Sherrilyn Kenyon - Alterant

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New York Times bestselling authors

Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love

Praise for Book 1
in their action-packed Belador series

BLOOD TRINITY

Kenyon and Love have masterfully constructed a fascinating world where the bizarre is totally believable and the uniquely interesting characters are appealingly captivating.... An ingenious urban fantasy with imaginative magical scenarios, characters who grab your every thought, and more than a few unpredictable turns.

Single Titles

A fantastic start to a new urban fantasy series. The world built by Kenyon and Love [is] intriguing, but the characters populating that world are irresistible.... I am finding it difficult to wait for the next book to find out what happens.

Fresh Fiction

Very readable.... All the threads are neatly woven.... Meticulous plotting and thorough worldbuilding add up to a whole lot of interesting characters.

Romantic Times

Also by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love

Blood Trinity
Silent Truth
Whispered Lies
Phantom in the Night

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2011 by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna L. Snell

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Pocket Star Books paperback edition October 2011

POCKET STAR BOOKS and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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Designed by Peng Olaguera/ISPN
Cover design and illustration by Tony Mauro

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN 978-1-4391-9524-6
ISBN 978-1-4391-9527-7 (ebook)

Wed like to dedicate this book to Cassondra Murray,
whose attention to detail has made all the difference
in early reads of many of our books.

FROM SHERRILYN AND DIANNA

Thank you to our family, friends, and fans. We love you all and couldnt do this without you! You rock!

A special hug to our husbands, whose endless support means the world to us. They tolerate the chaotic lives of two authors who are constantly typing and traveling. A special thanks goes to Cassondra Murray and Mary Buck-ham for beta reads and terrific feedback, plus being major support at any time, day or night. And thanks to Debbie Kaufman, another early reader, who read in the midst of celebrating her first sale. I also wanted to thank Wes and Ann Sarginson for their help in researching Costa Rica with me (Dianna).

A major thank-you to Louise Burke, a publisher whose passion for this business is clear in all she does, and thank you to our talented editor Lauren McKenna, whose spot-on editing makes the creation process a pleasure. We have to send a high-five to the Pocket Art Department, who has once again outdone themselves on giving us a cover to die for. And we so appreciate the brilliant job Robert Gottlieb of Trident Media Group does of guiding and managing our careers.

Last, but never least, we want to thank the readers who come out to see us in every city, send encouraging messages that touch our hearts, and read our stories so that we may continue doing what we love most. You mean the world to us. We love to hear from you anytime, at authors@beladors.com, or stop by www.SherrilynKenyon.com and www.AuthorDiannaLove.com

ALTERANT

W hats a girl to wear to spend eternity in prison? Evalle Kincaid would rather fight a pack of demons alone than face the Tribunal at midnight.

Seventy-two minutes from now.

She might walk free tonight... if the Tribunal took into account that shed spent the last forty-eight hours protecting humans from an eight-hundred-year-old warlord instead of mounting her defense.

Like it was her fault shed been born a half-breed Belador? An Alterant. The only one not dead or caged. The others had killed humans. Taking the Belador oath at eighteen had kept her free of persecution... until now.

One thing at a time, like getting dressed. She had to show up in more than a bra and panties.

She pulled out her favorite cotton shirt, a vintage piece, from her antique chest of drawers. Stepping into jeans and boots, she shoved a couple of lug nuts in her pocket and froze.

Her apartment was too silent.

Not a lot of noise reached two levels beneath downtown Atlanta when you lived in the equivalent of a concrete bunker.

But this stillness was a something-must-be-up quiet.

She headed out to investigate and had just reached the hallway when a harsh blowing noise roared in the kitchen.

It sounded like... a giant blowtorch.

Grace be to Macha, no!

She broke into a run and swung through the kitchen doorway as another blast rocked the air. Feenix!

Her two-foot-tall pet gargoyle stood facing the open oven with fire shooting from his snout. He stopped blowing flames and cut his big round eyes up at her in a sly who me? innocent look. Ye-eth?

If she laughed right now hed never learn that he couldnt shoot flames in the apartment. But she kept her voice calm and curious. What are you doing?

That must have been the right question. He turned to face her and started dancing from side to side on fat little four-toed feet. Thurrr-prithe! Peetha. Peetha. He clapped his pudgy-clawed hands and chortled.

She stepped further into the kitchen and bent down to see one of her frozen pepperoni pizzas charred beyond recognition on one side.

Hed cooked for her.

Her heart climbed into her throat. How was she going to live without him if they locked her away? He was the reason her heart sang every morning when she opened her eyes. Shed find him plopped on the bed next to her with his pet alligator tucked under his arm and a gap-toothed grin on his face.