Lori Devoti, paranormal romance and urban fantasy author

A PDF download of Margaret Carter’s novel SHADOW OF THE BEAST goes to Victoria Janssen!
Congrats!
Lori

Full Moon of Werewolves Schedule

This is it, the last day of a Full Moon of Werewolves. Big thanks to all the bloggers and all the blog visitors! It has been tons of fun and very educational.

This is your last post to comment on for an entry for the $100 worth of fab werewolf books. To make it interesting, let’s talk werewolf books a bit. What was your first? Do you remember? The one that stands out in my mind is Eileen Wilks’ Tempting Danger. This is when werewolves were still pretty new in romance and I loved it. The next werewolf book I remember really finding fresh and reminding me of all that wolfy goodness was Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten. Seriously, a great read.

What is about werewolves we love? Is it the primal animal thing? The pack mentality…the alpha aspect? What attracts you to them?

And, now five years after Eileen’s book came out, do you still love werewolves? Are you feeling the itch to move to new paranormal creatures, away from paranormals all together, or is your love still as strong?

If you could describe your perfect werewolf book, what would it be? What would the hero be like? Would it be contemporary or historical? Would the heroine be a shifter too, would it be a “destined mate” book or just good old fashioned hormones helping along lasting love?

What? Tell all you want and love for one last chance to win!

Last day to enter Saturday, April 25th at midnight central U.S. time.

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Full Moon of Werewolves Schedule

About today’s guest: Lori Handeland
Lori Handeland has written over forty novels, novellas and short stories in several genres–historical, contemporary, series and paranormal romance, as well as urban fantasy–for such publishers as: Dorchester, Kensington, Harlequin, St. Martin’s Press, Harper-Collins and Simon and Schuster.

She is a New York Times, USA Today, Waldenbooks and Bookscan Bestselling Author and the recipient of many industry awards, including two RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America.

Or at least one in every culture. Did you know that every culture has a shapeshifter legend, which is what makes it so fun and fascinating for me to mine them all for my books? I like to twist and turn actual legends, combine them with others, and add a little of my own imagination to come up with a villain, or sometimes a hero or heroine.

For instance, in Hunter’s Moon, the second book in my Nightcreature series, I used the Ojibwe legend of the Weendigo–a shapeshifter with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. The more it eats, the larger it becomes and the more it needs to eat.

In Dark Moon I borrowed the Ojibwe legend of the Witchie Wolves. The legend states that a spirit animal–half wolf/half man protects the graves of Ojibwe warriors from desecration.

When I moved the series to New Orleans I studied the legends of the people there–the French, the Spanish, the Cajun and the Africans.

In Crescent Moon, I made use of the French legend of the loup-garou, twisting it a bit to fit into the Cajun tradition found all over New Orleans. In my legend a loup-garou is cursed not bitten, which creates some interesting issues.

In the next book, Midnight Moon, due to the devastation in New Orleans after Katrina, I moved the setting to Haiti and made use of the rich legends of voodoo. The Haitians tell tales of the egbo, a leopard society from deepest Africa, which was used to keep the slaves in line by actually turning into leopards on occasion

For Rising Moon, the final book in the New Orleans/voodoo trilogy, I investigated the voodoo legend of the lougaro, a shape-shifting sorcerer, who can become anything he desires.

The final two books in the Nightcreature series were set in the mountains of Georgia. In the first, Hidden Moon, the heroine must deal with strange animals haunting her town, which oddly enough show up along with a band of Gypsies. The Rom have a legend of the strigoi de lup, or Romanian sorcerer. Usually a pretty young woman in a white dress, she is said to lead the wolves. In some legends she does this by becoming one beneath the light of the moon. She protects her identity by killing anyone who sees her in that form and talks about it.

For Thunder Moon, I studied the Cherokee Legend of the Kalanu Ahyeli’-ski or the Raven Mocker. The Raven Mocker robs the dying of life. Flying through the night with arms outstretched trailing sparks, the raven mocker announces its approach with a horrible shriek. The Raven Mocker eats the victim’s heart, stealing whatever days the person had left on the Earth.
Because I learned so much about shape-shifters while writing the Nightcreature Novels, I had no problem continuing the fun in my new Urban Fantasy series, The Phoenix Chronicles.

In the first book, ANY GIVEN DOOMSDAY (November 2008) we meet Sawyer, a Navajo skinwalker. Skinwalkers are both witch and shape-shifter, one of the most powerful beings in Navajo lore.

