Edge of Night, page 1
Welcome to the world of House Secrets
This book is the third of the House Secrets series and takes place after both As Dawn Breaks and Immortal Consequences. There exists a parallel between that House Secrets and the Blood Secrets trilogy as this is a continuation.
While the book can be read on its own, there are concepts and people in the Blood Secrets series and As Dawn Breaks which clarify some of the action in this story. It is recommended that you read those books first. However, I will include a brief introduction to the world, explain who is who on the introduction pages following and include a glossary of commonly used terms.
As Dawn Breaks
Genevieve is many things, but no single title fits her quite as accurately as ‘mutt’—the one bestowed by her vicious ex-boyfriend. She’s built a life, far from the family who’ve disowned her—one she’s proud of—as a police officer with the Paranormal Liaison Division, and hiding from the world.
David is brittle from his experiences with his ex-wife Alexa, the truth his parents duped him his whole life, and he’s trying to come to terms with the fallout of those beliefs, running a nest and feeling like an imposter.
A chance meeting between Genevieve and David opens up an opportunity for hope amid the grim realities of paranormal warfare.
Trusting each other may be their only choice, but the past always bites back and this time is no different.
Immortal Consequences
Niamh’s banishment from Ireland is as incomprehensible as it was unfair. A fairy thrust into the world of New York; she has to learn to make it on her own. Working as a cleaner in a hospital allows her to hide who and what she is, but an unfortunate incident almost reveals her secret.
When Simon, the Lord of Lycan’s first sets eyes on Niamh, he’s captivated, but he’s not the only one. Simon thinks money and power can buy her safety. He installs her in an apartment block the clan buys as an investment, aware of the restrictions she faces.
When the reality of her danger comes to the fore, Simon whisks Niamh away, but whoever is stalking her doesn’t give up easily.
They may both desire a life together, but danger is lurking around every corner.
Edge of Night
Pippa is terrified of her step father, Roger—a dangerous and cannibalistic paranormal. For years both Pippa and her twin Peter, have been prisoners, keeping his house and his home in order allowing him to pursue his desires. When Peter has a chance encounter with Simon, they finally have the support to make a run to freedom.
Maxim is a fairy trying to put his life back together, rather than hiding as he’s done for the last ten years. Niamh and Simon offer him a home, and a chance to finally achieve his desired career, but chance is a fickle thing, because next door is the timid Pippa and her twin Peter. She innocently ignites his protective side, against his will.
Roger doesn’t relinquish what is his easily, and the danger grows deeper. Pippa and Maxim along with Peter are moved to what should be a safer location, but the danger follows and while their attraction grows, so do the stakes.
Copyright © 2024 by Imogene Nix
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Ebook: 978-1-922369-67-3
Paperback: 978-1-922369-68-0
Editing by Pamela Tyler
Cover by Dexpress Covers
Contents
UK/English Disclaimer
Introduction
Glossary of Terms
Newsletter Signup
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
As Dawn Breaks
Star of Ishtar
The Blood Bride by Imogene Nix
Also by Imogene Nix
About the Author
Please note:
The UK and USA share the English language, but there are many words that are spelled differently. Some words have extra letters in the British spelling, such as the word cancelled. In American English, it is spelled canceled. There are also words that interchange the letters c or s and sometimes z. For example, in America, you spell offense and in Britain, it is written as offence.
Examples of words you’ll see in the book include: kerb, litre, centre, manoeuver, travelling and colour.
These spellings are not incorrect.
This book is written in UK English to reflect my Australian/English background.
Introduction
As the continuation of the Blood Secrets trilogy, some readers may come into the series, unknowing of what has gone before. This is a brief overview of The Blood Bride, The Illuminated Witch and The Sorcerer’s Touch to assist you to understand the world you are entering.
In The Blood Bride we meet Hope, daughter of the House and Xavier, the Vampire Master of the House of Tudor. He’s old and she’s very young, returning to a divided house where her father holds the title of Yeux Secondes. Her brother, David and parents are hostile, but neither quite as much as Alexa—David’s wife.
We learn about a secret in Hope’s blood which makes her a valuable asset and on more than one occasion the bad guys try to abduct her.
On returning from College she meets Xavier and is fascinated, but so is he. After an attack she is taken below stairs, into the vampire accomodation for safety and one thing leads to another and Xavier and Hope fall in love.
After an attack, Xavier is injured and she ends up feeding him and she becomes a vampire when things go a little far. She learns to stand on her own two feet and is now a formidable figure, just as we learn about the Alpha Vamp — Attar.
