After a moment he realized it was because he wasn’t alone. There was someone—or something—behind him.

He turned with the sluggish drag of dream-speed, his body wanting to whirl about like a dragonfly, darting, but hindered by air that was thick, and time that moved like molasses. When finally he spun around and faced that dark, invisible entity, he almost laughed, relieved and ashamed by his certainty of danger.

A white rabbit wearing a fedora sat with pricked ears and twitching nose on the leaf-strewn ground, munching a carrot.

“Hello, little rabbit,” said the Grand Minister, his voice echoing eerily off the trees. “You gave me quite a start!”

The rabbit dropped the carrot, sat up on its haunches, and looked at him. Its eyes glowed hellish red. From behind a nearby tree hopped another rabbit, white as the first, eyes just as red, sans the hat but with a waistcoat and pair of front teeth that seemed unnaturally . . . long.

Long, and sharp.

From its waistcoat pocket, the second rabbit produced a watch on a fob and chain. It tapped the face of the watch three times, and said in a soft, feminine voice, “Ticktock. Ticktock. Ticktock.”

The Grand Minister took a step back. And another.

The rabbit in the hat mused, “I wonder . . . do you remember me?” It waited a beat, watching him, then seemed to shrug. “No? Well, maybe I’ll give you a little hint to jog your memory.”

It grew, stretching taller. Haunches gave way to legs, fur gave way to skin, whiskers and pink nose gave way to a face he would recognize anywhere. Even here, in his own dream, where it never should have been able to sneak in. The other rabbit grew as well, and then he was staring in horror at two identical faces, two identical women, beautiful and lethal, the most terrifying things he had seen in all his long, long years.

“You!” he hissed, skin crawling, heart pounding in his chest. “Lumina Bohn!”

The monster that had been the rabbit in the fedora laughed, advancing. Its twin merely smiled.

“No,” it said with infinite calm. “My name isn’t Lumina. That little mouse is gone. My name is Hope. And this is my sister, Honor.” She gestured to her identical twin, who gave a mocking bow. The two of them kept slowly advancing with those terrible smiles as he kept stumbling back, gasping for breath, the trees crowding in all around.

Hope said, “And in regard to that question in your mind, the answer is yes.”

“What?” the Grand Minister asked, breathless, choking on his own horror.

Hope smiled grimly. “This is going to hurt.”

Without further delay, they proceeded to prove it to him.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost I must thank my husband, Jay, for all his support through this incredible journey I’ve been on over the past four years while writing the Night Prowler saga. I never, never, would have accomplished this without you. You’re the bedrock of my life. The best decision I’ve ever made was saying, “I do,” on that hot July day in Vegas seventeen years ago, and I choose you again and again, every day, because you’re amazing, and my best friend. I love you.

Thank you to my family, to my parents, Jim and Jean, for their encouragement, to my friends for their enthusiasm. Thank you to Marlene Stringer, my agent, and Maria Gomez and Kelli Martin, my editors at Montlake. Big thanks also to the team at Montlake and Amazon publishing for listening to and answering all my questions patiently through the years. And a big hug of gratitude to Eleni Caminis for acquiring the series, and becoming a wonderful friend. Melody Guy has provided me with incredible editorial advice on every book in this series, and I thank her from the bottom of my heart for her kind words about my work, and her insightful suggestions on how to make it better.

To my Street Team, Geissinger’s Gang, thank you so much for sharing my work with your friends and being so wonderfully loyal, enthusiastic, and nice. You’ve become more than just fans, you’ve become friends, and I’m so grateful to have your support as I continue writing. A shout-out to Gang member Erin Morgan Teuton for coming up with the name Sebastian Thorne!

Finally, thank you, dear reader. Books are magical things, entire worlds inside a few pages, and readers are the air of those worlds, the force that keeps books alive. I write for myself, but also for you. Thank you for living inside my world, if only for a little while. I hope you’ll join me again.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J.T. Geissinger is an award-winning author of paranormal and contemporary romance featuring dark and twisted plots, kick-ass heroines, and alpha heroes whose hearts are even bigger than their muscles. Her debut fantasy romance, Shadow’s Edge, was a #1 bestseller on Amazon US and UK, and won a Prism Award for Best First Book. Her follow-up novel, Edge of Oblivion, was a RITA Award finalist for Paranormal Romance from the Romance Writers of America. She has been nominated for numerous other awards for her work. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband.

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