We also meet Jimmy Sanducci, a dhampir–half vampire, half human, able to “feel” vampires and possessing the uncanny ability to kill them. The dhampir is a Gypsy legend.

I had so much fun adding beserkers–Norse shifters-sometimes bears, sometimes wolves, Budas–hyena shifters and so on to ANY GIVE DOOMSDAY, that when it came time to write the second novel, DOOMSDAY CAN WAIT (available April 28, 2009) I kept it up.

In DCW you’ll meet the Nay’i, another Navajo spirit–a witch who controls fire, smoke and lightning–as well as many of the characters from the first novel. The heroine, Liz Phoenix, a psychic ex-cop who is trying to stop Doomsday–the end of the world–from happening on her watch, with the help of the two men in her life–Sawyer and Jimmy.

There are some great books that explore all these legends and you can find a list on my website under the “resources” tab at the bottom of the home page.

Tell me, do you prefer your supernatural legends to be completely made up or based in fact? What draws you to shape-shifter books? What is it that you love about them?

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About today’s guest: Kate Douglas
Kate is the lead author for Kensington’s erotic romance line, Aphrodisia. Her WOLF TALES series pushes all the boundaries and her books continue to go into extra print runs as more readers discover that, at least once in awhile, those boundaries need to be pushed. She also has titles with Ellora’s Cave, Changeling Press and Hard Shell Word Factory.

Two lucky commenters will win one of Kate’s books (a choice of Wolf Tales V, VI or VII or Sexy Beast V or VI) Winner will be announced at end of Full Moon promotion. Last day to enter Saturday, April 25th at midnight central U.S. time. Winners for this contest does not have to be in the U.S.

Thank you, Lori, for this great opportunity! Kate Douglas, here…I’ve been traveling for the past few weeks and haven’t really had time to prepare anything, so I’ve asked Anton Cheval, the Chanku wizard and uber-alpha of my Kensington Aphrodisia Wolf Tales series, to appear in my place. Many of you know Anton—he’s in almost all of the fourteen Wolf Tales and Sexy Beast books released so far, including a role in the Wild Nights anthology from September 2006, so he’s been around since the beginning and can answer any questions you might have. Without further adieu, please welcome Anton Cheval~~

Thank you, Ms. Douglas, for your introduction. Now please get back to work on Wolf Tales X…or is that going to be 10? I heard they might change the numbering…no matter—¬just write it. Hello. I’m not exactly certain why Ms. Devoti thought to include us in her blog event. It is, after all, dedicated to werewolves. While I am more than capable of shifting from human to wolf, I am a shapeshifter, not a werewolf, dependant upon the phases of the moon or some obscure virus that can be passed on through a bite. I am much more—more than human, more than a creature of legend.

I am Chanku.

We are an ancient species that originated on the harsh Himalayan steppes. Powerful and fierce by nature, we have an ingrained sense of honor and integrity you humans should think of adopting. Our pack is our family, the health, happiness and safety of our packmates our uppermost concern. I did not ask to be our leader—this was a title thrust upon me by my pack. It’s not an honor I wear easily, but I do my best for the ones who love me. Most important of those, of course, are my daughter Lily and my lovely mate and our alpha bitch, Keisha, who is my superior in all ways.

I try not to remind her of that…

We are, after all, a matriarchal society. Our women carry the genes for shifting. Every child of every female who has the Chanku DNA is born with the ability—once they are sexually mature—to become a shapeshifter, even if the mother doesn’t know of her birthright. So often our kind lead lives of quiet desperation, out of step with the rest of society, knowing they’re different but not why. We all have a tiny gland near the hypothalamus that is only enabled by ingesting certain nutrients found in grasses native to our Tibetan birthplace. Those nutrients allow us to take animal form.

Until about a year ago, we believed every Chanku would become a wolf—that was until Mei Chen came along and had the audacity to turn into a snow leopard! We had our “back to the drawing board” moment when that happened. Luckily, the man she loved was eventually able to become both a leopard and a wolf, as is Mei, now. Otherwise, they never could have bonded.

That’s an important part of our pack structure—the mating bond. Our people mate for life in their animal form. Since we are telepathic, we are capable of achieving an amazingly intimate mental link during sex. That link is even more profound when Chanku choose the bonding ritual during mating—everything we’ve ever known or done is shared. Our minds open entirely to our mate—or mates, as the case may be—in total union. Indescribable, really. Another thing–once a woman becomes Chanku, she can only become pregnant by mating as a wolf after she consciously releases an egg for breeding. She has total reproductive control.

