Falling Blind: The Sentinel Wars Read online

  Praise for Shannon K. Butcher’s Novels of the Sentinel Wars

  Living Nightmare

  “There’s only one way to describe this book to me: fabulous!”

  —Night Owl Reviews

  “[An] action-packed story of the brooding and angry warrior Madoc and his journey to the future. This series rocks!”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “Utilizing her ability to combine excellent characterization with riveting danger, rising star Butcher adds another fascinating tier to her expanding world. You are always guaranteed generous portions of pulse-pounding action and romance in a Butcher tale!”

  —Romantic Times

  “Ms. Butcher’s written word began to grab hold of my imagination and lead me on a ride unlike anything I have read before.”

  —Coffee Time Romance and More

  Running Scared

  “What an entertaining and thrilling series! The characters are forever evolving, secrets are revealed, powers are found, new details come to life, and love is the cause of it all. I love it!”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “Superb storytelling . . . I am amazed how Ms. Butcher’s intricacies and subplots continue to expand the story without bogging down the overall plot.”

  —Romance Junkies

  “This book jumps right in the fray and keeps you hooked till the end and I was unable to put it down. Emotionally dark, this is a wonderful blending of paranormal romance and urban fantasy [with] many twists and turns.”

  —Smexy Books Romance Reviews

  Finding the Lost

  “Exerts much the same appeal as Christine Feehan’s Carpathian series, what with tortured heroes, the necessity of finding love or facing a fate worse than death, hot lovemaking, and danger-filled adventure.”

  —Booklist

  “A terrific grim thriller with the romantic subplot playing a strong supporting role. The cast is powerful as the audience will feel every emotion that Andra feels from fear for her sister to fear for her falling in love. Finding the Lost is a dark tale as Shannon K. Butcher paints a forbidding, gloomy landscape in which an ancient war between humanity’s guardians and their nasty adversaries heats up in Nebraska.”

  —Alternative Worlds

  “A very entertaining read. . . . The ending was a great cliff-hanger and I can’t wait to read the next book in this series . . . a fast-paced story with great action scenes and lots of hot romance.”

  —The Book Lush

  “Butcher’s paranormal reality is dark and gritty in this second Sentinel War installment. What makes this story so gripping is the seamlessly delivered hard-hitting action and wrenching emotions. Butcher is a major talent in the making.”

  —Romantic Times

  Burning Alive

  “A wonderful paranormal debut . . . Shannon K. Butcher’s talent shines.”

  —New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh

  “Starts off with nonstop action. Readers will race through the pages, only to reread the entire novel to capture every little detail . . . a promising start for a new voice in urban fantasy/paranormal romance. I look forward to the next installment.”

  —A Romance Review (5 roses)

  “This first book of the Sentinel Wars whets your appetite for the rest of the books in the series. Ms. Butcher is carving her way onto the bestseller lists with this phenomenal, nonstop ride that will have you preordering the second book the minute you put this one down.”

  —Affaire de Coeur (5 stars)

  “Absorbing . . . Butcher skillfully balances erotic, tender interactions with Helen’s worries, and intriguing secondary characters further enhance the unusual premise. Fans of Butcher’s romantic suspense novels will enjoy her turn toward the paranormal.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Ms. Butcher offers fresh and delightfully creative elements in this paranormal romance, keeping readers engaged as the story unfolds. Burning Alive is a well-crafted beginning to this exciting new series, and will have fans of the genre coming back for the next adventure in the Sentinel Wars.”

  —Darque Reviews

  “An exciting romantic urban fantasy . . . Shannon K. Butcher adds her trademark suspense with plenty of tension and danger to the mix of a terrific paranormal thriller.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  “Burning Alive is Shannon Butcher’s first foray into paranormal romance and what a doozy it is! Filled with sizzling love scenes, great storytelling, and action galore, fans of paranormal romance will rejoice to have Ms. Butcher finally join the genre!”

  —ParaNormal Romance

  “A different twist on the paranormal genre . . . Shannon K. Butcher has done a good job with Burning Alive, and I will definitely be reading the next in the series.”

  —Fallen Angel Reviews

  NOVELS OF THE SENTINEL WARS

  Bound by Vengeance

  (A Penguin Special)

  Dying Wish

  Blood Hunt

  Living Nightmare

  Running Scared

  Finding the Lost

  Burning Alive

  THE EDGE NOVELS

  Edge of Sanity

  Razor’s Edge

  Living on the Edge

  FALLING BLIND

  THE SENTINEL WARS

  SHANNON K. BUTCHER

  SIGNET

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

  New York, New York 10014, USA

  USA / Canada / UK / Ireland / Australia / New Zealand / India / South Africa / China

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  For more information about the Penguin Group visit penguin.com.

