Midnight Unleashed: A Midnight Breed Novella
Midnight Unleashed
A Midnight Breed Novella
By Lara Adrian
1001 Dark Nights
Midnight Unleashed
A Midnight Breed Novella
By Lara Adrian
1001 Dark Nights
Copyright 2017 Lara Adrian, LLC
ISBN: 978-1-9459-2048-6
Foreword: Copyright 2014 M. J. Rose
Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated
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.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.
Book Description
Midnight Unleashed
A Midnight Breed Novella
By Lara Adrian
Return to New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Lara Adrian’s “addictively readable” (Chicago Tribune) Midnight Breed vampire romance series with a pulse-pounding novella of paranormal seduction and dangerous thrills, where an icy immortal beauty and a lethal Gen One Hunter must confront a powerful enemy while struggling to deny the irresistible calling of their blood.
About Lara Adrian
LARA ADRIAN is the New York Times and #1 internationally best-selling author of the Midnight Breed vampire romance series, with nearly 4 million books in print and digital worldwide and translations licensed to more than 20 countries. Her books regularly appear in the top spots of all the major bestseller lists including the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Indiebound, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, etc.
Lara Adrian's debut title, Kiss of Midnight, was named Borders Books best-selling debut romance of 2007. Later that year, her third title, Midnight Awakening, was named one of Amazon.com's Top Ten Romances of the Year. Reviewers have called Lara's books “addictively readable” (Chicago Tribune), “extraordinary” (Fresh Fiction), and “one of the best vampire series on the market” (Romantic Times).
With an ancestry stretching back to the Mayflower and the court of King Henry VIII, Lara Adrian lives with her husband in New England, surrounded by centuries-old graveyards, hip urban comforts, and the endless inspiration of the broody Atlantic Ocean.
Connect with Lara online:
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Also From Lara Adrian
Click to purchase
The 100 Series
For 100 Days
For 100 Nights
For 100 Reasons
100 Series Digital Boxed Set
Midnight Breed Series
A Touch of Midnight (prequel novella FREE eBook)
Kiss of Midnight
Kiss of Crimson
Midnight Awakening
Midnight Rising
Veil of Midnight
Ashes of Midnight
Shades of Midnight
Taken by Midnight
Deeper Than Midnight
A Taste of Midnight (ebook novella)
Darker After Midnight
The Midnight Breed Series Companion
Edge of Dawn
Marked by Midnight (novella)
Crave the Night
Tempted by Midnight (novella)
Bound to Darkness
Stroke of Midnight
Defy the Dawn
Midnight Untamed
Midnight Unbound (novella)
Claimed in Shadows
Midnight Unleashed
. . . and more to come!
Hunter Legacy Series
(Midnight Breed Spinoff)
Born of Darkness (forthcoming)
Dragon Chalice Series
Heart of the Hunter (FREE eBook)
Heart of the Flame
Heart of the Dove
Dragon Chalice Boxed Set
Warrior Trilogy
White Lion's Lady (FREE eBook)
Black Lion's Bride
Lady of Valor
Warrior Trilogy Boxed Set
Lord of Vengeance
Acknowledgments from the Author
I am so excited to once again be part of the 1001 Dark Nights collection with this new novella in my Midnight Breed vampire romance series. Thank you to Liz Berry, MJ Rose, Jillian Stein, and the rest of the creative, marketing, and editorial teams at Evil Eye Concepts for the incredible vision and enthusiasm you bring to each release in the collection. It’s a pleasure to be working with all of you!
To my amazing readers, thank you for your continued support and for joining me on yet another adventure within the Midnight Breed story world. I hope you enjoy Trygg and Sia’s story, and all the rest still to come.
Happy reading!
Love, Lara
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One
Click here to explore
FOREVER WICKED by Shayla Black
CRIMSON TWILIGHT by Heather Graham
CAPTURED IN SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
SILENT BITE: A SCANGUARDS WEDDING by Tina Folsom
DUNGEON GAMES by Lexi Blake
AZAGOTH by Larissa Ione
NEED YOU NOW by Lisa Renee Jones
SHOW ME, BABY by Cherise Sinclair
ROPED IN by Lorelei James
TEMPTED BY MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian
THE FLAME by Christopher Rice
CARESS OF DARKNESS by Julie Kenner
Also from 1001 Dark Nights
TAME ME by J. Kenner
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two
Click here to explore
WICKED WOLF by Carrie Ann Ryan
WHEN IRISH EYES ARE HAUNTING by Heather Graham
EASY WITH YOU by Kristen Proby
MASTER OF FREEDOM by Cherise Sinclair
CARESS OF PLEASURE by Julie Kenner
ADORED by Lexi Blake
HADES by Larissa Ione
RAVAGED by Elisabeth Naughton
DREAM OF YOU by Jennifer L. Armentrout
STRIPPED DOWN by Lorelei James
RAGE/KILLIAN by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright
DRAGON KING by Donna Grant
PURE WICKED by Shayla Black
HARD AS STEEL by Laura Kaye
STROKE OF MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian
ALL HALLOWS EVE by Heather Graham
KISS THE FLAME by Christopher Rice
DARING HER LOVE by Melissa Foster
TEASED by Rebecca Zanetti
THE PROMISE OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
Also from 1001 Dark Nights
THE SURRENDER GATE By Christopher Rice
SERVICING THE TARGET By Cherise Sinclair
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Three
Click here to explore
HIDDEN INK by Carrie Ann Ryan
BLOOD ON THE BAYOU by Heather Graham
SEARCHING FOR MINE by Jennifer Probst
DANCE OF DESIRE by Christopher Rice
ROUGH RHYTHM by Tessa Bailey
DEVOTED by Lexi Blake
Z by Larissa Ione
FALLING UNDER YOU by Laurelin Paige
EASY FOR KEEPS by Kristen Proby
UNCHAINED by Elisabeth Naughton
HARD TO SERVE by Laura Kaye
DRAGON FEVER by Donna Grant
KAYDEN/SIMON by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright
STRUNG UP by Lorelei James
MIDNIGHT UNTAMED by Lara Adrian
TRICKED by Rebe
cca Zanetti
DIRTY WICKED by Shayla Black
THE ONLY ONE by Lauren Blakely
SWEET SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
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1001 Dark Nights story
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Table of Contents
Book Description
About Lara Adrian
Also From Lara Adrian
Acknowledgments from the Author
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Three
Foreword
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Four
Discover the World of 1001 Dark Nights
Discover More Lara Adrian
An excerpt from Midnight Unbound by Lara Adrian
Special Thanks
One Thousand and One Dark Nights
Once upon a time, in the future…
I was a student fascinated with stories and learning.
I studied philosophy, poetry, history, the occult, and
the art and science of love and magic. I had a vast
library at my father’s home and collected thousands
of volumes of fantastic tales.
I learned all about ancient races and bygone
times. About myths and legends and dreams of all
people through the millennium. And the more I read
the stronger my imagination grew until I discovered
that I was able to travel into the stories... to actually
become part of them.
I wish I could say that I listened to my teacher
and respected my gift, as I ought to have. If I had, I
would not be telling you this tale now.
But I was foolhardy and confused, showing off
with bravery.
One afternoon, curious about the myth of the
Arabian Nights, I traveled back to ancient Persia to
see for myself if it was true that every day Shahryar
(Persian: شهريار, “king”) married a new virgin, and then
sent yesterday's wife to be beheaded. It was written
and I had read, that by the time he met Scheherazade,
the vizier's daughter, he’d killed one thousand
women.
Something went wrong with my efforts. I arrived
in the midst of the story and somehow exchanged
places with Scheherazade – a phenomena that had
never occurred before and that still to this day, I
cannot explain.
Now I am trapped in that ancient past. I have
taken on Scheherazade’s life and the only way I can
protect myself and stay alive is to do what she did to
protect herself and stay alive.
Every night the King calls for me and listens as I spin tales.
And when the evening ends and dawn breaks, I stop at a
point that leaves him breathless and yearning for more.
And so the King spares my life for one more day, so that
he might hear the rest of my dark tale.
As soon as I finish a story... I begin a new
one... like the one that you, dear reader, have before
you now.
Chapter 1
Tamisia stood over the crib and stared down at the plump little form beneath the pink blanket. So precious and innocent. So tenderly mortal. Sia had never given human life more than a passing thought in all her centuries of existence. Now, nothing meant more to her than the protection of this mortal soul and the others under her care at the women’s shelter in Rome.