We are ruled by a powerful libido, and our packs tend to be polyamorous in nature. While we have our bonded mate and love them more than life, we are sexually free within our packs. The petty differences that tend to alienate humans in their complex relationships are not an issue for us—we have no concern with gender identity, race and age—as long as our partners are adults, obviously. What is important is that we are all Chanku with the common needs and drives or our kind. Impervious to human diseases and illnesses, we are still learning more about ourselves every day. We are discovering new abilities and new powers we had no idea were ours. We’re all quite amazing, really, but we are most definitely not werewolves.

If you have any questions about the Chanku, I will be more than happy to answer. And thank you to Ms. Devoti for generously sharing her blog with me, even though I don’t actually meet her werewolf criteria.

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About today’s guest: Karen Whiddon
Karen Whiddon spun fanciful tales for her younger brothers as early as the age of eleven. Growing up in the Catskill Mountains of New York, then the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, she found enough magic in the rugged peaks to keep her imagination fueled for years.

Now making her home in North Texas, she shares her life with her hero-like husband and three doting dogs. She has published five short contemporaries for Kensington Books Precious Gems and five long paranormals for Leisure Lovespell . She also writes paranormal contemporarys for Silhouette Nocturne and romantic suspense for Silhouette Romantic Suspense.

Werewolves? Romantic? Come on, are you kidding me? I’ve heard that a lot – twenty seven times and counting – but you know what? My werewolves are people too. And actually, they prefer the term “shape-shifters”.

My first “Pack” book was written for Silhouette Intimate Moments. The heroine was a shape-shifter. When I wrote that book, I never dreamed I’d write more. I’d just gotten done with a five book series for Dorchester Publishing featuring Faeries. I wanted to do something different. So I wrote One Eye Open. My agent Lucienne Diver sold it to Leslie Wainger, who found the female shape-shifter different and new. My ninth book in the Pack series, Wild Wolf, will be out in July 2009. I have to say, I love these people, er, wolves.

When I was a kid, we went camping a lot. We lived on the east coast and I remember standing in a Pennsylvania field, staring over the rolling hills and trees and wishing I could change into a deer and go bounding across all that nature, free and wild. Of course, these days I can’t help but think of that deer as ‘prey’, but still. There’s something primitive and sensual about being so in touch with nature, isn’t there.

That’s what makes my shape-shifter characters different. They’re us, plus more. The struggle between human and wolf features prominently in each of my books. The love making when a shifter has found his or her mate is… cataclysmic. All in all, the stories are fun, sexy, and touching. I hope you’ll agree.

Right now I have a short “Pack” story in the anthology Midnight Cravings. Mate of the Wolf details what happens when a shifter and a centuries old vampire realize they’re mates. And my next full length “Pack” book Wild Wolf will be out in July. It’s different from all my other “Pack” books in that both the hero and the heroine are shifters. She’s a feral, a shifter who’d rather remain wolf than face all the pain of the human existence. And he’s the Protector sent to determine if she’s able to be rehabilitated or if he will need to exterminate her. I hope you enjoy both stories.

I’m contracted for three more “Pack” books and am finishing one up right now. Hopefully, the series will continue to do well and I can continue to live in that fascinating world for some time to come.

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About today’s guest: Maria Lima
Maria Lima is a writing geek with one foot in the real world and the other in the make-believe. One lucky commenter will win copies of Maria’s first two books. Just leave a comment on this post to be entered. Winner will be announced at end of Full Moon promotion. Last day to enter Saturday, April 25th at midnight central U.S. time.

Despite their origins in horror and war, werewolves continue to hold a strong number two place in fictional supernatural beings (with our favorite bloodsuckers as number one). Okay, so zombies are on the rise (yes, yes, I know…) but if you scan most urban fantasy/paranormal romance novels, you’ll still find vampire and werewolves running neck and neck. (Egads, the puns!)

Seriously, though–why the wolf? What is so fascinating and fabulous about these furry predators that not only do we have centuries of legends about humans becoming them, so many fantasy novels either feature or include these lycanthropes?

It’s not like most U.S. writers have much personal knowledge of actual wolves outside of stories, TV or movies. They’re not easy to find in the lower 48; the grey wolf has been hunted nearly to extinction. The red wolf, once extinct, now have a small officially endangered population in the Southeast.*

Perhaps it’s because a full grown wolf is a sexy beast, reminiscent of man’s best friend, yet with a wildness and danger adding a hint of spice–although, in reality, a predator and maybe not so sexy. Could be that our collective unconscious is reminded of the many legends of the hypermasculine warriors, leading long-ago tribes into battle and translating that into a need for an alpha male (or in some cases, female). Or maybe, just maybe, there’s that part of us that knew that there was more to the story of Little Red Riding Hood than was on the surface–we internalized its sexuality, its underlying themes and wanted more.

