Currently, the Consortium has two major projects:
1. Searching for information (including ancient spells and incantations) and magical artifacts from archaeological sites in the Sudan.
2. Creating the first community for parakind in the small, secluded town of Broken Heart, Oklahoma.
There are a few parakind villages throughout Europe, but most of these towns have not been created or endorsed by the Consortium. It is the Consortium’s hope that Broken Heart will one day be the prototype for humankind and parakind to live together in peace and prosperity.
THE CONSORTIUM GUIDELINES
1. The Consortium is a five hundred-year-old, not-for-profit organization created to facilitate relations between humans and nonhumans. It is run by a council of duly elected officers who serve on the board for one-hundred-year terms.
2. The Consortium’s primary purpose is the betterment of all Earth’s creatures through advances in science, technology, and medicine. Its secondary purpose is to build bridges between parakind and mankind so that one day, all sentient beings can live together in peace and prosperity. Our “bridge-building” is accomplished in many ways, and includes financing archaeological and historical research, creating safety zones for parakind, and donating funds to charitable causes.
3. Paranormal individuals interested in supporting the Consortium’s goals and submitting a financial donation of $100,000 or more may apply for full membership. All full members, once accepted, must also take a blood oath to uphold the Consortium’s code.
4. Humans may apply for associate membership if they will take an oath to keep the Consortium a secret, to never reveal the true nature of any paranormal creature among nonenlightened humans, and to protect the identities of the ruling council. Humans are not required to pay an annual fee.
5. The Consortium can revoke the membership of any full or associate member if the member violates the code, betrays other members, discloses the meeting places or identities of the ruling board, or fails to pay annual dues.
6. The Consortium agrees to house, protect, and offer compensation to humans Turned by members of the Consortium, whether or not the Turning was sanctioned.
7. Any Consortium member who murders, tortures, or perpetuates vile crimes on humankind or parakind will be sentenced by the ruling board. Such sentences can include imprisonment, banning, or death.
8. Lycans are the paid guardians of Consortium board members. Every member on the board will be assigned at least one guardian. Consortium members can also contract the services of a guardian or, if necessary, the ruling board can pay for the guardian protection of any of its full or associate members.
9. The Consortium has the right and the responsibility to protect the organization, its members—parakind and mankind—in any and all ways it sees fit. As long as the ruling board and the voting membership agree on its policies and procedures, the Consortium may employ any and all tactics necessary to preserve its mission and its members.
10. Padriag and Lorcan O’Halloran, as the founders of the Consortium, will have permanent places on the ruling council. However, just like all Consortium members, they are bound by the code and these guidelines.
Note: The current chairman of the Consortium council is Ivan Taganov of the Family Koschei.
GLOSSARY
Ancient: Refers to one of the original seven vampires. The very first vampire was Ruadan, who is the biological father of Patrick and Lorcan. Several centuries ago, Ruadan and his sons took on the last name of O’Halloran, which means “stranger from overseas.”
Banning: (see: World Between Worlds) Any vampire can be sent into limbo, but the spell must be cast by an Ancient or, in a few cases, their offspring. A vampire cannot be released from banning until he feels true remorse for his evil acts. This happens rarely, which means banning is not done lightly.
The Binding: When vampires have consummation (with any living person or creature), they’re bound together for a hundred years. This was the Ancients’ solution to keep vamps from sexual intercourse while blood-taking. No one has ever broken a binding.2
The Consortium: More than five hundred years ago, Patrick and Lorcan O’Halloran created the Consortium to figure out ways that parakind could make the world a better place for all beings. Many sudden leaps in human medicine and technology are because of the Consortium’s work.
Convocation: Five neutral, immortal beings given the responsibility of keeping the balance between Light and Dark.
Donors: Mortals who serve as sustenance for vampires. The Consortium screens and hires humans to be food sources. Donors are paid well and given living quarters. Not all vampires follow the guidelines created by the Consortium for feeding. A mortal may have been a donor without ever realizing it.
Drone: Mortals who do the bidding of their vampire Masters. The most famous was Renfield—drone to Dracula. The Consortium’s Code of Ethics forbids the use of drones, but plenty of vampires still use them.
ETAC: The Ethics and Technology Assessment Commission is the public face of this covert government agency. In its program, soldier volunteers have undergone surgical procedures to implant nanobyte technology, which enhances strength, intelligence, sensory perception, and healing. Volunteers are trained in use of technological weapons and defense mechanisms so advanced, it’s rumored they come from a certain section of Area 51. Their mission is to remove, by any means necessary, targets named as domestic threats.
Family: Every vampire can be traced to one of the seven Ancients. The Ancients are divided into the Seven Sacred Sects, also known as the Families.
Gone to Ground: When vampires secure places where they can lie undisturbed for centuries, they go to ground. Usually they let someone know where they are located, but the resting locations of many vampires are unknown.
