It’s not easy being a witch when you protect those who’d burn you at the stake. Ava López has never felt so betrayed. Looking for answers, she’s returned to her former coven, but instead of finding the truth, she’s fallen into a trap set by her own blood. The dark spell that’s been cast upon her strips Ava of her vampirism, and in the days that follow the ritual, a void grows within her. She’s more conflicted than ever. After all, Ava never wanted to be a vampire. This could be a second chance at life, a newfound freedom from darkness and bloodshed—so why does she feel as though she’s lost the most important part of herself? To have any chance at the life she craves, she must break the spell, but doing so requires the unimaginable. Unless there’s another way. Unless, by harnessing everything, she can finally set herself free.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 When Jason was born in 1977, Arkansas’s death penalty was already constitutional. In August 1988, when Jason was in the sixth grade, his childhood path crossed that of the up-and-coming young prosecutor John N. Fogleman. #2 The Sultana disaster, which took place in 1865, remains the greatest maritime disaster in American history. It was caused by the explosion of a steamboat overloaded with recently freed Union prisoners of war. eighteen hundred people died in the disaster. #3 Jason’s family was almost rootless compared to the Foglemans. His mother, Gail, had earned a high-school equivalency degree, and his father, Charles Baldwin, was illiterate. They had moved him and his brother across the Mississippi River to Marion when he was five. Every Sunday and Wednesday, Gail took them to a Southern Baptist church. #4 When Jason was in fifth grade, his family moved to Marion, and his life was never the same. His stepdad would take him and his brother Matt out in the middle of the night to bars to look for their father, who was often drunk. One night, the police came and took them all to jail.

The corporate culture at the agency for Locating and Assessing Magical Beings has deteriorated into suspicion and mistrust. When the life of top agent Fiona Maguire is threatened, her partner and secret lover, half-demon Lorcan Wright, convinces her to seek refuge in a time and place hidden from their enemies. A beach vacation visiting family in the late eighteenth century is just the ticket—until one night Fiona sees a ghost ship sailing under a dark spell. When its vengeful captain beckons her, she insists on conducting an unsanctioned investigation, despite Lorcan’s fears. With the help of Lorcan’s former pirate brother Faolan and his wife Angelique, a transcendent water witch, they learn the ghost ship’s captain is targeting Fiona—because of Lorcan. Secrets from the past arise to complicate the mission, while in the present, the in-fighting at LAMB turns deadly. Enemies are everywhere, allies are scarce, and it seems their love is to blame. Will the fierce, ghostly captain drag them all to the dark depths to join his spectral crew? Or will Fiona and Lorcan’s hard earned love weather the supernatural storm?

On the long roads of Deverry ride two mercenaries whose fates like hidden deep in that of their own land. But Lord Rhodry, exiled from the dragon court of Aberwyn, has yet to discover his true parentage, and his swordmaster-lover, Jill, has barely glimpsed her awesome powers. Meanwhile, the ancient sorcerer Nevyn, held back by his vows from boldly intervening in their lives, can only watch and wait as Rhodry and Jill move ever closer to danger. For as the two struggle to recover the Great Stone, the mystic jewel that guides the conscience of the kingship of Deverry, malevolent dark masters are weaving terrifying spells against them--and displacing messengers of death. Katharine Kerr has extensively rewritten Darkspell, incorporating major changes in the text, making this her definitive edition. Here the epic saga that began with the Daggerspell continues--a tale of might and magic, lust and glory, dark danger and poignant desires that echo from Deverry's sapphire waters to its secret mountain caverns. It's a spellbinding story destined to please fantasy lovers everywhere.

Includes audio versions, and annual title-author index.