Blue Bloods: Keys to the Repository

Silver Bloods: Immortal enemies of the Blue Bloods who have sworn allegiance to Lucifer, the exiled Prince of Heaven. Like the Blue Bloods, they are fallen angels, but refuse to live by the Code of the Vampires. Enslaved instead to a bottomless appetite of greed, sex, and desire, they now hunt the Blue Bloods. They are insane with the legion of memories they hold. Their eyes are crimson with silver pupils. They each have the strength of a thousand vampires.

Solom Bicallis: A one-way path from the underworld, as in Leviathan’s prison at Corcovado. Once it is used, it is closed to all.

Stasis: A locked-in state of paralysis that inhibits motion

Subvertio: A spell that unlocks what can not be unlocked, that destroys what can not be destroyed. A white hole of death. Also called the White Darkness, a vacuum of space and time.

Sunset Years: The years between fifteen and twenty-one—the most vulnerable time for vampires, during which their Transformation from human to vampire takes place and their Blue Blood asserts itself as they come into their full powers. This young generation of Blue Bloods does not use this term, as they find it “corny.”

The Uncorrupted: Angels who were not cursed and banished by the Almighty, but chose to leave Paradise out of love for their kind.

They are Michael and Gabrielle, the most powerful Blue Bloods on Earth.

Velox: The vampire ability of superhuman speed, so fast that they are undetectable, which leads most Red Bloods to think vampires have the ability to be invisible.

Venatio: The practice of memory hunting

Veritas Venator (Truth Seeker, Truth Teller): The highest order of the Committee’s secret police. Fearless warriors in the fight to keep the Blue Bloods safe from harm and discovery, they are able to decipher dreams and access human and vampire memories.

V.F.E. (Vessel for Evil): What Bliss calls herself when the Visitor takes over. A way for her to laugh when she really wants to cry.

“Vos vadum reverto”: The words spoken at a funeral for a vampire who has left this cycle: “We await your glorious return.”

Ward: A secure protection placed on a location by incantation

Warden: Title given to senior members of the Committee and the Conclave

The Watcher: The Elder of Elders is an eternal spirit, born with her eyes wide open, in full consciousness of her memories. She holds vigilance against Blue Blood enemies to sound the alarm should Lucifer return to Earth. She can be called up in a cycle to take human form, but if threatened, can switch human shells. She was the one who first discovered the Croatan betrayal in Rome. Able to see the future, she also foresaw the breaking of the bond between Gabrielle and Michael and predicted that Gabrielle’s daughter would be the salvation of the Blue Bloods.

White Darkness/White Death: The result of the subvertio spell. Leviathan released it into the intersection in Lutetia, creating a time vacuum that possibly swallowed or destroyed Charles Force. Kingsley called it forth to destroy the Gate of Time and one of the Paths of the Dead.

Wisdom Teeth: A vampire’s fangs (the Red Bloods took the term from the Blue Bloods). They are not, as the Conspiracy has spread, in the front canines, but actually on the side. With practice, they can be extended and retracted.





Author’s Note: I am currently in the process of writing the fifth Blue Bloods book, Misguided Angel, coming Fall 2010, and thought it would be fun to share the first two chapters.





MISGUIDED ANGEL



ONE



The Cinque Terre


Schuyler Van Alen walked up the polished brass spiral stairs leading to the upper deck as quickly as she could. Jack Force was standing at the edge of the bow when she caught his eye. She nodded to him, shielding her eyes from the hot Mediterranean sun. It’s done.

Good, he sent, and went back to setting the anchor. He was sunburned and shaggy, his skin a deep nut brown, his hair the color of flax. Her own dark hair was wild and unkempt from a month of salty sea air. She wore an old shirt of Jack’s that had once been white and pristine and was now gray and ragged at the hem. They both displayed that laconic, relaxed air affected by those on perpetual vacation: a lazy, weathered aimlessness that belied their true desperation. A month was long enough. They had to act now. They had to act today.

The muscles on Jack’s arms tensed as he tugged on the rope to see if the anchor had found purchase on the ocean floor. No luck. The anchor heaved, so he released the line a few more feet. He raised a finger over his right shoulder, signaling to Schuyler to reverse the port engine. He let the rope go a little farther and tugged at it again, the stout white braids of the anchor line chafing his palm as he pulled it toward him.