A romantic historical fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blackwood, set in the American Civil War with vampires and people with demigod-like abilities.
Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Lauren Blackwood’s The Dangerous Ones, which is out May 14th 2024.
1863, Pennsylvania
War doesn’t scare Jerusalem—she’s a Saint. Thanks to powerful demigod-style reflexes, endurance, and strength, she’s fearless. And ever since the Confederates declared civil war, partnering with the vampires who benefitted off slavery, she and her battalion of Saints are essential to the Union army.
Jerusalem herself had been enslaved by a vampire, escaping North only after her family was murdered. She knows the enemy better, hates the enemy more than anyone in her battalion, and has been using it to her advantage since she joined the war a year ago. More than anything she wants revenge, but if she can help Black people gain freedom and equality without having to steal it for themselves like she had to, then all the better.
But she never expects to have to team up with a vampire to do it. Alexei is one of those handsome, arrogant Ancient Vampires. But he’s on the Union’s side, and in the year they’ve known each other, has never done anything but prove he’s on hers.
Together, they set out to change the course of the war and take down the vampire who destroyed everyone Jerusalem loved. But for her, it’s about more than justice.
It’s about killing a god.
Pennsylvania June 29, 1863
One year later
American prey was less exciting than the prey back home.
But then, vampires were still considered Creatures of the Night over in Russia. Superstitions, myths, terrifying stories parents used to get their children home by sundown. There, hunting took planning. Skill. Here, we were a common part of life. Owning plantations, wandering where we pleased, when we pleased. Still at the top of the food chain, but with far less need to stalk our prey.
So when I caught the eye of the woman picking berries behind her house, and she immediately succumbed to my hypnosis, I nearly changed my mind. No chase, no excitement. Just me, looking very much human despite my incredible beauty, enthralling a woman with only a look.
To be honest, I was bored.
But I needed to drink something. Odessa had been gone on a stealth mission this entire week and, as a result, I’d been tasked with keeping Jerusalem under control. As if anyone could control Jerusalem—she’d sooner break your arm than listen to anyone but Odessa. So I just made sure she slept enough and stopped her from brawling with every soldier who looked at her wrong. It left little time to feed. And seeing as I was only in this country to assist the Union army in the War Between the States, I couldn’t very well feed on a random soldier. I had to venture away from camp, but only when Jerusalem was sleeping, which left me less than a four-hour window to scour the area. Not to mention animal blood was disgusting. All that to say, I hadn’t had a proper meal in a while.
It wouldn’t have even mattered if Jerusalem wasn’t . . . well, Jerusalem. If her blood wasn’t the sweetest thing I’d ever smelled in my life. I was an Ancient, not some stupid New Blood who couldn’t control his thirst. But her scent drove me mad in a way I could hardly process.
It was better to be safe than devastated.
And since Odessa and Gael had arrived from their mission this morning, I felt safe leaving to catch up on my hunting.
I held out my hand, refocusing on the woman, and she took it without question, as if in greeting. I sighed—this really was too easy—and leaned down, raising it to my lips.
Inches away, I turned her wrist slowly. She watched as if I were about to perform magic and she didn’t want to miss the trick. It was a trick, I supposed, hypnosis.
I sank my fangs into her wrist, where I knew the blood would flow freely, and drank. And she let me. As long as I kept her looking at me, she would let me suck her dry if I wanted to, without even processing what was happening. My kind preferred their blood from the throat, but breaking the connection resulted in frantic prey who would struggle and ultimately need to be killed. I hated wasting prey—her blood tasted good, as far as American blood was concerned—and she would make more blood for me later if I chose to find her again. So I stopped before the point of her eyes fluttering, her vision going black. She looked a bit trembly, but nothing a glass of water wouldn’t fix.
I licked her blood from my lips. She hadn’t been able to give enough before becoming lightheaded. I’d have to find dessert elsewhere.
“I’ll give this back to you,” I said, pressing her apron to her wrist and resting it against her stomach.
“Thank you, sir,” she replied, dazed.
I smirked. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to how some of them did that. Despite the revolution, the politeness of their former Mother England remained, and it was odd to say the least.
“You’re on your way home,” I said, her hypnotized mind clinging to my every word, “and have not encountered anyone on your way.”
And then I shifted into one of my other preferred forms—a black crow—and took off, snatching the basket of berries from her other hand as I rushed upward.
Flapping my wings was a nice relief from the heat. Not that I could feel hot or cold in that way—they didn’t affect me negatively, at least. But this was the northern territory of North America, and for some reason I’d always thought it would feel . . .
I don’t know, a little milder. Their Junes were hot enough that the odor of sweat filled the air just as thick as the smoke that veiled the sun. At least flying kept the stench away.
Even after two years out here, I still hadn’t found much to appreciate as far as views were concerned. Perhaps it was beautiful elsewhere, but there were only so many woods and farmlands I could look at before it became monotonous. I’d heard so many good things about America, but if wartime couldn’t make this country more interesting, then I couldn’t recommend it.
Go easy on it, Alexei. After all, the things I might have found beautiful as a human tended to become old news after three hundred years.
I shifted to my human form as I reached camp, carrying the berries with me. My arrival must have been awaited because a young soldier rushed up to me.
“Welcome back, sir,” he said.
John? No, Nathan. Something like that? There were a lot of those running around. I held the basket of berries out to him, hung on one finger. “Put this in my tent.”
“Of course, sir.” He cradled the basket like it was a baby and rushed off.
I scoffed and headed toward the war tent; I could smell Odessa, Gael, and Mills waiting for me. On the outskirts of camp, Jerusalem stood on a small boulder, doing her daily training exercises with her spear.
“That brat is training without me,” I muttered, grinning despite her betrayal.
I immediately changed targets and headed toward her, staying out of her eyeline. As a vampire, I had a way of being light on my feet when I wanted to be, no matter how heavy my boots, so I simply walked up behind her. The boulder made her a few feet taller than me, and her waist was in perfect grabbing range . . . My fingers ached to touch her, but she would kill me for startling her while she was training, so I kept my hands in my pockets. As long as she didn’t turn around, she would never even notice I was there.
But where was the fun in that?
From The Dangerous Ones by Lauren Blackwood. Copyright © 2024 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