Whatever the reason, wolves and their fantasy counterparts (whether wer, shapeshifter or skinwalker) definitely add a bit of je ne sais quoi to our reading. We love them. We love to hate them if they’re the bad guy or gal. We love to read about them, tell stories, make them part of our fantasy world.

Personally, I love the fascinating family structure in the wolf world.
The pack, with its extremely defined and complex make up thrills the social/cultural anthropologist in me. I adore watching people and thew way they interact and the way a wolf pack works is so very easy to translate into fiction; mimicking its strict hierarchies and morphing those into human/wer behavior totally flips my tortilla.

This is where it gets really fun: making my own world, adapting legend, myth, as well as historical, cultural and physiological facts into my version of what reality is. For those of us that write, isn’t that part of what makes it so damned sexy? Making up a fantasy world, especially one set in contemporary times, like my Blood Lines series, gives me the ability to build in my own rules and behaviors, making it work for me and and getting to create challenges for my characters.

For example, in my world, shapeshifters and werewolves are completely different–ahem–animals (pun totally intended). Shapeshifting is a magickal ability, inherited by certain members of the supernatural clan my protagonist belongs to. If you’re a shapeshifter, you can choose which animal to emulate, and, once changed–a process that is neither painful nor physically draining–you retain your humanlike qualities, including the ability to reason.

Wers, on the other hand, become the animal (their human sides are there, but suppressed) and are limited to one particular species (wolf, deer, etc.). I’ve even considered how to deal with skinwalkers, which, in their own way, work better for me as yet a third “animal”–something created by magickal means, via a spell, a potion, runes, something not inherent in someone’s nature.

So far, in the first three books, I’ve only dealt with shapeshifters, but in book 4, as yet untitled, I’ll be introducing a werewolf clan, with troubles and social rules all their own. Since I’ve just started to write it, who knows, maybe I can toss in a skinwalker or two…

I’m not sure if I’ll ever focus specifically on werewolves, but I can definitely promise that they’ll definitely have a fairly prominent place in this book.

If you’re looking for some reading choices (outside of the books of other guest authors here), here are some of my favorites:

Werewolves:
Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson series
Harry Potter series (who doesn’t love Remus Lupin?)
The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman) (Mrs. Lupescu!!)
Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden novels (Billy & the werewolves!)
Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series
Blood Trail (Tanya Huff)

Other recommended reading/watching in general:
A Companion to Wolves (Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette)
Brotherhood of the Wolf (an obscure but fascinating French film)
The Howling (cheese, but so tasty)

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About Today’s Guest: Angie Fox
Angie Fox is the New York Times bestselling author of the Accidental Demon Slayer series. She claims that researching her books can be just as much fun as writing them. In the name of fact-finding, Angie has ridden with Harley biker gangs, explored the tunnels underneath Hoover Dam and found an interesting recipe for Mamma Coalpot’s Southern Skunk Surprise (she’s still trying to get her courage up to try it).

One lucky commenter will win a copies of The Accidental Demon Slayer and Angie’s new release The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers. Take the quiz she mentions below then post your score in the comments on this post to be entered. Winner will be announced at end of Full Moon promotion. Last day to enter Saturday, April 25th at midnight central U.S. time.

Thanks for having me here today. As many of you know, I write a series about a demon slayer who is teamed up with a gang of geriatric biker witches. A few booksellers have asked why I felt the need to add werewolves to the mix and the answer is easy – they’re interesting, mysterious and boy, do they look good in leather.

Plus, I needed a friend for my hero, who is a shapeshifting griffin. Griffins are rare, so I couldn’t have them populating the books. Plus, griffins make perfect romantic heroes because they’re intensely loyal and griffins mate for life. In fact, because of this, griffins were the symbol of marriage and fidelity in the medieval Church. So I wanted a strong, loyal griffin for my heroine, but he needed a history and friendships of his own. It made sense that his best friend would be someone who is like him – loyal, intense and strong. And of course JR just happens to be a werewolf. JR understands Dimitri on both a human and an animal level.

I’d love for you to meet JR and Dimitri, so I’m going to give away both of my books today- The Accidental Demon Slayer and my upcoming release The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers. Just take the highly un-scientific Are You Part Demon Slayer? quiz. Post your score below and enter to win. Also, if you post your score on my blog at www.angiefox.com, you could win a walk-on role in the next Accidental Demon Slayer book.

