Lover at Last (2013) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters edit see section history

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• Qhuinn: "Qhu­inn, son of Lohst­rong" - John Matthew's ahstrux nohstrum; John & Blay's best friend; Saxton's cousin; A wahlker; Has one blue and one green eye and is color blind, both seen as defects to the vampire aristocracy; Lives with John and the Brothers after his family disowned him; He was a playboy with commitment issues, preferring a steady stream of anonymous sex; Is in love with Blay but won't admit it; Has dark hair, a tattooed tear under his eye and a lot of piercings; Is having a child with the Chosen Layla.
• Blaylock: "Blay" - "Blaylock, son of Rocke" - John Mathew & Quinn's best friend; A soldier in the war against the Omega and the Lessers; Is in love with Qhuinn but is tired of waiting for him; Saxton's lover; Currently he lives with John and the Brothers; Has deep red hair and sapphire blue eyes; Is a very fine dresser and a romantic.
• Saxton: "Sax" - "Saxton, son of Tyhm" - Qhuinn's cousin; Blay's first and current lover; Has thick, blond wavy hair and gray eyes; A lawyer in the Old Law; Lives at the mansion as the King's personal and the Brotherhood's private lawyer.
• Layla: A Chosen trained as an ehros; Has pale blonde hair and green eyes; Is carrying Qhuinn’s child; Is in love with Xcor
• John Matthew: "Tehrror, son of Darius" - Xhex's hellren; Believed to be Darius' son but is really Darius reincarnated; Beth's half brother; Qhuinn & Blay's best friend; Future Black Dagger Brotherhood member; Is mute; Has blue eyes
• Xhex: "Xhexania" - John's shellan; Autumn's daughter; Half vampire/half symphath; Due to her symphath side, she is able to go out in the sun; Fights with the Brotherhood; Trez's head of security; Has pale skin, buzzed-off black hair and gunmetal gray eyes; Is tall with a tight, hard body
• Wrath: "The Blind King" - "Wrath, son of Wrath" - Beth's hellren; King of the vampires and the last pureblood vampire in existence; He is completely blind but still more than capable of fighting and leading the race; Has waist long black hair and bright green eyes he keeps hidden under wraparound sunglasses; He uses a guide dog (George) now so he can keep his independence.
• Beth Randall: "Elizabeth, blooded daughter of Darius" - Wrath's shellan; Queen of the Vampires; Darius' daughter; Believed to be John Mathew's sister; Is tall with an athletic body; Has long black hair; Former reporter at the Caldwell Courier Journal; Wants to have a child with Wrath; She also helps Wrath with paperwork for the royal family.
• Vishous: "V" - "Vishous, son of the Bloodletter" - Jane's hellren; Son of the Scribe Virgin and the Bloodletter; Payne's twin brother; Butch's best friend; Most intelligent among the Brothers and the go to tech guy; He has the power of premonition and his left hand can blow or burn things up; Takes away Butch's pain after he "eats" lessers; 305 years old; Has black hair and ice white eyes with a navy blue rim around them; Has a long, lean and strong build at six-foot-six and two hundred fifty pounds; Has tattoos on his left temple, around his left eye, his entire left hand and his genitals--which are scarred since his father tried to castrate him; Uses BDSM to deal with his past issues
• Jane Whitcomb: "Doc Jane" - Vishous' shellan; The Brotherhood's surgeon; Helps out at Safe Place; Was killed by a lesser but brought back as a ghost by the Scribe Virgin; Can be corporeal if she concentrates or if V touches her with his 'deadly' hand; Has forest green eyes
• Autumn: "No'One" - "Rosalhynda" - Tohr's mate; Xhex's mother; Wears her hair in a heavy braid; Has paper white skin, blonde hair that comes down to her hips and lovely gray eyes; Was kidnapped and raped by a symphath; Killed herself after Xhex's birth and was allowed to stay with the Chosen by the Scribe Virgin; Thor and Darius rescued Autumn from the symphath and Darius took her and Thor to live with him; Thor was growing fond of Rosalhynda before she killed herself.
• Tohrment: "Tohr" - "Tohrment, son of Hharm" – Autumn’s hellren; John Matthew's adoptive father; Leader of the Brotherhood since Wrath ascended the throne; His first shellan, Wellsie, was killed by a lesser while she was pregnant with their son; Has thick, cropped black hair with a white stripe and dark blue eyes
• Wellesandra: "Wellsie" - "Wellesandra, blooded daughter of Relix" - Tohr's shellan; John Matthew's adoptive mother; Was killed by a lesser in "Lover Awakened"; She was pregnant at the time; Had long red hair and sherry brown eyes
