About The Author
The Gifted and The Damned
(The Vampire Wars Series, Book #1)
by Dana Michelle Burnett
Blurb:
Seduction was her gift...He was her weakness...
In the small town of Corydon Indiana, witches, seers, and shape shifters live hidden from the everyday world in plain sight. They live under the constant memory of the trials of Salem and live by a code of secrecy.
Ruby Malone, the only siren ever born to her family of witches, held the hearts of many men in the palm of her hand, making her the talk of the supernatural community, but there was only one man that she wanted. Making seer Archer Wallace hers was the only thing Ruby cared about until a war between the gifted and the vampires turned her world upside down.
Suddenly, the world that Ruby knows is gone. Archer is off fighting in the war and Poe Corvus, a rebellious shape shifter with a past, tempts her to be the siren she was born to be.
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Excerpt
All throughout the morning, I did what I could for the wounded using all of our meager first aid supplies and then finally just tearing the bed sheets into long strips and using those for bandages. I asked every person that was cognitive enough for news.
âWhere are the vampires? Are they going to take the city?â
Dim eyes looked up at me, âItâs not good. We're losing.â
âLosing?â I tried to let the implications of that word sink in. We were losing... The vampires were going to win...
I looked at all the wounded and dying, seeing what the vampires were capable of and felt sick. âWhat am I supposed to do?â
âWhat can any of us do? Just wait them out.â
Wait them out? Weâre losing the war... And tonight the vampires will come and they will smell all of this blood...
I wiped the sweat from my brow and shook my head, âYou all canât stay here. Itâs just... Thereâs so much blood...â
âI understand,â the leader said. âLet us rest for an hour or so, and those of us that can walk will start leaving.â
âAnd the rest?â
He looked around at the people sleeping or unable to sleep because they were writhing in agony, âI've put a call out. Cars will be coming shortly to get the ones that canât leave on their own.â
The morning dragged on into the afternoon, the groans of the wounded and the whimpers of the dying created a constant hum that filled the air and pushed everything else out. I carried glasses of water back and forth, stepping over those lying in the floor as I moved from room to room.
I didn't even know were Melina was anymore and I didn't care. All I did was wrap clumsy bandages and dish out what food we had. The sun sank lower and lower as the number of people dwindled, but they move so slowly! I wished they would hurry so I could clean the blood soaked floor before sunset.
As I moved from the living room to the hall with another armful of blood soaked rags, one of the grimy creatures squirming on the floor reached out and grabbed at the hem of my jeans. I felt myself cringe, I wanted to pull away from his dirty hand, but when I looked down, I saw a familiar pair black eyes looking up at me.
Poe...
I dropped down beside him. His shoulder and neck were bleeding. âMy God Poe, what happened?â
âI wasn't... I wasn't quick enough.â He mumbled feverishly, âI just wasn't...â
I brushed his hair out of his eyes, âWhat were you doing fighting anyway? I thought you were a scout.â
âThings changed.â
He fainted into a twitching sort of sleep. I got up, went into the kitchen for a pan of water, and clean towels. I returned and knelt down beside him, cleaning his wounds and applying pressure to stop the bleeding.
Slowly he opened his eyes and focused on my face as I hovered over him. He looked up at me with vacant eyes, âItâs bad, isn't it?â
âNo,â I said with a shrug. âI've seen several worse off.â
âLiar,â he said with a weak smile. âYou always were such a bad liar.â
I looked down at him and suddenly felt like crying. I looked away and added another towel to the soppy mess on his shoulder.
Poe lifted his uninjured arm so that his hand could brush my cheek.
âHow can you still be so beautiful in the middle of all this mess?â Poe mumbled, âArcher Wallace is a fool...â
I looked around nervously, hoping wherever Melina was that she wasn't close enough to hear him.
âDonât talk,â I whispered. âPlease donât talk.â
âI have to,â he said with a grimace. âThere wonât be any second chances... I love you Ruby Malone... I donât know why and I wish to hell I didn't...â
I couldn't speak. His hand gripped my hair and pulled me down to him. He strained to lift his head enough for our lips to meet.
It was a soft kiss, but suddenly I felt as though I was falling. My breath caught and my heart pounded in my chest as if trying to break free from my ribs.
I willed my body not to respond. This was Poe...And it was Archer that I loved...Archer...
Poe released my hair as he fell back, slipping into unconsciousness. I looked in his handsome face, looking so much younger than his years, smeared with his own blood.
Iâm sick of this war...
I sat with him for the next two hours, holding towels over his injuries until two men lifted him to take him to a waiting car.
I watched as his head fell back and flopped from side to side, as they moved him.
âWill he be okay?â I asked as I followed them to the door.
âDonât know,â one of the men said. âDoesn't look good.â
I reached up and touched my lips as they took him out to the waiting car.