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Full Moon of Werewolves Schedule

About today’s guest: Michelle Monkou
Michelle Monkou writes contemporary romances set in an ordinary world. But her heart also loves the touch of extraordinary in a paranormal world, including the addition of a sexy, dark, brooding werewolf. Growing up in the Caribbean, her second home, she enjoyed the scary tales of shapeshifters that emerged at night or could blend among humans.

A randomly drawn winner from the comments will receive her current release – Only In Paradise, which had the special honor of being selected off the bookshelf in the recent Today Show on romance novels. Just leave a comment on this post to be entered. Winner will be announced at end of Full Moon promotion. Last day to enter Saturday, March 25th at midnight central U.S. time.

Hi Everyone!

Here’s my open letter on the subject of werewolves. Now, you may wonder why on earth am I here among these fine authors who write about werewolves, when I do not?

But that’s where my passion for all things paranormal buys me a pass. LOL

I like visuals. When I read a book, I want a clear picture in my head of the hero—the werewolf. I tend to don my Casting Director cloak to select from the many faces of Hollywood’s leading men, as viable candidates. Join me for the next few minutes as I entertain an impromptu casting call.

First, I must pay respects to those who paved the way like:

Creighton Tull Charey

Michael J. Fox

Jack Nicholson

But the 21st century is looking FANTASTIC with a new batch of sexy beasts, including a few who I would love to see cast in werewolf movies. Bring it on!

L.L. Cool J

Hugh Jackman

David Thewlis

Jason Momoa

Jason Behr

Benicio del Toro

Michael Sheen

Idris Elba

Taylor Lautner

Share your top three hunky werewolves from this line up or if you’ve got a few names to throw out . . . ‘fess up (don’t keep them to yourselves).

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About today’s guest: Victoria Janssen
Victoria Janssen attended a women’s college and there discovered she enjoyed writing erotica. After selling several dozen stories under the name Elspeth Potter, her agent suggested a novel based on “Ducal Service,” which appeared in The Milf Anthology (2006). The proposal evolved into The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover, published by Harlequin Spice in December 2008. Her second novel for Spice, The Moonlight Mistress, will be published in December 2009; it features the early days of World War One and werewolves. When not writing, Victoria lectures about writing and selling erotica at literary conferences, researches in libraries and graveyards, and guestblogs. She lives in Philadelphia.

My Harlequin Spice December 2009 release, Moonlight Mistress, is an erotic novel set during the early days of World War One. It also happens to feature two werewolf characters, one male and one female.

The werewolves aren’t the main characters; their presence generates plot because an evil scientist tortures them with his experiments. It’s the human characters who rescue them and send them off to what I hope will be another story, their own story.

So why have werewolves at all? It’s not as if World War One doesn’t provide enough plot all on its own. However, I realized pretty quickly that World War One is not the most ideal setting for an erotic romp.

World War One supplies plenty of conflict, but it all revolves around soldiers, refugees, the wounded and the dead. Despite my deep interest in reading about the war, I didn’t want this book to be grimly realistic. There are plenty of memoirs and other works of nonfiction where those details can be found. I chose to use enough details to give the reader an idea of the time period, but not so many as to give them nightmares.

Adding a werewolf plot meant I could inject a little fantasy, to let the reader rest from the unrelenting horror of war. The werewolf element could open the door for further thoughts of fantasy, thoughts of erotic fantasy. Not only are werewolves fantastical, they can be sexy, too.

It was a tricky balance of realism and fantasy. Too much realism, and the book isn’t fun anymore. Too much fantasy, and the book loses plot tension. I balanced the two elements by giving my werewolves realistic characterization.

One werewolf is a soldier, the other serves as a spy. Their werewolf attributes are more science fictional than fantastic. I decided not to travel too far from a “realistic” or “mimetic” approach, so I decided their transformations would not be linked only to the full moon, and that the full moon would not force a change. I also decided that being a werewolf was hereditary, and though interbreeding with humans was possible, the trait rarely passed down in its entirety. I didn’t go into the actual mechanics of transformation, but described it as a physical process rather than a magical one. I wanted the werewolves to seem as if they belonged, as if they, too, were part of the historical setting.

I hope it worked!

