Stroke of Midnight: A Midnight Breed Novella (The Midnight Breed Series) Read online

twisted,

  dropping the fighter to the floor.

  Jagger recovered in less than an

  instant, pivoting on his elbow and

  sweeping Rune’s legs out from

  under him with another smooth kick.

  The move was swift and

  elegant, but it opened Jagger up for

  sudden defeat.

  Rune went down, but took

  Jagger with him, tackling him into

  an impossible hold on the floor of

  the cage. Jagger struggled to break

  loose, but Rune’s spiked knuckles

  kept the fighter subdued.

  Howls and applause thundered

  through the arena as the clock

  counted down on the end of the

  match, with Rune about to claim yet

  another win.

  As Carys cheered his certain

  victory, she felt a prickle of

  awareness on the back of her neck.

  She glanced behind her toward the

  back of the club. Two of her

  father’s Breed warriors had just

  come inside.

  Shit.

  Dressed in the Order’s black

  fatigues, Jax and Eli scanned the

  massive

  crowd,

  ignoring

  the

  spectacle inside the cage as they

  sought to locate her. She was getting

  used

  to

  seeing

  the

  Order’s

  babysitting patrol every night, but

  that didn’t make it any less

  annoying.

  Maybe her father’s patience

  had finally reached its end. She

  knew him well enough not to put it

  past him to send his warriors out to

  collect her and eventually bring her

  home. By force if needed.

  Ha. Let them try.

  As one of the rare few females

  of the Breed and a daywalker,

  Carys was every bit as strong as

  any male of her kind. Stronger than

  most, given that her mother, Tavia

  Chase, was a laboratory-created

  miracle comprised of half-Ancient

  and half-Breedmate genetics.

  But she didn’t need to resort to

  physical strength to avoid Jax and

  Eli. Carys had another ability at her

  disposal—this one inherited from

  her father.

  As she stood among the crowd

  near the front of the arena, Carys

  quieted her mind and focused on her

  surroundings.

  Gathering

  and

  bending the shadows around her,

  she concealed herself in plain sight.

  No one would see her so long as

  she held the shadows close.

  She waited, watching the pair

  of Order warriors stroll deeper into

  the club to scan the hundreds of

  humans and Breed packed inside.

  Carys drifted deeper into the throng,

  unseen by anyone. Jax and Eli gave

  up after a few minutes of searching.

  Carys smiled from within her magic

  as she watched them finally leave.

  Meanwhile, the match in the

  cage was over. Rune and Jagger had

  taken off their metal torcs and

  gloves. They clapped each other on

  the shoulder, both mopping the

  blood and sweat from their faces as

  the announcer declared the winner.

  Carys let her shadows fall

  away then. The hatch on the cage

  opened to let out the combatants.

  She raced to meet Rune, shouting

  his name and applauding with the

  rest of the throng as her man

  collected yet another victory.

  Rune’s rugged face lit up with

  private promise when he saw her.

  The brutal, fearsome fighter stepped

  out of the cage and caught her

  around the waist, hauling her to

  him.

  His dark eyes glittered with

  need he didn’t even try to conceal.

  Ignoring the cheers and applause

  that swelled around him, he took

  her mouth in a possessive kiss.

  Then he scooped her up and

  carried her out of the arena.

  Welcome to Storm, Texas,

  where passion runs hot,

  desire runs deep,

  and secrets have the power

  to destroy...

  Nestled among rolling hills

  and

  painted

  with

  vibrant

  wildflowers, the bucolic town of

  Storm, Texas, seems like nothing

  short of perfection.

  But there are secrets beneath

  the facade. Dark secrets. Powerful

  secrets. The kind that can destroy

  lives and tear families apart. The

  kind that can cut through a town like

  a tempest, leaving jealousy and

  destruction in its wake, along with

  shattered hopes and broken dreams.

  All it takes is one little thing to

  shatter that polish.

  Reading like an on-going

  drama in the tradition of classic day

  and night-time soap operas like

  Dallas, Dynasty, and All My

  Children, Rising Storm is full of

  scandal, deceit, romance, passion,

  and secrets.

  With 1001 Dark Nights as the

  “producer,” Julie Kenner and Dee

  Davis use a television model with

  each week building on the last to

  create a storyline that fulfills the

  promise of a drama-filled soap

  opera. Joining Kenner and Davis in

  the “writer’s room” is an incredible

  group

  of

  New

  York

  Times

  bestselling authors such as Lexi

  Blake, Elisabeth Naughton, Jennifer

  Probst, Larissa Ione, Rebecca

  Zanetti and Lisa Mondello who

  have brought their vision of Storm

  to life.

  A serial soap opera containing

  eight episodes in season one, the

  season premiere of Rising Storm,

  TEMPEST

  RISING,

  debuts

  September

  24th

  with

  each

  subsequent

  episode

  releasing

  consecutively this fall.

  So get ready. The storm is

  coming.

  Experience

  Rising

  Storm

  Here… http://risingstormbooks.com

  On behalf of 1001 Dark

  Nights,

  Liz Berry and M.J. Rose would like

  to thank ~

  Steve Berry

  Doug Scofield

  Kim Guidroz

  Jillian Stein

  InkSlinger PR

  Dan Slater

  Asha Hossain

  Chris Graham

  Pamela Jamison

  Jessica Johns

  Dylan Stockton

  Richard Blake

  BookTrib After Dark

  The Dinner Party Show

  and Simon Lipskar

  Table of Contents

  Book Description

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7
<
br />   CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  Document Outline

  Book Description

  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