Never Again Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  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

  Teaser chapter

  “Bardsley is one gifted storyteller!”—Romantic Times

  Praise for Michele Bardsley’s Wizards of Nevermore Series

  Never Again

  “Michele Bardsley’s Never Again combines all the suspense and excitement of a magical tale with the sensual allure of a sweet and passionate love story. I hope there’s a sequel in the works because I can’t wait to visit the good folks of Nevermore again.”

  —Jeanne C. Stein, national bestselling author of the Anna Strong, Vampire novels

  “High-octane urban fantasy at its sexiest. Michele Bardsley is the master!”

  —Mario Acevedo, author of Werewolf Smackdown

  “Darkly superb, sinfully sexy—Never Again should be read over and over again!”

  —Dakota Cassidy, national bestselling author of the Burning Down the Spouse

  “Bardsley pulls no punches, opening this new series with a book that’s gritty, sexy, and absolutely captivating. I never wanted Never Again to end.”

  —Nicole Peeler, author of Tempest Rising

  “Grim and whimsical, sexy and sinister, Never Again is a wicked paranormal triumph and a clever twisty homage to Poe with a splash of Lovecraft. I loved it!”

  —Mark Henry, author of Happy Hour of the Damned

  “Wow! Never Again is a gripping addition to the paranormal genre. I loved this tale of lost characters finding each other in a world of intriguing magical realities and eerie small-town secrets.”

  —Carolyn Crane, author of Mind Games

  “Never Again sizzles when it should, but doesn’t skimp on the murder, magic, or intrigue. This one deserves a spot on any romance lover’s bookshelf.”

  —J. F. Lewis, author of ReVamped

  Praise for Michele Bardsley’s Broken Heart Series

  Come Hell or High Water

  “The sex scenes are molten, the main characters engaging yet deliciously flawed, and the story line keeps you hooked from first page to last.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “Bardsley has brought us another amazing story. . . . Phoebe and Conner’s struggle between their feelings for each other and what they must do is captured by Bardsley’s endless wit and humor.”

  —Night Owl Romance

  “Bardsley is a true gift to the literary world. . . . It takes little more than a page or two to suck the reader back in and remind them why Broken Heart is one of their favorite places to visit.”

  —Bitten by Books

  Over My Dead Body

  “The latest chapter in Bardsley’s delightfully humorous series launches the action quickly and adds more danger to the mix.”

  —Romantic Times (4½ stars)

  “A great paranormal romance that I would definitely recommend to readers who enjoy a fast-paced story that will leave them guessing until the end.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “[Bardsley’s] writing inspires emotions that will have you sobbing and then laughing hysterically with just the turn of a few pages.”

  —Bitten by Books

  Wait Till Your Vampire Gets Home

  “Has action aplenty and a free-spirited, wittily sarcastic heroine who will delight fans.”—Booklist

  “Bardsley has one of the most entertaining series on the market. The humor and wackiness keep hitting the sweet spot. Add Bardsley to your auto-buy list!”

  —Romantic Times (top pick, 4½ stars)

  Because Your Vampire Said So

  “Lively, sexy, out of this world—as well as in it—fun! Michele Bardsley’s vampire stories rock!”

  —New York Times bestselling author Carly Phillips

  “Five Ribbons! I laughed nonstop from beginning to end. . . . Michele Bardsley always creates these characters that leave readers feeling like they are our next-door neighbors.”—Romance Junkies

  Don’t Talk Back to Your Vampire

  “Cutting-edge humor and a raw, seductive hero makes Don’t Talk Back to Your Vampire a yummylicious treat!”

  —Dakota Cassidy

  “A fabulous combination of vampire lore, parental angst, romance, and mystery. I loved this book!”

  —Jackie Kessler, author of Hotter Than Hell

  “A winning follow-up to I’m the Vampire, That’s Why filled with humor, supernatural romance, and truly evil villains.”