In The Illuminated Witch, we first meet Celina, our witchling orphan, except she doesn’t know she’s a witch. When illness strikes her down in front of the House of Tudor office building, she meets Javed, second vampire of the house, who will soon be invested with his own nest.
Her magic is swelling and dangerous and she needs assistance, the kind that comes with training. But along the way, there is danger.
As with Hope, she too falls for the Master of this new house but things aren’t straight forward. She’s abducted and when Javed finds her, she’s close to death. He turns her but not before they also finds three children among the many abductees. When Celina and Javed finally reunite as Vampires, they decide they will adopt the three girls—Lucy, Rachel and Marian. Though they aren’t actually blood siblings, they’ve survived together for years and don’t want to be split up.
In The Sorcerer’s Touch, Daniel joins Hope and Celina in making the choice to turn. He’s fallen for Mistress Vampire Cressida and is willing to give up everything for honour, duty and ultimately love.
Cressida and Hope end up adopting orphan nestling, Samantha as their daughter after an attack on another nest.
Together Hope and Xavier, Celina and Javed and Daniel and Cressida must fight the Alpha Vampire Attar, just as was foretold by the three women who are related to Attar, and turn up in all three books—Jemima, Daniella and Danicka.
Glossary of Terms
Consort The unofficial partner of a Master or Mistress
House The formal name for a nest - eg The House of Tudor
Life Partner The official partner of a Master of Mistress
Lycans Weres of any variety
Master The male head of a House
Mistress The female head of a House
Nest A formal title for a house of vampires
Nestling One who chooses to live within a vampire nest
Second The vampiric second of the Master/Mistress of a house.
Yeux Secondes The title bestowed on the human head of a house. Meaning ‘second eyes’ and equivalent to the Second.
Prologue
Phillipa sighed and rose from the lumpy bed in the corner. Dawn was still at least an hour away and she had to prepare the house. Thanks to her mother’s husband, Roger, she was little more than an unpaid housemaid, and every morning when she woke, it was to a cacophony of bodily aches.
“At least it’s better than Peter,” she muttered to herself as she threw on the dirty, stained dress Roger insisted she wear. Peter was forced to keep the grounds in order; he clipped and mowed, seeded, and harvested. Neither was allowed off the estate, because Roger claimed that was their father’s will before he died.
She scooped back her black hair and secured it into a messy bun on top of her head. She tried to recall the plan for the day, who would be calling and which meals she needed to prepare. She’d make breakfast while slipping foods to her brother, which she had done for years, to try to ensure he had the energy he needed for the day.
There were guests for the evening, and of course the house needed to be scrubbed from bottom to top, the washing completed, and mending in a basket waited for her too. “God, I hate my life,” she mutt
Scurrying up the stairs, she hustled to the kitchen and found Peter already dropping a supply of fruits and vegetables on the scarred table.
He grunted at the stairs, and they both glanced in that direction, making sure no one loitered, listening. Finally satisfied, he captured her gaze. “I’m done, Pip. Out of here. Come with me.”
She squinted. “But Roger—” She glanced over her shoulder again, that terror gnawing at her stomach.
“I’ve met someone who’s offered to help us, Pip. They’ll help us find a job and somewhere to live.”
Her guts churned. Our mother…
“You’re thinking of her again, aren’t you?” Peter snarled. “She doesn’t care about us, sis. We’re nothing more than unpaid slaves, rather than her children. Someone to use and abuse. Roger doesn’t want us here. He’ll just work us both into an early grave, and she won’t lift a finger. Never has, and she knows what he’s done to both of us. We deserve better.” Peter stepped up and gripped his sister’s hand. “If she won’t help us, we must help ourselves. Pip?”
God knew she hated this life. She hated not being appreciated. She hated the four walls of this house. If they left, she could do something with her life. She and Peter would be free.
What if it fails? asked the little voice inside her head, the one that always questioned her decisions. “I… I want to, Peter.”
He winced at the weakness in her voice. “Then let’s go, Pip.”
“But…” she whispered, and he cocked his head. Waited. “What if they can’t help us? What if Roger finds us?”
“We’ll be safe, I promise.” His eyes glinted in the dim light of a candle. They’d been reminded more than once, forcefully, that they weren’t entitled to use Roger’s electricity.
Her hands curled into a fist. “Promise?” The word was little more than a whisper.
“Promise.”
She gave a tiny nod. “I need my things.”
