Dark Deceptions (39 page)

From the desk of Dee Davis

Dear Reader,

The American Tactical Intelligence Command (A-Tac) is an off-the-books black ops division of the CIA. Hiring only the best
and the brightest, A-Tac is made up of academicians with a talent for espionage. Working under the cover of one of the United
States’ most renowned think tanks as a part of Sunderland College, A-Tac uses its collegiate status to keep its activities
“eyes only.”

I suppose my love of academia is in part responsible for the creation of A-Tac. I graduated from Hendrix College in Arkansas.
A small liberal arts school, the campus is dotted with ivy-shrouded buildings and tree-covered grounds. So although I moved
my fictional Sunderland to upstate New York, it’s still very much Hendrix that I see as I write. And like Nash Brennon (the
hero of DARK DECEPTIONS), my degree is in political science. Although, unlike Nash, I have never worked for the CIA or taught
in the social sciences.

But I have been in love. And I know how easy it is to let things get in the way. To let fear and distrust rule the day. To
let a twist of fate stack the cards against finding happily-ever-after. Thankfully my situation was never quite so dire, but
I can understand how Annie Gallagher feels when her path crosses Nash Brennon’s again. Eight years ago, he betrayed her in
the most basic of ways, and now they find themselves on opposite sides of a dangerous game. Annie with a desperate mission
to rescue someone she loves, and Nash charged with stopping her—no matter the cost.

To get some insight into my world as a writer—particularly as the writer of DARK DECEPTIONS—check out the following songs:

“When I’m Gone”—3 Doors Down

“Into the Night”—Santana (featuring Chad Kroeger)

“Fields of Gold”—Sting

And as always, check out
www.deedavis.com
for more inside info about my writing and my books.

Happy Reading!

From the desk of Jennifer Haymore

Dear Reader,

When Katherine Fisk, the heroine of A TOUCH OF SCANDAL (on sale now), entered my office for the first time to ask me to write
her story, I realized right away that she wasn’t like one of my normal heroines. She was obviously of the lower orders, dressed
in plain brown wool and twisting her hands nervously in her lap. Still, there was something about her dancing brown eyes that
intrigued me, and I asked her why she had come.

“I’m in love,” she said simply.

I laughed. “Well, that
is
what I write about. But tell me about this man you love.”

“Well—” She swallowed hard. “He’s a duke.”

“Hmm.” I studied the calluses on her hands, evidence of a life of hard work. “That makes it… difficult.”

“I know,” she sighed. “But there’s more—much more.”

“All right,” I said. “Tell me.”

I was already feeling doubtful, and I hesitated to encourage her. Don’t get me wrong. I mean, I love Cinderella stories—but
this girl really didn’t look like a match for a duke. Plus, she didn’t look like she could pay me what my last client had
(my last client was a duchess, and she was loaded).

“Well… I think he wants to kill my brother.”

I tapped my pen against my desk. A servant girl besotted with a duke intent on killing her beloved brother? Impossible, but
also… “Intriguing,” I said, “but you’re making this difficult, you know.”

“I know.” She clasped those calloused fingers tightly together. “There’s still more. There’s the matter of the duke’s wife…”

Well, that was that. I rose, intending to politely show her out. “I’m so sorry, Miss… Fisk, was it?”

She nodded.

“Miss Fisk, I’m sorry. If the man is already married, there’s nothing I can do for you—”

“Oh, he isn’t married!” Her brow furrowed. “Well, I don’t think he’s married… But he has a wife.” Her frown deepened. “At
least… he had a wife, but…”

I lowered myself back into my chair. “Okay. You’re going to have to start from the beginning. Tell me everything. Don’t skip
any detail.”

She nodded, took a breath, and began. “When I first saw him, he was naked…”

And that was how it began. With a servant and a naked, married (or not!) duke seeking retribution from her brother. By the
time Miss Fisk finished telling me her story, I was so hooked, I had to put pen to paper and write the entire, wild tale,
and, believe it or not, I offered to do it pro bono. I’m usually pretty mercenary about these things, you see, but I figured
if I pulled it off, at the end Miss Fisk would be more than capable of paying me, and quite handsomely, too.

I truly hope you enjoy reading Katherine Fisk’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please come visit me at my website,
www.jenniferhaymore.com
, where you can share your thoughts about my books, learn some strange and fascinating historical facts, and read more about
the characters from A TOUCH OF SCANDAL.

Sincerely,

From the desk of Rita Herron

Dear Reader,

I’ve always loved small towns. They feel homey and friendly. Everyone knows everyone else, trades recipes, and watches over
one another’s children. A small town is a safe place to raise a family.

But have you ever noticed that there seems to be one news story after another about the man or woman next door in those small
towns who turned out to be a serial killer? Then there’s the soccer mom who killed her husband. Or the man who slaughtered
his family.

I’ve always been fascinated by this idea and it occurred to me one day, what if I took it one step further? What if brutal
killers are living among trusting people in small towns… and they’re not the scariest and most dangerous hidden element? What
if there are demons, too? An entire world of them who live underground and mingle with the normal citizens.

And nobody in town knows about those demons… except, of course, for the local sheriff, Dante Valtrez… who is one of them!

There, I had my setup. But that wasn’t enough. I needed to get into the heart of my hero and heroine.

Having a degree in Early Childhood Education, I’ve always been intrigued by the effects of parenting and society on young
children. Our parents teach us to be nice, to follow the rules, to respect others and not to be naughty. But what if my hero
wasn’t taught that behavior as a child? What if he was taught to be naughty, to be evil? What if Dante Valtrez was raised
by demons?

But even if Dante was a demon, I wanted him to be a hero. Like his brothers Vincent in INSATIABLE DESIRE and Quinton in DARK
HUNGER, he has both good and bad in him (don’t we all?), so he struggles with his own evil side throughout his entire life.

But how to showcase this struggle between good and evil? And then it occurred to me—what if he had to choose between killing
a little girl to earn the acceptance of his fellow demons and doing what he knew was right and being forced out of the only
community he ever knew? I chose to have Dante put to the ultimate test at age thirteen because that’s the beginning of adolescence,
a confusing time when a boy changes from a child to a man. This is a pivotal moment for Dante, because he’s so torn at the
sight of the little girl and her happy family, something he secretly craves, that he can’t kill her. He fails the demon test
because his humanity surfaces.

From that point on, Dante can’t go back. But he doesn’t fit into the mortal world either or think he deserves love. Still,
he becomes determined to protect innocents from the monsters who raised him.

But Dante has suffered a painful childhood and has been tortured, He does deserve love, and the romantic in me had to find
the perfect woman to give him that love. And who else could possibly save Dante but the one he was supposed to kill? The little
girl he saved as a child who becomes the woman who wants to destroy all evil through her work?

Romance, suspense, murder, demons, family issues, secrets—this story is chock-full of them all. I hope you’ll enjoy the surprise
twist at the end and the final installment in the Demonborn series, FORBIDDEN PASSION—out now!