Invisi-shield: Using technology stolen from ETAC, the Consortium created a shield that not only makes the town invisible to outsiders, but also creates a force field. No one can get inside the town’s borders without knowing specific access points, all of which are guarded by armed security details.
Loup de Sang: Commonly refers to Gabriel Marchand, the only known vampire-werewolf born into the world. He is also known as “the outcast.” (see: Vedere Prophecy)
Lycanthropes: Also called lycans. Can shift from a human into a wolf at will. Lycans have been around a long time and originate in Germany. Their numbers are small because they don’t have many females, and most children born have a fifty percent chance of living to the age of one.
Master: Most Master vampires are hundreds of years old and have had many successful Turnings. Masters show Turn-bloods how to survive as vampires. A Turn-blood has the protection of the Family (see Family) to which their Master belongs.
PRIS: Paranormal Research and Investigation Services. Cofounded by Theodora and Elmore Monroe. Its primary mission is to document supernatural phenomena and conduct cryptozoological studies.
Roma: The Roma are cousins to full-blooded lycanthropes. They can change only on the night of the full moon. Just as full-blooded lycanthropes are raised to protect vampires, the Roma are raised to hunt vampires.
Seven Sacred Sects: The vampire tree has seven branches. Each branch is called a Family, and each Family is directly traced to one of the seven Ancients. A vampire’s powers are related to his Family.
Soul shifter: A supernatural being with the ability to absorb the souls of any mortal or immortal. The shifter has the ability to assume any of the forms she’s absorbed. Only one is known to exist, the woman known as Ash, who works as a “balance keeper” for the Convocation.
Taint: The Black Plague for vampires, which makes vampires insane as their bodies deteriorate. Consortium scientists have had limited success finding a true cure.
Turn-blood: A human who’s been recently Turned into a vampire. If a vampire is less than a century old, she’s a Turn-blood.
Turning: Vampires perpetuate the species by Turning humans. Unfortunately, only one in about ten
humans actually makes the transition.
The Vedere Prophecy: Astria Vedere predicted that in the twenty-first century a vampire queen would rule both vampires and lycans, and would also end the ruling power of the Seven Ancients.
The prophecy reads: A vampire queen shall come forth from the place of broken hearts. The seven powers of the Ancients will be hers to command. She shall bind with the outcast, and with this union, she will save the dual-natured. With her consort, she will rule vampires and lycanthropes as one.
World Between Worlds: The place is between this plane and the next, where there is a void. Some people can slip back and forth between this “veil.” 2
Wraiths: Rogue vampires who banded together to dominate both vampires and humans. Since the defeat of the Ancient Koschei, they are believed to be defunct.
Read on for an excerpt from the next
romance from national bestselling author
Michele Bardsley.
In less than an hour dawn would taint the sky.
I stood in the backyard, looking up at the diamond twinkle of stars. Sleep tugged at me, impatient.
I resisted.
I stared at the velvet black night, playing connect the dots with the constellations. I was provoking the sunrise, rebelling against my vampire nature.
The same night I was gifted with demon powers.
October brought with it the first shiver of winter, the threat of snow. The undead didn’t really feel the cold, which is why I was barefoot in the chilled grass and wearing an oversized dress shirt that brushed my knees.
His shirt.
I pulled at the collar. I remembered the scent that once clung to the fabric. The woodsy aftershave had mixed with his unique male essence. Eventually I’d given in and washed the shirt; tonight it smelled like the crisp clean of Gain.
Phoebe.
I stiffened. Lately, my mind had been playing tricks on me. I heard Mackenzie’s Scottish-tinged voice in my head, in my heart. He used to say my name as if it were a prayer uttered to pagan gods. Some nights I dreamed that he was still alive. Trapped in the dark, he called and called to me, and I wandered through shadowy tunnels trying to find him.
We’d had one night together. The night we made Daniel. Then Mac had died. Stabbed during a mugging. Left to bleed in an alley in the wrong part of town.
He’d gone to meet someone about an ancient knick- knack. Nothing stirred Mackenzie’s passions like artifacts. Not big things like gilded treasures from a pharaoh’s tomb. Normal stuff intrigued him—staffs and feathers and beads.
I attended the funeral as his student, not his lover. I hadn’t been able to look his widow in the eye. She cried real tears, suffered genuine sorrow. I realized then that Mac wasn’t mine. He wouldn’t have left his wife, though he might’ve lied to keep me. And lied to keep her, too.
When I found out I was pregnant, I left Oklahoma State University and went home to Tulsa. To hell. It was my penance for what I had done. Mom was really good at guilt, at shame, at throwing acid on wounds.
Shuddering, I pried off the poisoned claws of her memories.
Phoebe.
Mac’s voice again. My undead heart skipped a phantom beat. Foreboding scrabbled in my belly; its frigid talons raked my spine.
The sky faded to Tyrian purple. I really needed to return to the house and crawl into bed. Exhaustion weighted my limbs; my body clamored for rest.
Still . . .