• Manuel Manello: "Manny" - Payne's hellren; Butch's half-brother; V's brother in-law; Surgeon to the Brotherhood; Jane's ex-boss; Six feet tall; Has black hair and brown eyes; Still human because he decided not to do the ancestor regression and transition jumpstart, but is part of Wrath's line; Payne's healing power has caused him to regress physically in age.
• Payne: Manny's shellan; Vishous' twin sister; Daughter of the Scribe Virgin and the Bloodletter; The Scribe Virgin imprisoned her for centuries; Killed her father; Fights with the Brotherhood; Has black hair and ice white eyes with a navy blue rim around them; Has a long, lean and strong build; About six feet tall; 305 years old; Can use power inherited from the Scribe Virgin to heal.
• Rhage: "Hollywood" - "Rhage, son of Tohrture" - Mary's hellren; Strongest and most beautiful of the Brothers; Cursed by The Scribe Virgin, he shifts into a vicious dragon when highly agitated; Has a multicolored tattoo of his dragon covering his entire back; Has blond hair and Caribbean blue eyes
• Mary Luce: Rhage's shellan; She's the only one able to tame the beast in him; A human who was granted an extended life by the Scribe Virgin; Was dying of cancer when the Scribe Virgin cured her; Counselor at Safe Place
• Rehvenge: "Rehv" - "The Reverend" - "Rehvenge, son of Rempoon" - Ehlena's mate; Bella's half-brother; Half vampire/Half symphath; King of the Symphaths; A member of the vampire aristocracy and the "Princeps Leahdyre" of its council; Uses dopamine to numb his symphath urges which forces him to walk with a cane; Former owner of ZeroSum, the Iron Mask & Sal's Restaurant; Former pimp and drug king of Caldwell; A massive guy with a purple mohawk and violet eyes; Prefers to dress in black pin-striped suits and mink coats
• Ehlena: "Ehlena, blooded daughter of Alyne" - Rehvenge's shellan; The Brotherhood's nurse; Formerly a member of the glymera whose social status was lost along with her fortune; Has blonde hair; Following Montrag's death, family inherited his estate and regained their status.
• Zsadist: "Z" - "Zsadist, son of Ahgony" - Bella's hellren; Nalla's father; Phury's identical twin; Rehv's brother in-law; The scarred, menacing Black Dagger Brother; Kidnapped from his family as an infant, Spent a century as a blood slave until his twin, Phury rescued him; Has yellow eyes
• Bella: "Bella, blooded daughter of Rempoon" - Zsadist's shellan; Nalla's mother; Rehvenge's half-sister; Was a neighbor to Mary (Rhage's mate) and brought John Matthew to the Brotherhood because she knew he was close to his change.
• Nalla: Zsadist & Bella's daughter
• Phury: "Phury, son of Ahgony" - Cormia's hellren; Zsadist's identical twin; Primale to the Chosen; Member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood; Shot off his leg while trying to save his twin from slavery; Is a recovering drug addict; Has beautiful, long multi-colored hair and yellow eyes; Had an addiction to "red smoke" and used to believe he was cursed because he was the second of the twins
• Cormia: Phury's shellan; A Chosen; She helped him kick his "red smoke" addiction and helped him through some family issues
• Butch O'Neal: "Brian O'Neal" - "Cop" - "Dhestroyer" - Marissa's hellren; Has a very close relationship with Vishous; Manny's half-brother; The only human to be allowed within the Brotherhood; Is descended from Wrath's line; This connection to him allowed him to be "turned" and initiated in the BDB; Is unable to dematerialize; An ex-homicide detective with the CPD; The object of an ancient Lesser Prophecy, he has the ability to sense lessers wherever they are and can absorb their essence into himself (it makes him very sick and V has to help cure him every time) preventing them from going back to the Omega to make him stronger; Has hazel eyes; Was born and raised in Boston.
• Marissa: "Marissa, blooded daughter of Wallen" - Butch's shellan; Havers' sister; Wrath's former promised but not mated shellan; Rev's good friend; Manager of Safe Place; Has long blonde hair; Took her place as the head of her family line over her brother, Havers in the glymera
• Trez Latimer: From a mysterious race of beings called Shadows; iAm's older twin brother; Formerly one of Rehvenge's bouncers at ZeroSum and is fiercely loyal to him; Owner of the Iron Mask; Is very tall, muscular and dark skinned
• iAm Latimer: From a mysterious race of beings called Shadows; Trez's younger twin brother; Formerly one of Rehvenge's bouncers at ZeroSum and is fiercely loyal to him; Owner of Sal's Restaurant; Likes to cook at Sal's; Is very tall, muscular and dark skinned; Has black eyes