  —Booklist

  I’m the Vampire, That’s Why

  “From the first sentence, Michele grabbed me and didn’t let me go! A vampire mom? PTA meetings? A sulky teenager? Throw in a gorgeous, ridiculously hot hero and you’ve got the paranormal romance of the year. Get this one NOW.”—MaryJanice Davidson

  “Hot, hilarious, one helluva ride. . . . Michele Bardsley weaves a sexily delicious tale spun from the heart.”

  —L.A. Banks

  “A fun, fun read!”

  —Rosemary Laurey

  “Michele Bardsley has penned the funniest, quirkiest, coolest vampire tale you’ll ever read. It’s hot and funny and sad and wonderful, the kind of story you can’t put down and won’t forget. Definitely one for the keeper shelf.”

  —Kate Douglas

  OTHER BOOKS BY MICHELE BARDSLEY

  PARANORMAL ROMANCES

  Cross Your Heart

  Come Hell or High Water

  Over My Dead Body

  Because Your Vampire Said So

  Wait Till Your Vampire Gets Home

  Don’t Talk Back to Your Vampire

  I’m the Vampire, That’s Why

  EROTICA

  Cupid Inc.

  Fantasyland

  SIGNET ECLIPSE

  Published by New American Library, a division of

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  First published by Signet Eclipse, an imprint of New American Library,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  First Printing, March 2011

  Copyright © Michele Bardsley, 2011 All rights reserved

  SIGNET ECLIPSE and logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retri
eval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-47744-1

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  For Reid

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I would like to thank Claire Zion for asking me, “Do you have another series idea?” and for letting me answer that question with the Wizards of Nevermore.

  I’m extremely grateful to Agent Awesome, aka Stephanie Kip Rostan, and the wonderful Monika Verma, who handle the hard parts of the business and let me write (and whine . . . er, a lot).

  I adore my editor, Laura Cifelli, and the scarily efficient Jesse Feldman. They are the reason I write better books. In fact, I owe a world of thanks to all of Team NAL. They are dedicated and brilliant. As the song (Glee version, of course) says, “My life would suck without you.”

  I would like to express my eternal gratitude to my Minions and to all my fans everywhere. Because of you, I live my dream every day. I write. You read. We make a good team, you know? And finally I would like to thank my children. You make life interesting, and best of all, you make me laugh. Not always on purpose, but still . . . I love you beyond reason. Even when you’re making me freaking crazy. (No, really. Love you lots.)

  And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,

  And the lamplight o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

  And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted—nevermore!

  —From “The Raven,” Edgar Allan Poe

  Origins of the Magicals and the Mundanes

  Once, all humans could touch magic.

  Then the world fell into terror and ruin. Magic became a weapon of cruelty, of war.

  The heart of the Goddess broke.

  It was She who severed the link between humans and magic. But the world did not become a better place. Humans born without the innate ability to connect to the sacred energies were even more susceptible to the Dark One’s influence.

  The Goddess decided to return magic through the bloodlines of six champions, pure in heart and in spirit. To keep the balance, She gave each a specific element to use and to protect. So that they would remember their responsibilities to the earth and its creatures, She asked them to choose a symbol.

  Jaed, keeper of fire, chose dragon; Olin, keeper of air, picked hawk; Kry, keeper of water, took shark; Leta, keeper of earth, asked for wolf; Drun, keeper of life, wanted sun; and Ekro, keeper of death, chose raven.

  The Goddess imbued each symbol with the essence of the living things that represented Her Chosen. These emblems were etched into the very flesh of the champions, that they might remember their purpose—to protect life and keep the balance.

  Only their progeny could access the sacred energies, and they became known as magicals. Those who had no elemental connections became known as mundanes.

  As time passed, the purity of the Chosen’s lines was weakened, compromised, changed. Powers intermixed, and the line of Drun nearly died out completely. However, every so often, a magical would be born with the ability to control life, and these rare beings became known as thaumaturges.

