Dark Hunger: A Carpathian Novel - Softcover

Feehan, Christine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593639553 ISBN 13: 9780593639559

Verlag: Berkley, 2023

Inhaltsangabe

New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan's Carpathian classic goes manga—this edition of Dark Hunger includes the original novella which inspired the manga and a new note from the author!

Christine Feehan has reinvented the vampire novel with her #1 New York Times bestselling Carpathian novels. Now, she and Berkley take her “out-of-the-ordinary” (Booklist) series in a thrilling direction that’s more graphic than ever....

He is Riordan...Carpathian male. Immortal. Seer. Now trapped and cage, his honor is compromised by his captors. They’re in his mind. They’re in his blood. And not one can withstand his desire for revenge.

She is Juliette...A beautiful activist devoted to the liberation of animals from the foul and humid confines of a secret, jungle lab. What she has stumbled upon is unexpected—a prisoner like no other she has ever seen. Or touched.

She will release him from his bonds. He will release her from her inhibitions. Each has a voracious appetite that must be sated....

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Christine Feehan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the Carpathian series, the GhostWalker series, the Leopard series, the Torpedo Ink series, and the Shadow Riders series.

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New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan's Carpathian classic goes manga―this edition of Dark Hunger includes the original novella which inspired the manga and a new note from the author!

Christine Feehan has reinvented the vampire novel with her #1 New York Times bestselling Carpathian novels. Now, she and Berkley take her “out-of-the-ordinary” (Booklist) series in a thrilling direction that’s more graphic than ever....

He is Riordan...Carpathian male. Immortal. Seer. Now trapped and cage, his honor is compromised by his captors. They’re in his mind. They’re in his blood. And not one can withstand his desire for revenge.

She is Juliette...A beautiful activist devoted to the liberation of animals from the foul and humid confines of a secret, jungle lab. What she has stumbled upon is unexpected―a prisoner like no other she has ever seen. Or touched.

She will release him from his bonds. He will release her from her inhibitions. Each has a voracious appetite that must be sated....

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Chapter 1

"You would have to pick the most humid night of the year," Juliette Sangria whispered to her sister. She wiped sweat from her forehead and crouched lower in the shrubbery to keep from being seen.

A spotlight swept the area of thick vegetation where the two girls were hidden, but it couldn't penetrate the lush shrubbery and multitude of vines and creepers hanging from the trees. Jasmine waited for the light to pass before shrugging. "I saw them bring in three animals tonight. We have to get them out before they hurt them or perform experiments on them. You know that's what this place is all about."

Juliette swore under her breath and melted back into the shadows as the spotlight slid by them in a long sweep. She was certain the light was more for the superstitious guards, always afraid of the encroaching jungle. She knew from experience the jungle never slept and always tried to regain what man took away.

The building was concrete and mortar, fairly new, but already covered with moss and fungi, a dark, moldy green as the jungle crept back. Creeper vines climbed the walls and wound around the top of the building as if seeking a way in. There were no windows, and Juliette could imagine how hot it was inside for the animals, even with the thick walls. Humidity was always high here, and the research center had been built in the most unlikely of places. She knew it had been built in this remote location simply to hide the fact that animals on the endangered-species list were being used for illegal research.

"Jazz, we'll have only six minutes to get as many animals out as possible. Some of them will be highly agitated. If any are beyond our help, you have to leave them. Is that understood?" She knew her sister's affinity for wildlife. "These people play for keeps. I think they'd kill us, Jazz. Promise me, no matter what, you'll get out in six minutes and head for home and stay there. I'll hang back and make sure they don't recapture any of the animals."

"You'll lay a false trail into the jungle to keep them off me," Jasmine said.

"That too. We both know I can lose them. Yes or no, Jazz, do you give me your word? We aren't going in otherwise." Juliette would take her younger sister home and come back another night if she didn't promise. She detested that these men could come into her jungle and capture and torture animals and get away with it, but she wasn't losing her sister over it.

"Six minutes," Jasmine confirmed, and set the alarm on her watch.

"Then let's do it. I'll take out the guard at the main entrance and you cut into the security system."