Here’s a brief excerpt, just enough to give you the idea:

//Noel crawled forward a few more inches. He and his two companions were now fifty yards into this wide stretch of No Man’s Land, the closest they were likely to get to the enemy without being seen. He lifted his field glasses again, wedging them beneath the brim of his uniform cap. Sharp bits of rock dug into his hip, where the fabric of his trousers was not quite thick enough for protection, and newly deployed coils of wire atop the German trench obscured his view. Forcing himself to ignore the distractions, he murmured his estimates of the enemy manpower in the trenches a hundred yards away, doing so more by smell than sight. To his left, Lincoln scribbled the numbers in a dirty notebook. To his right, Denham’s beefy hands restlessly caressed his rifle.

If one’s nose could ache, his did, from too long spent crammed together with too many men, all of them in desperate need of a bath and a good night’s sleep; the sour tang of exhaustion exuding from their skins was worse than the stench of sweat. The Germans, from what he could gather on the wind, were in similar state, their individual scents muddled together with layered masks of weariness and fear. Only their food smells differed. If all humans could smell with the acuity of wolves, he pondered for the millionth occasion, would they be able to go to war with each other?

He was thankful for the burial details that had gone out earlier in the day, under a flag of truce. Otherwise, this duty would be unbearable.//

Moonlight Mistress is out December 2009 from Harlequin Spice.

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About today’s guest: Jennifer St. Giles
USA Today Bestselling Author, Jennifer St. Giles writes Contemporary Paranormal for Pocket Books and Gothic-Paranormal Historicals for Berkley Publishing. Former nurse and homeschooling mother of three, Jennifer has won a number of awards for writing excellence. She lives in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia with her husband of twenty-four years, and a boat load of kids and pets who make the household the wildest most wonderful Grand Central Station in existence.

One lucky commenter will win a copy of Kiss of Darkness and a second will win a copy of Bride of the Wolf. So, TWO winners today! Just leave a comment on this post to be entered. Winner will be announced at end of Full Moon promotion. Last day to enter Saturday, April 25th at midnight central U.S. time.

We’ve all felt the lure of the moon. That ghostly orb in the night that adds mystery to the dark, romance to an evening stroll, and the magnetic pull that moves oceans and thrusts werewolves into the primal darkness of their hungers. So during Lori’s Full Moon of Werewolves Event that celebrates the release of her rocking story Dark Crusade, tell us what is your experience with the full moon?

For me, I know it’s no myth or accident that lunar brought about lunacy. As a nurse I spent many full moons working the night shift in hospitals and whenever a full moon hung fat and bright in the sky, everything that could go awry from the ER to the OR did. And so it is with my werewolves in my Shadowmen series. The moon holds these warriors captive to their base cravings and as they battle the evil threatening the world, they must also fight the growing urges within themselves.

Excerpt from Bride of the Wolf by Jennifer St. Giles Coming April 28, 2009.

The moon crested over the trees and sent a slice of light down, casting the shadows from his face.

Her breath caught at the thrill of his roughly hewn features, towering strength and yet gentleness. How could she explain her confusion? “I…I feel the pleasure. Dios, it is something I’ve never known and will never forget, but–”

“Aaah!” Navarre cried out, his back arching and his limbs shuddering. His cane flew from his hand and he nearly flung her off balance before he released his death grip on her hand. He cried out again and his body twisted forward. He landed on his knees and looked up to the sky.

“By Logos…save me!” he yelled.

“Navarre? Dios mio, what is wrong?” Marissa grabbed his shoulder, wishing she could see into his mind as he saw into hers.

A scream of pure torture ripped from his lungs and suddenly his muscles bulged, everywhere, nearly doubling his body mass. It seemed to her that bones cracked and stretched in painful succession, one after another. His neck, back, arms changed, then his hands, his fingers turning into sharp-nailed claws. Legs, thighs, calves, and feet. Black hair erupted from his smooth skin, covering his chest, back, arms, and face. Fangs projected from his upper jaw.

He was the creature again, only this time even bigger. But it was more than that. She sensed a primal savagery oozing from him. She stumbled back, lost her step, and would have fallen into the water if he hadn’t reached out and grabbed her arm. His claws painfully scratched her skin.

“Navarre? Madre de Dios, what has happened? You’re…you’re the creature again. What has Herrera done to you?”

Breathing heavy, he released his hold on her arm and she saw she was bleeding.

“Blood,” he said harshly. “I smell blood.”

He grabbed her arm again, bringing her scratches to his nose and inhaling. Then he licked the blood on her arm.

She cried out and he jumped back, pulling away from him.

“Hurt you,” he said, his voice grated like broken glass.

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