“What things?” Peter questioned bluntly. “They took everything—"
“I have Papa’s photos. I hid them.”
A long second passed before he snarled, “Get them quickly and let’s get out of here.”
She nodded, whirled, and headed to the tiny basement room, scrabbling in the mattress where she’d secreted their only proof of identity. She shoved the documents deep into her pocket and scooped up the old cape she used in cold weather and the ugly black shoes, so her feet would be protected. Before she left the room, she grabbed a package hidden behind the cans of fruits and vegetables—the photos she’d hidden for as long as she could remember—and slid it into her pocket then hurried back to her brother.
He reached for her hand. “We need to be quick. I’ve got the override password for the gate, but he’s due to change it today. We need to get out before he puts the new one in place.”
Phillipa nodded and followed him out the back door and down the gravel drive. They kept to the edge, out of sight of the bedroom at the front, knowing if Roger saw them… She shuddered and Peter slid an arm around her. At the gate, he lifted a small bag he’d secreted and slung it over his shoulder then opened the panel on the alarm, input the code, and the door opened slowly.
He tugged her forward, and for an instant fear paralysed her. “Pip?”
“Yeah,” she breathed and forced herself to move beyond the gate. Peter slid the metal gate shut behind them and urged her forward toward a vehicle.
Phillipa didn’t glance back, just followed her brother out into the world.
Chapter One
Maxim sighed. Niamh and Simon were blessed, he thought, then corrected himself. Niamh had suffered greatly with both the abduction and loss of her wings. Simon had been her rock, and not for the first time, Maxim wished he’d had a similar opportunity to be important to another person once more. Since his banishment he’d been alone. He knew others wanted to be there, to befriend and support him, but for years the shame had filled him.
It was only after Niamh’s example that he’d learned how important friends and family were.
“Maxim?” Ellen’s gentle query pulled him from introspection as they climbed into the vehicle.
“I apologise. I shall take you home now.”
Ellen smiled and patted his hand. “Thank you. It’s so nice to get out and see this area again. I so rarely escape the city.”
“I like it here. I can be me.” Something he couldn’t do in the city. A restriction he detested.
“Niamh was saying there’s a job opening at the clinic.” Ellen’s quiet statement surprised him.
“You’re thinking to leave the hospital?”
“No, Maxim. I was thinking of you. You don’t like the hospital, and neither do I. But I love the city, unlike you. I’ve seen how much you seem to unwind out here.”
He screwed up his nose, trying to sort out the meaning of her words. Unwind? His English was good, but not always sufficient to understand her words without some assistance. “I don’t understand.”
“I like the city. The busyness. The hustle and the noise. You seem to be into the quieter. I don’t see you being into the city. But here…” she said as she waved her hands, indicating the surrounding area, “I see you smile and interact. It’s like you change, Maxim. Niamh said if you want to take the chance, she’ll talk to the doctor. Simon has a house he can rent to you.”
An opportunity. One he wanted to take, but was he strong enough? “I don’t…”
“Think about it. Let her know if you’re interested, but Maxim, you aren’t alone. We’ll all help you. We’ve wanted to for years, and I know you don’t ever talk about what happened,” she said, and his stomach clenched at her gentle words, “but we all care about you. We want you to be happy.”
God knew he wanted to be, but wasn’t sure he could be. His past… He shied away from the truth he’d never shared and the reason he’d been banished. The reason he’d stayed apart from everyone. “I’ll think about it,” he murmured and started the car.
Phillipa shook as she waited for Peter. He’d told her on the way that they’d been offered help by a were pack, one who sought to help paranormals stuck in difficult situations. She wasn’t sure they technically were either, but she was grateful someone had offered to assist them.
Now they sat in the waiting room while the person in charge of the program made arrangements for them. A slight woman with a dark blonde pixie haircut framing her face and her piercing eyes a sparkling silvery grey. Everything about her screamed weak and fragile. “Phillipa? Peter? Follow me please. Oh, and I’m Niamh.”
Peter stood and reached out to Phillipa. She clutched her ragged cape close to her body and followed the woman, well aware her brother was just behind her. They entered a small room, and she gasped. It was beautiful, with deeply cushioned chairs, a small coffee table, the walls a calming peach tone.
“Please sit. Would you like a hot or cold drink? We’ve tea, coffee, and hot chocolate. If you prefer, there’s water, juices, or soft drinks.” More than a hint of Ireland coloured her tone.
Phillipa was shaking too much to form a word except, “I can’t sit. My clothes… They’re dirty.”