• Selena: A Chosen; Was a scribe; Is tall and slender with curves in all the right places; Has smooth café au lait skin, dark hair and heavily fringed pale eyes; Feeds members of the Brotherhood when Layla is unavailable
• Lassiter: A Fallen Angel; Kind of like a guardian angel to Tohr; Was sent to Tohr by Wellsie; Seriously addicted to bad TV; A massive male with blond-and-black hair and bright white, pupil-less eyes; Has hoops and studs marking his ears, eyebrows, lips and throat; He glows
• Fritz Perlmutter: "Fritzgelder Perlmutter" - The Brotherhood's doggen (member of the servant class among the vampires); Formerly worked for Autumn's family; Loves helping everyone, and is a fast driver.
• Havers: "Havers, son of Wallen" - Marissa's younger brother; A doctor; He tried to have Wrath killed by a lesser, but Wrath spared his life because of Marissa; The Brotherhood isn't real crazy about him and the way he thinks; Is tall and distinguished, with tortoiseshell glasses and a bow tie at his throat.
• George: Wrath's Seeing Eye Dog; A golden retriever
• Rocke: Blaylock's father; An accountant
• Lohstrong: Qhuinn's father; Former leahdyre of the Glymera Council.
• Solange: "Solange, blooded daughter of Lohst­rong" - Qhuinn's older sister; Speaks with a lisp
• Luchas: "Luchas, son of Lohst­rong" - Qhuinn's older brother
• The Scribe Virgin: "Analisse" - The mother of all vampires; A goddess who was granted one act of creation by her father and used it to create a Race; Vishous & Payne's birth mother; The Omega's sister
• Xcor: "Xcor, son of an unknown sire" - Lived the majority of his life believing he was the son of the Bloodletter; Leader of the Band of Bastards; Is illiterate; Has black hair, navy blue eyes and a cleft lip; His favorite weapon is the scythe; Wants to usurp Wrath's throne; Is in love with the Chosen Layla who is carrying Quinn's baby
• Throe: "Throe, son of Throe" - Xcor's second in command; Good with computers; Has golden hair and sky blue eyes; Previously part of the glymera; Was disowned by his family for 'hiring' Xcor to kill the male who defiled his sister
• Zypher: One of the Band of Bastards; Is very handsome; Referred to as a 'porn star'.
• Balthazar: One of the Band of Bastards; Syphon & Syn's cousin; Is a thief
• Syphon: One of the Band of Bastards; Balthazar & Syn's cousin; An assassin
• Syn: One of the Band of Bastards; Balthazar & Syphon's cousin; He is only known as 'Syn' as he has no real name and too many sins to count
• Elan: "Elan, son of Larex" - Member of the glymera; Council member; Is helping Xcor with his plans to usurp Wrath's throne
• Assail: "Assail, son of Assail" - Member of the glymera; Son of a Brother and a fallen Chosen; Is tall and sinfully handsome with black hair and tan skin; His eyes are an impossible color somewhere between silver and violet and pale blue; Is filling the void left by Rehvenge in Caldwell's drug trade
• Ehric: Assail's cousin; Works with Assail as security; Is the older identical twin by a matter of minutes; A mirror image of his brother; Is heavily muscled with dark eyes in a handsome face
• Ehric's twin: Assail's cousin; Ehric's identical twin; Works with Assail as security; Is the younger twin by a matter of minutes; A mirror image of his brother; Is heavily muscled with dark eyes in a handsome face
• Sola Morte: "Marisol" - A cat burglar hired by Ricardo Benloise to spy on Assail; Is tall with long legs; Has long, dark hair and dark eyes
• Yesenia Carvalho: Sola's Brazilian grandmother; 80 years old
• Mark Sanchez: Sola's friend and personal trainer; A very tall, very well-built man with very dark hair and very pale eyes
• Vincent DiPietro: A wealthy man; Owns a real estate development company
• Big Rob: Bouncer at the Iron Mask
• Silent Tom: Bouncer at the Iron Mask
• The Omega: He is the opposite of the Scribe Virgin; Creator of the lessers; The Scribe Virgin's brother
• Mr. C: "C-Rider" - "Connors" - Most recent Fore-lesser
• The Bloodletter: Vishous & Payne's father; A terrible man; Formerly of the Black Dagger Brotherhood; Trained Darius in battle
• Ricardo Benloise: Drug supplier; Owns an art gallery as a front for his drug business; Eduardo's brother; A diminutive gentleman with dark eyes
• Eduardo Benloise: Ricardo's brother controls the money.
• AnsLai: High Priest of the s'Hisbe
• The Princess: Symphath princess who used to blackmails Rehvenge; Rehvenge's half-sister
• Lash: Half-vampire son of The Omega; Former leader of the Lessening society; After nearly being killed by his cousin, Qhuinn, for brutally assaulting John in a fight, Lash's true legacy was revealed to him by The Omega; He murdered his vampire parents and lead deadly raids on the glymera; Is now deceased

