Summary
Santa Louisa is still reeling from the lethal rampage of the demon Envy, one of the Seven Deadly Sins released from Hell by black magic. The fiendish entity was finally trapped, but when more bodies bearing satanic marks surface in Los Angeles, demon hunter Moira O'Donnell fears the terror has only just begun.
Racing to L.A., Moira discovers that the City of Angels is fast becoming the demon Lust's decadent playground. She suspects another coven is at work, aided indirectly by her diabolical mother, the powerful witch Fiona. But when Moira's unwanted psychic powers intensify, she fears her connection to the underworld is putting everyone she cares about in grave danger.
As supernatural war erupts, Moira and smoldering, seductive Rafe Cooper are caught in the crossfire. Cornered by mortal and unearthly enemies, they must master all their own powers to survive--and to understand if the intensely passionate feelings that bind them are Lust's demon magic or true desire.
Author Notes
Allison Brennan was born in 1969 in California. She is an American bestselling writer of romantic thriller novels. Her writing includes the Lucy Kincaid series, the F. B. I. Trilogy and the Predator Series. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thiller Writers.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Excerpts
ONE Present Day Moira O'Donnell woke up with blood on her hands. Her heart raced as she sat upright in the strange bed, staring at the dark-red blood drip, drip, dripping onto the white sheets, disappearing as each thick drop spread. She swallowed the scream that fought to escape. She blinked and the blood was gone. The panicked rage faded. She almost--almost, but not quite--forgot the feeling of her hand clenching the heavy, balanced dagger. Almost forgot the sickening sound of the blade slicing through tendons, hitting bone, cutting out an invisible soul and throwing it to demons that tore it to shreds, feeding. It's not real. It's not real. It's not real. She repeated the mantra, reminding herself that it was only a nightmare, that she'd certainly never killed a person. The fear from the dream stayed; it always did. Moira lived with fear day in and day out, sometimes buried so deep she almost could believe it was gone. When she lied to herself. As the nightmare faded, her vision blurred. The dim early-morning light coming from the edges of the closed blinds looked cloudy and surreal, like her nightmare. She felt a vision coming on . . . but that wasn't possible. She'd never been fully awake for a vision before; they'd always hit her in the moment of unease immediately following a nightmare, before she could claw her way back to consciousness. She was awake--knew she was awake--but everything around her was foggy, while her mind started a movie she didn't want to see. Moira's gut reaction was to stop the onslaught of images, but she couldn't even if she'd tried. In a rush, her mind flooded with thoughts not her own, sights she'd never witnessed, feelings she'd never had. No vision had ever been anything like this. Not this physical sense of evil seeping into every pore, filling her until she wanted to scream. She flew across the continent and back, tired. Bored. Frustrated. There were many places she could stay, but none of them appealed to her. It was all too easy. The desires of the body were weak, and she was anything but weak. She wanted freedom, but wasn't free. She wanted vengeance, and she could have it--have everything--when she was free. Freedom! Her time was now. She grew stronger with each passing day. Yet, her spirit was caught by something stronger than she. She resisted, angry. But she was tied to the earth, and the harder she fought, the weaker she became. Spinning, spinning, spinning out of control, shrinking . . . A weak, dark-haired woman sat in the circle, waiting for her. She fought the entrapment, but she'd been in the astral plane, and her anchor had called her back. Someone trapped her! She stretched and fought and vowed revenge on her captor. The mind that shared this body was foolish. She suppressed it. Brutally, without remorse. Moira screamed as pain filled her head. For a split second, she thought she was possessed. She tasted the hot sulphur on her tongue, felt an evil presence under her skin; then it was gone. The vision, the pain, everything. Everything but the fear. Her body shook violently. From the corner of her eye she saw movement--something was in her room. She jumped out of bed, knife in hand without even thinking about reaching under her pillow for her weapon. She held it in front of her to ward off dark magic or a demon, making quick, confident strides toward the enemy. "Moira!" Rafe. She swallowed, blinked, tried to regain her focus as she wobbled on her feet. He grabbed her wrist and her vision cleared. She had been inches from him. What if she'd hurt him? What if she'd been trapped in a vision and killed him? "You were looking right at me, but you didn't see me," he said quietly. Excerpted from Carnal Sin by Allison Brennan All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.