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

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  First Printing, April 2013

  Copyright © Shannon K. Butcher, 2013

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

  ISBN 978-1-101-60573-8

  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.

  For Sarah Skolaut, controller of chaos, enemy of entropy, keeper of the calendar, mistress of managing mayhem, and saver of my sanity. Thanks for all you do.

  Contents

  Praise for Shannon K. Butcher

  Also by Shannon K. Butcher

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Character List

  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 22r />
  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Special Excerpt from Living on the Edge

  Character List

  Briant Athar: Sanguinar

  Connal Athar: Sanguinar

  Drake Asher: Theronai warrior, bonded to Helen Day

  Logan Athar: Sanguinar, blood hunter, Hope Serrien’s mate

  Aurora: Athanasian servant

  Cain Aylward: Theronai warrior, Sibyl’s protector

  Angus Brinn: Theronai warrior, bonded to Gilda

  Gilda Brinn: the Gray Lady, Theronai, bonded to Angus

  Maura Brinn: Theronai, Sibyl’s twin sister

  Sibyl Brinn: Theronai, Maura’s twin sister

  Canaranth: Synestryn, Zillah’s second-in-command

  Meghan Clark: blooded human

  Helen Day: the Scarlet Lady, Theronai, bonded to Drake Asher

  Eron: Athanasian prince

  Neal Etan: Theronai warrior

  Madoc Gage: Theronai warrior

  John Hawthorne: blooded human

  Mabel Hennesy: blooded human

  Dakota Kacey: Theronai, bonded to Liam Lann

  Lexi Johns: the Jade Lady, Theronai, bonded to Zach Talon

  Nicholas Laith: Theronai warrior

  Liam Lann: Theronai warrior, bonded to Dakota Kacey

  Samuel Larsten: Theronai warrior

  Thea Lewis: human woman living at Dabyr

  Tynan Leygh: Sanguinar

  Lucien: Athanasian prince

  Andra Madison: the Sapphire Lady, Theronai, bonded to Paul Sloane

  Nika Madison: Theronai, Andra’s sister

  Victoria (Tori) Madison: Theronai, sister to Andra and Nika

  Torr Maston: Theronai warrior

  Beth Mays: blooded human, Ella’s sister

  Ella Mays: blooded human, Beth’s sister

  Jake Morrow: human, member of the Defenders of Humanity

  Blake Norman: human, Grace Norman’s stepbrother

  Grace Norman: blooded human, Gerai

  Jackie Patton: Theronai, daughter of Lucien, bonded to Iain Terra

  Andreas Phelan: Slayer, leader of the Slayers

  Lyka Phelan: Slayer, Andreas’s half sister

  Joseph Rayd: Theronai warrior, leader of the Sentinels

  Viviana Rowan: the Bronze Lady, Theronai, bonded to Neal Etan

  Hope Serrien: Logan Athar’s mate

  Cole Shepherd: blooded human

  Alexander Siah: Sanguinar

  Paul Sloane: Theronai warrior, bonded to Andra Madison

  Carmen Taite: blooded human, Gerai, cousin to Vance and Slade Taite

  Slade Taite: blooded human, Gerai, cousin to Carmen, brother to Vance

  Vance Taite: blooded human, Gerai, cousin to Carmen, brother to Slade

  Zach Talon: Theronai warrior, bonded to Lexi Johns

  Iain Terra: Theronai warrior, bonded to Jackie Patton

  Morgan Valens: Theronai warrior

  Zillah: Synestryn lord

  Chapter 1

  Kansas City, Missouri, October 29

  There was not enough brain bleach in the world to scrub away the things Rory Rainey had seen. Her visions were getting worse, and if she didn’t find the person who could make them stop, she was going to go bat shit crazy.

  As frequently as the mental images were slamming into her lately, that inevitable insanity conclusion wasn’t far away.

  Rory kept her head down and her gaze firmly on the sidewalk in front of her. While her eyes saw only dirt and concrete dimly lit by streetlights, her mind saw much, much more. A riot of TV shows and video screens blazed in her head, one image superimposed upon the next, until it was all merely a blobby glow of color and light. Nearby, someone was staring down at a newborn baby. Someone else was reading a book, but there was too much visual chaos in Rory’s head to make out the words. Brief glimpses of the same nearby sections of street fired in her mind, repeating over and over as the few people still out at the late hour drove by. As she moved down the street, she got close enough to a couple having sex in one of the surrounding buildings to catch what they were seeing. The man was all fleshy and sweating, his face red with effort. The harnesses and implements twisting the woman into a vaguely pretzel-like shape made Rory speed her pace until that sight faded.

  Ugh. Not enough brain bleach in the world.

  She was in a bad part of town hit hard by the recession. The streets were lined with abandoned storefronts and condemned buildings. It was late and cold, and there was little foot traffic for her to collide with as she made her way to the homeless shelter she often visited. She didn’t need the shelter—she had her own home. Nana’s home. But that shelter was one of the places where she’d noticed the visions recede.

  Little, fleeting moments of peace had come to her there. What she saw was real and hers alone, making it quiet and oh, so precious. At first she’d thought that she was getting better, that the space between mental barrages was getting longer. But then she left the shelter and the visions were there, waiting for her.

  Her fumbling, painful experiments had led her to believe that someone inside that shelter was blocking her curse. If she could only figure out who they were and make them teach her how they did it, she’d be free.

  But her potential savior had left, and Rory had never been able to track them down. Once in a while, her visions would fade and she’d know she was close, but she’d never figured out who was to thank for that reprieve.

  A flash of hot pink hair and chain-clad leather burst in her mind, making her stumble in shock. Rory’s hair was hot pink, and while she wasn’t the only one who had that artificial feature, chances were slim there was another woman with her hair and jacket nearby.

  Someone was watching her.

  Rory tried to sort through the jumbled images to focus on who was behind her, but there were so many flashes, and most of them were so bright, she could hardly see the ground in front of her feet. There were too many people still awake in the city, too many sights slamming into her for her to latch on to a single one for very long.

  And just because someone looked at her was no reason to wig out. Lots of people looked at her. That was one of the side effects of having hair louder than a freight train.

  Still, her instincts were screaming at her, and she’d learned the hard way that she should trust them. As she continued walking, the hair on the back of her neck rose up in warning. Being out at night was dangerous. There were monsters everywhere, and for reasons she refused to think about, they wanted her.

  Rory hurried her pace, anxiety driving her forward. She cut through an alley to get off the street and shorten her walk. The shelter wasn’t far now, and while the remodeling wasn’t finished, the doors were open, and they were letting people inside to escape the cold.

  Bright pink consumed her vision, blocking out the wet pavement at her feet.

  That was her hair—her back—and whoever was watching her had followed her down the alley. Definitely not some random pedestrian.

  Well, hell. Now she had to do something. No way could she just keep walking, playing the role of prey. She’d never been much of an actress.

  Rory stopped dead in her tracks, gripped the gun in her purse, squared her shoulders in a way that shouted she was not some fragile victim, and turned to face whoever was following her. She really didn’t want to have to shoot someone, but after what Matt had done to her, she had learned to be more proactively defensive in her thinking. Two days and nights spent in a flooded basement filled with tentacled demons that lived on human flesh and blood had a way of curing a girl’s poor decision-making habits.

  Anxiety tightened her grip, but she kept her breathing e
ven, struggling to see the alley looming in front of her over the splashy colors and lights in her head. She saw no one, only a slight flicker of motion she couldn’t even trust to be real.

  “I saw you,” she yelled into the night, her breath misting in the cold air.

  Another fleeting glimpse of pink came to her, again showing her the back of her own head.

  There was no way someone could have slipped past her. Even with her crazy visions, she wasn’t that blind—at least not yet. If the visions got any worse . . .

  She wouldn’t think about that now. She had to stay positive and convinced that there was a cure for her faulty wiring.

  A low hiss rattled out from behind her.

  Fear streaked along her veins, and she whirled around to face the threat, gun raised and level.

  A demon stood there, black and shiny, easily blending into the wet pavement. Larger than a big dog, its forelegs were too long for its heavily muscled body, pushing it nearly upright. There wasn’t a single hair on the creature, but something thick and oily seeped from its skin, leaving smears behind with every step. Its face was disturbingly human, with eyes that glowed a bright, sickly green.

  Rory took a step back, unable to control the impulse to flee. The demon’s pointed ears twitched as if it heard something, and a second later, in the midst of flashing sights that were not her own, she saw the back of her head again. Only this time it was much, much closer.

  There was still someone behind her. Or something.

  She steadied her gun and aimed at the demon in front of her while she spared a quick glance over her shoulder. Sure enough, the demon’s bigger, uglier twin was right there behind her, its bright eyes flaring with hunger.

  Rory knew better than to hesitate. This was a kill or be eaten kind of situation if ever there was one—something she was way too familiar with these days.

  Stupid demons fucking up the city. Someone needed to get rid of them, and while she really wished that someone was anyone but her, there was no one else around.

  She fired her weapon three times at the closest demon. Chips of brick flew out as bullets hit a building. One of her shots sucked less than the other two, hitting the demon in the shoulder. It roared in fury and cowered back, twisting its head at an awkward angle so it could lick its wound. From behind her, she heard the other demon charge, its claws scraping across the asphalt. She turned and pitched her body to one side, working to find a clear shot through the flash and sparkle filling her head.