Jasmine frowned as she nodded her acceptance of the plan. Juliette always made it sound so easy. Distracting and taking out the guard were always dangerous. She moved into a better position, covering her sister and getting closer to the main box, where the wires were stored. Few people paid attention to that little box, but Juliette and Jasmine knew it contained the highway for the main alarms. At night, only the guards were in attendance, and they were always nervous and highly superstitious. They seemed as afraid of what was out in the dark interior of the jungle as they were afraid of what was inside the building they guarded.

Juliette unbuttoned her blouse to just below her breasts so that the thin material gaped open, revealing the generous swell of soft, inviting skin. She pulled a thick banana from her pack and slipped around the building, slowly unpeeling the fruit as she went. As she emerged from the thick shrubbery, she paused deliberately in the sliver of moonlight, bringing the banana to her mouth and running her tongue over the tip of it. The light shone through the thin fabric of her blouse, caressing her rounded breasts so that her dark nipples thrust invitingly against the fabric.

The guard's attention was immediately riveted to her breasts. He licked his lips and stared. Juliette smiled at him around the banana. "I had no idea this building was here. I'm camping with a small party of friends just beyond the stream." She used tentative Spanish as if she didn't know the local dialect. Juliette turned slightly, giving him a more intriguing view of her body, and pointed back into the darkened vegetation. She turned back to him, allowing her gaze to sweep him up and down, to linger for just a moment on the sudden bulge growing in his trousers. "Oh, my, I certainly didn't expect such a big, strong man as you."

He couldn't talk, staring at her mouth as she sucked on the fruit, her lips sliding up and down suggestively. Juliette pulled the banana from her mouth, gaining ground, her hips swaying, her smile flirtatious. "Are you hungry? I'll share." She held out the banana and seemed to notice her blouse gaping open for the first time. "Oh, I'm sorry. It was so steamy in the jungle, I can hardly stand having clothes on. Doesn't the heat bother you? It makes me feel . . . soooo hot." One hand went to her blouse as if to close it, but her fingers trailed over the ripe swell of her breast.

The guard swallowed hard, staring at her. She held the banana to his mouth. "Are all the men in the jungle as handsome as you?"

He took a bite of the offered fruit; he couldn't help himself. He was smiling down at her, still staring at her breasts, when she used the pressure syringe on him, tranquilizing him. He was heavy, but Juliette was strong, and she dragged him into the cover of the bushes, sending up a small prayer that no predatory animal would find him defenseless, propped up against a broad tree trunk. She hastily prepared the scene while Jasmine penetrated the alarm system. From her pack, Juliette spilled a small amount of liquor on the guard's clothes, settled the flask in his hand, and removed the bullets from his gun, flinging them into the dense undergrowth.

Juliette and Jasmine stayed in the shadows, avoiding the open where a camera might pick them up as they hurried through the large building. The first few rooms appeared to be empty offices, but just beyond them, they could hear the uneasy sounds of animals in distress. The laboratories were fairly large, each holding several cages. They separated, glancing quickly at their watches and blowing a kiss for luck as they took separate sides of the huge building in the hopes of freeing as many animals as possible.

Both had the ability to calm and control even the largest of cats. It was more difficult when the animals had been teased and abused or tortured, but both women were certain of their talents and they moved fast and efficiently, their teamwork well practiced.

Juliette kept an eye on the time as she opened cages and directed animals. The last laboratory held the biggest animals. A sun bear, a jaguar, and a sloth. She cursed under her breath as she saw that the sloth was beyond all help. The sun bear had several injuries from someone poking it with a sharp instrument, but the jaguar was still in good shape, one of the newest animals the laboratory had acquired. She spoke softly, soothing the pacing animal, growling once low in her throat when it leapt at the cage walls in agitation. It took a bit longer to manage the lock and herd him out of the room down toward the entrance, using her telepathic link to guide him. She took three steps after the cat and then she felt a tremendous draw toward her left. To her dismay there was another door.

The door was heavy, a thick soundproof vault with several bars and locks. Juliette glanced at her watch a second time. She should be running to get out, but something outside herself demanded she investigate. Praying Jasmine kept her promise to depart and head home immediately, Juliette set to work on the door.


Riordan lay on the cement floor in a pool of blood, dispassionately watching as it seeped toward the built-in drain. His blood looked like a thin, pale...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Berkley
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2023
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593639553
• ISBN 13: 9780593639559
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Zeichner: Zid, Imaginary Friends Studio
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 368
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar