: Steven Van Patten
: Brookwater's Curse Volume Two
: Laughing Black Vampire Productions, LLC
: 9780990791782
: 1
: CHF 4.70
:
: Erzählende Literatur
: English
: 372
: kein Kopierschutz
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
In the vampire nation, the civil war Christian Brookwater sought to prevent has become a harsh reality. On one side stands the High Counselors. Once considered great and benevolent rulers, their web of deception has unraveled, revealing them to be nothing more than self-serving power mongers. To preserve their reign, the High Counselors have begun a bloody campaign that threatens to wipe out all of the monster races, starting with their own. These Founding Fathers of Vampirism are all gifted with extraordinary powers that surpass anything ever seen in the history of living monsters. There are four of these god-like creatures, but none as destructive and devious as High Counselor Emmanuel, a demon that can destroy another's life essence with the mere brush of his ominous left hand. All over the world, thousands of vampires stand ready to do Emmanuel's bidding, including a group that has embraced a doctrine that is frighteningly similar to the religious right-wingers found in the human world. Lord Ebichara Tanata leads the opposing army that seeks to overthrow the High Counselors. With Japan's deadliest samurai vampires willing to march into certain death at his word, Lord Tanata has fortified his numbers by joining forces with the rachasas, a race of shape-shifting cat people who have their own axe to grind with Emmanuel. As Christian helps Lord Tanata take on the High Counselors, he uncovers many horrible secrets. It's not long before Christian becomes a bigger target than his samurai mentor. What he finally discovers will not only change the course of the war, but will have a startling impact on everyone he cares about, including his unborn child.

Prologue

By the time they had finished fourth grade, Stephen Buja and Jeremiah Pinder had become inseparable friends. Stephen’s parents-- Natasha and Gregory Buja—- easily accepted that the two children shared a bond, and gave in to the notion that they would often have to include Jeremiah in their family plans. Gregory, a consultant for a weapons development corporation, encouraged the boys to play together because he secretly hoped Jeremiah’s natural athleticism would help propel his frail son into being tougher and more into sports.

Unfortunately, it was much harder for Jeremiah’s mother, Gail, to accept the situation. Gail was a single parent, having been abandoned by Jeremiah’s useless father before her son’s eighth birthday. She was so busy working the two jobs she needed to cover the household expenses and keep Jeremiah in private school that she knew nothing of Stephen until both boys were thirteen. The discovery led to an awkward period where Gail Pinder, convinced that her son would be seen as a charity case, tried to limit the amount of time her son spent with the Buja family.

“Don’t be spending all day at that white boy’s house,” Gail would shout after Jeremiah as he was on his way out the front door to do just that.

It would take some time for Gail Pinder to become comfortable with their friendship, and it would take even longer for Gregory Buja to give up his dreams of the two boys becoming the next Karl Malone and John Stockton. Thankfully, by senior year of high school, all of the parents were on the same page as the two boys, who only wanted to maintain their friendship without anyone else’s silly expectations being foisted upon them.

They were both accepted at Boston College. Stephen, always something of a math wiz, went into engineering and web design, while Jeremiah double majored in journalism and African-American studies. They rented a house together in the middle of their freshman year, threw parties, dated various women, and quickly acquired a sense of how to be grown men who pay their bills on time and live responsibly.

About a year after college, Stephen met an attractive, intelligent, Chinese woman named Betsy. After experiencing some of the usual ups and downs that occur between a man and