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DEEP IS THE NIGHT: NIGHT WATCH
An Ellora’s Cave Publication, February 2004
Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.
PO Box 787
Hudson, OH 44236-0787
ISBN MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-84360-791-3
Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned):
Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), Mobipocket (PRC) & HTML
DEEP IS THE NIGHT: NIGHT WATCH © 2004 DENISE A. AGNEW
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales
is purely coincidental. They are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.
Edited by Martha Punches.
Cover art by Scott Carpenter .
DEEP IS THE NIGHT: NIGHT WATCH
Denise A. Agnew
Denise A. Agnew
“The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague.
Who shall say where one ends and one begins?”
Edgar Allan Poe, The Premature Burial
Prologue
Pine Forest, Colorado
Tunnels beneath the Gunn Inn
The ancient one lay on the dirt floor in his new hideaway, listening to the rhythmic
moans and sighs of a young couple having sex upstairs in the inn.
More time to heal and he would have the strength to feed on the foolish,
unsuspecting humans. The thousand year old vampire tasted opportunity not far from
reach as it called to him with the scent of sweat and sex. He would break from his
shelter and tear into the humans, glorying in their screams and the spurt of tasty blood.
A craving built in his system, burning like fire along his veins.
Smells, like those of rotting death, called to him. These tunnels harbored more evil
than just his own, and he planned to tap into that iniquity soon. Down in these depths,
he felt regeneration of power. Those who had hunted him would rue the day they’d
attacked him.
His body, dead but not dead, struggled to rid itself of damage inflicted by a silver
bullet. His entire side throbbed with each breath. How long had it been? Two days since
vampire hunters Ronan Kieran, Lachlan Tavish, and sweet Dasoria—
No. She called herself Erin Greenway, but she only inhabited the woman’s body.
Whether she would admit it to herself or not, she would again be Dasoria and belong to
him.
He shifted, angered at the thought of his Dasoria turning on him. Revenge tore at
his insides, urging him to leave this sanctuary and wreck havoc on her life. He could
kill her current lover, Lachlan Tavish, then finish off her friend, Gilda. She would be
pliant then and willing to give herself to her true nature.
Some satisfaction could be obtained in blind, hateful vengeance. Then something
stopped his escalating abhorrence.
Perhaps his mistake was in thinking Erin would realize she’d been reincarnated. He
couldn’t afford haste this time. That had been his mistake. Somehow he would force her
to acknowledge her undead heritage.
Settling more easily into his curative state, he waited for the right time to resurrect
from the darkness.
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Deep is the Night: Night Watch
Ronan, Tavish, and Erin underestimated him. They didn’t understand that once he
regenerated he would arise more potent than before. Then all their machinations would
come to nothing.
With a soft chuckle he settled into a vampire’s deepest sleep.
* * * * *
Erin’s breath came quickly, her chest on fire as she raced through the woods in
pursuit of the bird of prey, the gargoyle flapping its horrid wings in the night. She
aimed her weapon upward, hoping upon hope she would hit the creature and release
its captive.
Red eyes like a demon turned to glance back at her. Fear rose like a violent ocean,
threatening and unrelenting in its menace. Sweat broke out over her body as she
tracked the animal threatening everything she knew.
The inhuman. The undead. The ancient one.
Sweetheart wake up .
She heard Lachlan’s voice somewhere in her mind, urging her to awaken and leave
behind the sinister dreams that often haunted her.
Branches reached out for her like skinny, naked arms. Dead limbs slapped her in
the face, the sting sharp and angry as they scraped flesh. The trees hated her, as the
gargoyle did, and they would do anything to keep her from reaching the only man
she’d ever love. Fingers sprouted at the end of the branches and grasped at her.
“No! No!” She screamed the words, knowing if she gave up now she would be
doomed and so would her beloved Lachlan.
The faster she ran, the quicker the gargoyle retreated, its hulking form sailing out of
reach with Lachlan hanging from its hooked claws.
A feather light touch inside her brain said, Erin, it’s me. Come on now, you’re having a
nightmare.
She wanted to break from the dream, but darkness held her in a tight grip.
It’s a dream, lass. Only a dream. I’m safe and near you.
She reached out with her mind. I know.
Then come back to me. I love you. I want you.
Erin snapped from the dream with a gasp, her eyes dazzled by the mild glow of the
bedside table lamp. Lachlan’s powerful arms tightened around her, his naked chest
pressing against her bare breasts as he murmured soothing words to her. Right away
she recognized her bedroom and a sigh of relief flooded her. An emerald green paisley
comforter lay over the bed, and she pulled it up over them.
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