  Two thousand years ago, the Romans created five Houses: House of Dragons, House of Hawks, House of Wolves, House of Sharks, and House of Ravens. They also created the first Grand Court, made up of representatives from the Houses, to govern all magicals. The original building in Rome is still used today. (Not long after the American Revolution, a second Grand Court was established in Washington, D.C.) Children who showed strong connections with a particular element aligned with the appropriate House and were trained by Masters in the magical arts. As a sign of loyalty to both their heritage and their House, all members were tattooed with the symbols chosen by their ancestors—a tradition still strongly adhered to.

  Though governed separately, most magicals and mundanes live side by side all over the world. Some choose to live within communities created to serve only their own kind, and others align with a particular House to gain their protections.

  Whether magical or mundane, there is one truth that binds all: It is the heart of human struggle to seek balance between good and evil.

  Prologue

  Ten years ago . . .

  Gray Calhoun shut the front door behind him and paused in the foyer, his skin prickling. The entire house was dark and quiet. Typically, their housekeeper greeted him, standing as his wife’s sentry to make sure he took off his shoes and put away his Court robes. It was strange not to hear Cook’s usual dinner-preparation noises—pots banging and Swedish curse words flying.

  The silence—and the sense of emptiness—unsettled him.

  “Kerren?” he called out.

  “Upstairs,” she answered.

  He breathed a sigh of relief. This morning, after the shocking revelation about the Rackmores hit the Grand Court’s chambers, she’d called him before he’d even gotten their home number dialed. “Stay there, Gray. Do your job. I’m fine. I have you, remember?”

  “Damn the Grand Court,” he’d said, and she’d laughed, then made him promise not to come home early. He wanted to hold his wife, and tell her he didn’t care that she was a Rackmore. He loved her—and love meant loyalty. His heart aching, he moved toward the staircase.

  “Don’t you dare come up here with those shoes on!”

  He looked down at the foot hovering over the first polished wood stair, and chuckled. The knots in his stomach unfurled. Feeling lighter in spirit, he returned to the foyer and toed off his shoes.

  They’d been married for nearly two years, after a whirlwind six-month courtship. Kerren’s parents had welcomed their engagement announcement far more easily than his mother. Leticia Calhoun had thrown every excuse possible at him: You’re too young. You’re too new to the Grand Court. You’re a Dragon. She’s a Raven. And on and on. Eventually, though, she’d given her blessing.

  Despite his mother’s worries, he was happily married, and his career was on the fast track. His mediation of several ongoing internal disputes within the House of Dragons led to unheard-of cooperation, and creative resolutions. The success of those negotiations gained him many friends, a very few enemies, and, just last week, the highest accolade offered by any House: Wizard of Honor.

  He put his shoes in the foyer closet, and took off his robes, hanging them up. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised that his wife had given the staff the day off. When the world felt the reverberations of what some were calling the “great reckoning,” all hell had broken loose.

  The wealth of every single Rackmore had disappeared.

  All day, details had been plucked from speculation and rumors until an enterprising scholar had dug through the Great Library’s archives. He’d found a single diary entry from Pickwith Rackmore, Earl of Mersey—a well-known Raven who’d risen in that House’s ranks quickly in the sixteenth century. Pride radiated in the words the man wrote about a ritual in which his entire family had called forth a demon lord. They’d made a bargain for wealth—a whole “spin straw into gold” scenario that would last five hundred years. The most sickeni
ng part detailed the sacrifice of the earl’s youngest daughter and her husband.

  They hadn’t cared that later generations would reap what they had sown. Death magic and collusion with demons were the two biggest sins a magical could commit. And not only had the Earl of Mersey and his family done both, but they’d also forever intertwined themselves with the House of Ravens.

  The fallout would be tremendous.

  But those were worries for later. Now he wanted to focus on the needs of his beautiful wife. Kerren was strong-willed and practical. If there was any Rackmore who could weather the storm, it would be her.

  Besides, she had him—and he would never abandon her.

  Gray took the stairs two at a time. It was dark upstairs, too, but he managed to find his way. Kerren stood in the middle of their richly appointed bedroom, which was cast in shadows, thanks to the single bedside lamp she’d left on.