
Country: USA
Publication Date: March 7, 2006
ISBN: 978-0451218049
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Signet
Country: USA
Publication Date: March 7, 2006
ISBN: 978-0451218049
Page Count: 464
Awards edit
- AAR Annual Reader Poll (2007: Top 100 Romances, #30)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: CPB Box no. 2449 vol. 15
- Dewey: 813.6
Subjects edit
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