Quotes edit see section history

• “Will you get off me?" "But I'm giving you CPR--" "I will die before kissing you, Hollywood.”

  Zsadist and Rhage

• “Do not make me grab your h*rd-*n to prove my point”

  iAm to Trez

• “And yet he couldn't see to help himself. Standing in the tiled room, with the scent of Lysol disinfectant in his nose, and the lip of the counter he was leaning against biting into his a$$, he realized this was the moment he started to love his young. Right here, right now.”

  Thought by Qhuinn

• “Your family is right here. Waiting for you...and we love you.”

  Qhuinn

• “Calm down, son. You know the rules. None of us can be out alone, so I need your a$$ in that seat or I'm violating my own godd@mn protocol.”

  Tohr to Blay

• “Excuse me, son. What did you say? 'Cuz I know you didn't just f-bomb me, did you.”

  Tohr to Qhuinn

• “I am not in love with her. She is not in love with me. We are not sleeping together.”

  Qhuinn to Blay

• “Don't hit me with that thing, will you, V?" "It'd be a spanking you'd never forget, I promise you.”

  Qhuinn and V

• “I'm in love with you.”

  Saxton to Blay

• “He threatened to castrate Hollywood if there was any kind of liplock.”

  Blay

• “I just wanted you to be okay...I just...wanted you...to be okay-oh, God...for your daughter...I just wanted you to be okay...”

  Qhuinn

• “He brought me home safe to my shellan and my little female tonight. At the risk of his own life.”

  Zsadist

• “I don't care who you are mated to, or whether they have blond hair or black hair, blue or green eyes, male or female parts-as long as you are happy, that's all I worry about. I want for you what you want for yourself.”

  Blay's mom

• “With all due respect, the ligature marks around my neck would suggest otherwise.”

  Saxton

• “Let. Him. Go.”

  Layla

• “You and I are sisters in my mother's tyranny-casualties of her grand plan for the way things must be. We were both jailed by her in different ways, you as a Chosen, myself as her blooded daughter. There is nothing I will not do to aid you.”

  Payne

• “Any more and you could make a s'more our of the son of a b!tch.”

  Rhage

• “We are awesome.”

  Rhage

• “And yet though others would have called him ugly because of his deformity, to her...he was beautiful.”

  Thought by Layla

• “I have been in love with you for years and years and years...throughout school and training...before transitions and afterward...when you approached me and yes, even now that you're with Saxton and you hate me. And that...sh!t...in my f@cking head locked me down, locked everything down...and it cost me you.”

  Qhuinn

• “Because I was, and I remain, utterly and completely and totally...in love with you.”

  Blay

• “Before he could finish, Qhuinn was in front of him yet again, and those blue and green eyes were burning. "What," Blay said. "I owe you . . . everything.”

  Qhuinn and Blay

• “The kiss was the kind that you remembered all your life, the connection forged with such totality that everything from the feel of the body against your own, to the warm slid of another’s lips on yours, to the power as well as the control, was etched into your mind...”

  Qhuinn and Blay

• “How hard can it be to fly a plane?”

  Rhage

• “Not leaving-gotta fly this deathtrap until we hit something.”

  Qhuinn

• “My nalla, come inside.”

  Zsadist

• “Holy sh!t, son, I didn't know you could fly a plane.”

• “Well, that's a great plan as far as you're concerned. But I'm getting naked right now-and I will be walking out like that if I must. Stay and watch if you like - or you could try to touch me, but I believe that would be considered another violation of some sort or another for you, wouldn't it.”

  Layla

• “I, Zsadist, son of Ahgony, inducted in the two hundred and forty-second year of the reign of Wrath, son of Wrath, hereby nominate Qhuinn, an orphan in the world, for membership unto the Black Dagger Brotherhood.”

  Zsadist

• “Eights a good number. A lucky number.”

  Wrath

• “Anyone tell you that you sound like Dracula with that accent?”

  Sola

• “Well. Aren't you dangerous”

  Sola

• “Be careful," he said in a low voice. "I take offense quite readily, and my temper is not easily assuaged.”