My little house abutted the crescent curve of the woods. I walked down the slight hill of my yard, the dead grass crunching under my feet. I stopped at the tree line and peered into the forest. If I were still capable of breathing, it might’ve been the only sound to hear.
Phoebe. Go in the house. It’s past your bedtime, lass.
“Mac?” I whispered. It was stupid to call for him, but I couldn’t stop myself. Sheesh. My imagination was outta control.
The stinging scent of pine mixed with the sweeter redolence of honeysuckle flowers. Honeysuckle bushes bloomed all over the place. Even in winter, when the plants slept, their light scent lingered.
Had I not been a vampire, I might not have had the courage to search for the source of my angst. It helped my bravery to know that the Invisi-shield was up and running. The technology not only made our little town of Broken Heart invisible; it created a force field that no one could penetrate. For the first time since the Consortium and its vampires had arrived, we were safe.
My two-year-old son slept peacefully in the house behind me, his room magically resistant to danger. The local Wiccans had blessed our home and wove their protection spells in Danny’s room. Nothing could harm him.
My undead Spidey senses tingled. Out in the dark, I sensed someone. Something.
I took a faltering step back, and then hesitated. I had nothing to fear. Too bad my body didn’t get the message. It was all about being afraid, and didn’t much care about my mental reassurances.
Seriously. What could hurt me, the vampire mom?
The bloodsucker brigade had strength, glamour, speed, and übersenses. In addition, each of the seven vampire Families had a particular talent. As a child of the Family Durga, I had the ability to summon and control demons. Woo. I also had the powers of demons, but accessing dark desires . . . well, sometimes I got uncomfortably close to delving into unsa vory temptations.
The icy wind carried another smell. The barest hint of rotten eggs tickled my nose. I studied the trees closest to me, watching shadows play tag. The stench strengthened and I stumbled backward.
Sulfur.
Demon.
Among the thick branches of the pine trees and the black crevices shielded from the lightening sky, the shadows I thought were tricks of light wiggled into one form.
Damn it! Run, you foolish woman. Run!
Mac’s voice again, urgent and chiding.
I spun around, slipping on the cold, slick grass. I went down on one knee. I popped back up and ran as fast as I could. It was too close to sunrise; my vamp speed failed me. Shit! My cell phone and Glock were in the house. So were my knives.
If I hadn’t stayed out here to tempt the sun’s rays, I wouldn’t be so weak. Orange streaked the sky. Any minute, the fiery orb would burst through the last of the indigo night and kill me.
No! My son was in that house, sleeping like an angel. No way would I die out here and leave Danny alone.
The porch was less than a foot way. Relief skidded through me. The door was within reach—I just had to get inside. Then neither the sun nor the demon could hurt me.
The evil bastard materialized in front of me. Reached out with sharp claws to grab my shoulders. Hauled me so close, I flattened my palms against its clammy flesh.
“Slayer,” it hissed. Its breath was so fetid, I gagged. It had marbled blue skin, which made it look as though a hyper kindergartner had painted it from horn to toe. It was seven feet tall, maybe taller, and had the creepiest yellow eyes I’d ever seen.
It was also naked. Demons did not have manners, much less a compulsion to clothe their ugly hides.
Its huge aroused cock pressed against my belly.
I wanted to throw up.
Demons always got hard-ons when they committed acts of evil. Sinning was their aphrodisiac.
Stupid, Phoebe. I should’ve gone inside. Gone to bed. Listened to my guts. Listened to Mac’s dead voice.
Too late for regrets.
I tried to cast a binding spell. My magic drifted onto the demon and melted like snowflakes.
Okay. That was bad.
The black sleep of the undead pulled me into a cloying embrace. I was falling into its dark pit. Right in the demon’s arms.
Fire erupted on my backside.
I screamed.
“Burn, slayer,” crowed the demon. “I will spit on your ashes.”
“Gross,” I muttered.
Pain slashed. Jagged, fiery, deadly.
I screamed again.
“Phoebe!” yelled a man’s voice. Uncannily like M
ac’s, down to the Scottish burr. But not in my head. Outside. Behind me.
I tried to keep my eyes open, eyes that couldn’t give in to the hot ache of tears. My vision grayed, my body went limp.
Danny. Oh my God. My baby.
“Phoebe,” cried the Scotsman again.
The demon who was so hoping for my death disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. I flopped to the ground. The sunrise stretched out lethal fingers of light and heat. Blood burbled in my throat. I started to convulse. Smoke curled upward from my sizzling flesh.
“Foolish woman.”
I couldn’t see the owner of the voice. Couldn’t see anything. He must’ve picked up my shaking form. Safe in his embrace, I fell into the encroaching darkness, away from the pain, away from the sun.
Then there was nothing.
1 Direct descendents of the first five families to found Broken Heart: the McCrees, the LeRoys, the Silverstones, the Allens, and the Clarks.
2 Johnny D’Angelo and Nefertiti’s mating was dissolved by a fairy wish. It is the only known instance of a binding being broken.
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