This is the final BOUND BY MAGICK book and it’s out November 5!

Lauren Dane’s “fresh, fun, fast-paced”* series comes to a thrilling conclusion as the heat of all out war fans the fires of an otherworldly romance…

The bombing that almost killed Owen witch Molly Ryan has worsened the tensions between the humans and the Others. While the Others desperately campaign to prevent the passage of a law that would strip their people of all rights, the human separatists develop an agenda far worse than anyone imagined. With her position more precarious than ever, security head Helena Jaansen finds herself relying more and more heavily on her personal guard, Faine Leviathan, and, despite her better instincts, falling more deeply into the intimate connection that they share.

 As Helena and Faine’s explosive passion grows, a deadly separatist plot is discovered, one which could bring ultimate destruction for the Others, and war breaks out between the two opposing factions. With the Others forced into hiding, Helena must overcome her fear of repeating past failures to save her people–and her heart–before it’s too late…

 

Bound By Magick: WILD DARKNESS by LAUREN DANE
Copyright 2013, Lauren Dane
All Rights Reserved, The Berkley Publishing Group
Available November 5 in mass market paper and digital formats

Faine walked ahead of her, opening the car door for her. The passenger side. Hm. She allowed it because she was beyond exhausted and driving in that state wasn’t advisable. He pulled away from the curb and away from the scene. But it was still in her nose. In her head. The faces of all those Others who depended on her to protect them.

And the sheet covering the one she couldn’t protect.

“I need to go back to the office.” She pulled her phone from her pocket as she spoke to him. Eleven new messages.

She listened to them, returned a few, sent a dozen emails and texts, and when she looked up again to take a breather, she noted he was getting off the freeway far short of Pasadena.

“Why are you getting off here?”

“You’re about to pass out. I’m taking you to my home.”

“I have a couch in my office.”

“You and your sister are very much alike.” He grumbled this under his breath, but she heard it and it made her smile.

“She has blue hair and an atrocious sense of fashion.”

“The outside doesn’t matter. Your insides are the same. Stubborn. Do you think you’ll be more effective if you work until you literally just fall over? Who will you be helping then?”

“You know how long I’ve been awake because you’ve been with me the whole time. I don’t see you getting into your jammies.”

“Jammies?”

“Pajamas. The clothes people sleep in.”

“I don’t sleep in any clothes.”

Christ. As if her fascination with him wasn’t bad enough, he had to put that image in her head?

But before she could really go there and imagine him, all nearly seven feet of hard muscle and ebony skin, naked and in her bed, he spoke again.

“And I’m four hundred years old, Helena. I am Lycian. I was bred to be up for days on end, fighting, marching, killing, all without sleep. You’re a witch, and while you’re powerful and fierce, you can’t survive on two hours’ sleep in two days.”

“There were twenty humans in that group tonight. That means they’re not flinching at sending their ranks to die. If I sleep, I’m not following up. How many people are going to die while I take a little nap?”

Failure wasn’t something she liked at all. And in truth, she felt like she was drowning at least 60 percent of the time these days.

“You have people working three shifts. Trust them for six hours. Just six hours. You know you’ll be far more alert and less inclined to make a mistake or miss something when you get some rest. Your magick will be stronger as well.”

He was right. She knew he was. She’d used a lot of magick over the last few days. Her head hurt, her eyes felt like sandpaper and repeated adrenaline rushes followed by the crash afterward had left her muscles less and less responsive.

“Fine, but I’ll sleep on my couch at the office.”

“No need.” He pulled down a street with a huge gate at the end. High fences surrounded the neighborhood just beyond. One of the first fortified enclaves in Southern California. Designed by Others for Others ultimate safety. Round the clock security.

He pulled up to a gate that slid open after the guard recognized him. He paused, handed over a card that was scanned and approved before it was returned.

“My place is right here. You can have my bed and I’ll take the guest room. It’s a big bed. It’ll be another forty-five minutes to get out to Pasadena. That’s forty-five minutes you could be sleeping instead. It’s really all about economy, right?”

He was very, very bossy. But once she’d allowed herself to agree to sleep, her will to argue was gone.