  Assail

• “Guess what you're going to do first, *sshole?" Qhuinn growled. "You're going to apologize for treating her like a godd*mn incubator.”

  Qhuinn

• “If any harm shall befall him, I will come after you, and find you where you sleep. I do not care where you lay your head or who with, my vengeance shall rain upon you until you drown.”

  Layla

• “The blissed-out, floating aftermath was too glorious to spoil, his body at once hypersensitive and numb, hot and temperate, sore and satiated.”

  Thought by Blay

• “Blaylock, son of my beloved hellren, exactly what kind of an idiot do you think I am?”

  Blay's mom

• “Use me.”

  Qhuinn

• “F*ck my cousin, it's got nothing to do with him for me. If you were alone, I'd still be right on this carpet, on my knees, wanting to be with you. If you were mated to a female, if you were dating someone all casual and sh!t, if you were in a million different places in life...I'd still be right here. Begging you for something, anything-one time, if that's all you've got.”

  Qhuinn

• “He just wanted to live, honestly and out front, with no apology. Like everyone else. To love who he loved, be who he was...”

  Thought by Blay

• “No. I couldn't believe it, either-and I'm afraid I left there under less than optimal circumstances. He reduced me to an object, as if I am of no concern at all...naught but a repository-”

  Layla

• “Please be red, please be red, please be-”

  Thought by Qhuinn

• “Love 'em or hate 'em, by blood or by heart, family was a kind of oxygen. Necessary for living.”

  Thought by Qhuinn

• “Kill me...brother...mine.”

  Luchas

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Caldwell, New York: "Caldie"
• The Sanctuary: Where all the Chosen used to live with the Scribe Virgin on the Other Side.
• The Other Side: "The Far Side" - Realm of the Scribe Virgin
• The Iron Mask: Goth nightclub in Caldwell; Was Rehvenge's second club; Is now owned by Trez
• Sal's Restaurant: Italian restaurant in Caldwell; Owned by iAm
• London, England
• The Commodore: A luxury apartment building in downtown Caldwell
• Benloise Art Gallery
• Brownswick School for Girls: A defunct prep school
• The Fade: Nontemporal realm where the dead reunite with their loved ones and pass eternity.
• The Territory
• Manhattan: "New York City"
• West Point, New York
• Adirondack Great Camp
• ZeroSum: Was Rehvenge's first nightclub; Had a Eurotrash kind of vibe; Rehv blew it up to stage his own death
• Florida

Organizations edit see section history

• Black Dagger Brotherhood: "BDB" - 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 except 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, e.g., a gunshot or stab to the heart, etc.
• The Lessening Society: Order of slayers convened by the Omega for the purpose of eradicating the vampire species.
• Band of Bastards: "BoB" - Group of vampire warriors led by Xcor
• Murphy's Towing: The Brotherhood's fake towing company
• Caldwell Police Department: "CPD"

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• 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.
• Blood Slave: Male or female vampire who has been subjugated to serve the blood needs of another. The practice of keeping blood slaves has largely been discontinued, though it has not 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 mated 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 that practice 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. Doggens 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.
• Hyslop: A term referring to a lapse in judgment, typically resulting in the compromise of the mechanical operations or rightful possession of a vehicle or other motorized conveyance of some kind. For example, leaving one's keys in one's car as it is parked outside the family home overnight, said oversight resulting in felonious joyrides by unknown third parties, is a hyslop.
• Leahdyre: A person of power and influence.
• Leelan: A term of endearment loosely translated as 'dearest one'.
• 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 blonde, 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.
• Lhenihan: A mythic beast renowned for its sexual prowess. In modern slang, it refers to a male of preternatural size and sexual stamina.
• Lys: Torture tool used to remove the eyes.
• Mahmen: Mother. Used both as an identifier and a term of affection.
• 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: Virgin
• The Omega: Malevolent, mystical figure who has targeted the vampires for extinction out of resentment directed towards the Scribe Virgin. Exists in a non-temporal 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 the vampire aristocracy, second only to 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. Exists in a non-temporal 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.
• Sympath: 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, they must drink the blood of the opposite sex to survive and are unable to withstand sunlight. Occurs generally in the 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.
• s'Hisbe: Describe this term.
• UnKnowables: "UK"

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by Lover Reborn.

Preceded by Lover Reborn.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. J. R. Ward (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3623.A73227 L675 2013
• Dewey: 813.6

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Explicit Sexual Content, Violence, Language

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Romance › Vampires
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Urban
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• J.R. Ward: Author's Website

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