Reaching out, she gently touched her fingertip to the crown of gossamer curls that sprouted from the infant's head. Sia smiled. Angelina was the baby’s name, little angel, and it fit. That silken hair, the chubby pink cheeks, and sweet cherub’s mouth. Being around this kind of fragile innocence every day for the past month had been a gift, a reminder that even among the bleakest of situations, there was still hope. There was purpose, a reason to get up each morning and greet the sun, things Sia hadn’t expected to find again, least of all among mankind.
Some days, if just for a moment or two, she could almost forget the circumstances that had brought her here in the first place.
Almost.
It had been just six weeks since her staggering fall from grace and resulting banishment from the Atlantean colony that had long been her home. Not even a blink of time for one of her kind. The pain was still fresh. So was her shame.
Having real, important work to do helped.
Feeling useful was the only thing keeping her sane when everything else she was had been stripped away from her—through no one’s fault but her own.
The image of Elyon’s too-handsome face came floating into her mind, bringing with it a second, gruesome image that made her throat constrict with nausea. For as long as she lived, she would never be able to purge the memory of her friend and fellow Atlantean council member Nethilos’s murder. Nor would she ever forgive herself for the price of her ignorance when it came to placing her trust in the wrong man.
Before the swell of grief and regret became too much, she shoved away thoughts of the colony and friends she would never see again. Sia wasn’t accustomed to feeling emotional weakness, let alone giving in to it. And dammit, she wasn’t about to start now.
Her new life was here, in this crowded, often brutal city in this foreign, mortal world.
It was a penance to be sure, but seeing children like sweet Angelina resting safely, peacefully under her care smoothed some of the edge of her melancholy. Her work here mattered. And it was enough, Sia told herself.
With little hope of ever being welcomed back to the colony and her own people, this new life would have to be enough.
Removing her hand from the baby’s crib, Sia glanced across the darkened room to where the baby’s twenty-year-old mother, Rosa, slept on the narrow bed. The pair had come to the shelter two days ago, alone and scared. Fortunately for Rosa, she bore none of the bruises or broken bones that were all too common among the shelter’s other desperate arrivals, but there was no mistaking the terror in the young woman’s eyes when she came to beg safe harbor for her and her baby. She was a shy thing, barely giving eye contact to anyone since she arrived, never mind divulging the sordid details of her life or the abuser who’d sent her running to the sanctuary.
Then again, trust, once broken, was not an easy thing to give.
Sia understood that all too well herself.
She blew out a sigh and backed silently out of the room, closing the door behind her. With the rest of the shelter’s charges asleep or settling in for the night, Sia picked up a basket of towels and blankets that needed washing and carried it downstairs, the rope of her long blonde braid bouncing against the backs of her thighs with each step.
As she walked into the kitchen on her way to the laundry room, her sole coworker and the founder of the private sanctuary glanced up from a stack of papers on the table.
“You don’t need to do that, Tamisia.” Phaedra’s chestnut brows knit over pale gold eyes. “Please, let me take that for you.”
When the beautiful brunette rose from her chair to help, Sia shook her head
. “It’s all right. I enjoy the work. Continue with what you’re doing.”
She didn’t miss Phaedra’s small bow of acquiescence. It was an automatic response that the other woman was still learning to curb, especially around others. No one else in the shelter knew of Sia’s unusual origins, let alone the lofty heights from which she had tumbled as one of her people’s vaunted elders.
Phaedra knew because, like Sia, she was also Atlantean, one of very few who lived among mankind instead of their own. Unlike Sia, however, Phaedra’s life outside the realm had not been forced upon her. She had fallen in love with a mortal man in Rome decades ago, then decided to remain in his world even after death had taken him from her.
And, unlike Sia, Phaedra wasn’t banished. She could go home if she wanted. All she had to do was call upon the small silvery orb of Atlantean crystal that dangled from the leather thong around her wrist and Phaedra could teleport back where she belonged. In fact, the crystal’s power could carry an Atlantean anywhere they wished; they needed only to concentrate and imagine the place in their mind.
Sia caught herself staring at her friend’s wrist, a pang of longing in her breast. Even if her own crystal hadn’t been taken away by her fellow council members at the colony, there was likely nothing she could do to redeem herself and persuade them to allow her to return.
Phaedra smiled gently, a wordless acknowledgment of Sia’s loss. Then she folded her hands in her lap as if to remove the visual reminder. “It’s been a long day. I was thinking I’d cap it off with a cup of hot cocoa and some of the cinnamon biscotti Louisa baked this morning. Would you like to join me after you put those things in the wash?”