About The Author
Dana Michelle Burnett spent most of her life writing short stories and sharing them with family and friends. Over the years, her work was published in numerous commercial and literary magazines including Just Labs, Mindprints: A Literary Journal, Foliate Oak, and many more. Her short story John Lennon and the Chicken Holocaust was include in The Best of Foliate Oak 2006.
Dana Michelle's Spiritus Series introduced the idea of a ghostly romance and became a Kindle bestselling series. Her Gypsy Fairy Tale Series combined the magic of the Tuatha De Danann and the Irish Travellers and the first book in the series,Once, was included in the Faery Realms Multi-Author Box Set. With this new series, Dana Michelle dives into the trials and tribulations surrounded the paranormal gifted during a war with vampires.
She's an avid reader of anything dark and romantic. Dana Michelle lives in Southern Indiana with her dancing diva daughter and an assortment of pets.
Dana Michelle loves connecting with her readers.
You can find Dana at
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The Gifted and The Damned (The Vampire Wars Series, Book #1) by Dana Michelle Burnett Blurb: Seduction was her gift...He was her weakness... In the small town of Corydon Indiana, witches, seers, and shape shifters live hidden from the everyday world in plain sight. They live under the constant memory of the trials of Salem and live by a code of secrecy. Ruby Malone, the only siren ever born to her family of witches, held the hearts of many men in the palm of her hand, making her the talk of the supernatural community, but there was only one man that she wanted. Making seer Archer Wallace hers was the only thing Ruby cared about until a war between the gifted and the vampires turned her world upside down. Suddenly, the world that Ruby knows is gone. Archer is off fighting in the war and Poe Corvus, a rebellious shape shifter with a past, tempts her to be the siren she was born to be. Release Date: April 7th 2015 Excerpt I saw her coming in my mindâs eye even before I answered the knock at the door. I opened it slowly and there she was...My curse, my temptation, the woman I could never forget. Ruby stood in the yellow glow of the porch light holding a large cardboard box. âDad noticed last night that some of your window panes were broken,â she said as she hoisted the box a little higher. âI thought Iâd bring you some magazines and newspapers to fix them.â I stared at her, drinking in the way the light caught in her eyes and how I could see the peaks of her nipples through her worn t-shirt. She shifted the box again before I snapped out of my fantasy and took the box from her. âSorry,â I mumbled as I took the box and stepped aside. âCome on in. Iâm sorry, but Melina wasnât feeling well. She went on up to bed. I know sheâd love to see you, she always looks forward to your visits.â I was rambling and I knew it. Why was this so hard? It was just Ruby. It shouldnât be this hard. I watched as she walked around the near empty living room. I saw her looking around, but I was too distracted by the sway of her hips to care about my blatant poverty. She was beautiful in a strong, earthy way that made me forget everything else. âEverything looks so different,â she said as she looked back at me with those green eyes that pierced me right in the gut. I had a sudden vision of her naked body under mine, our limbs entwined. I immediately blushed and looked away, clearing my throat before I could answer her. âYeah, there wasnât much left after the war. The whole place was pretty much trashed.â She stepped closer, trailing her fingers across the scuffed wainscoting, âIt still feels the same though.â âNot to me.â I dared to meet her eyes, but there came another flash of our naked bodies on the floor. âIt doesnât really feel the same to me either,â she said with a teasing smile. âI was just being nice.â I nodded. âYeah, everyone is always trying to be nice. Iâm sick of it actually. Doesnât it make you mad...The way everything has changed?â Ruby shrugged, âIt doesnât do any good to be angry. I just try not to think about it.â âI donât see how you can do it. All I can do is think about it.â Ruby crossed her arms under her breasts and shrugged, âIf you think about it too much it will drive you crazy.â I looked up at the ceiling to keep from staring at her delicious cleavage, âI feel like Iâm already there.â âPoor, Archer.â Ruby said teasingly as she reached out and stroked my hair. I looked back down at her and my breath caught. I loved the way she looked at me, the way her green eyes tilted up. I looked from those feline eyes to those soft full lips that were always mine for the taking. Suddenly, I had her in my arms. I couldnât stop myself. I was kissing her and pulling her closer, crushing her against the hardness in my jeans. Her skin was sweet as I licked at her neck. Her moans vibrated against my lips. She clung to me, pushing her full breasts against my chest. âIâve waited for this,â Ruby muttered between kisses. âIâve dreamed about it every night.â I covered her lips with mine, tasting her tongue as my hand slid up her side until I cupped the weight of her breast, my thumb stroking her erect nipple through her shirt. I could feel her shudder under my touch. No bra...She knows how to drive me wild... She was pulling me to the couch, pushing me down so that I was sitting there as she peeled off her shirt and slid out of her own jeans. Naked she straddled me. There it was, another vision of us, her crying out as I thrust into her and me kissing her bouncing breasts. Her lips against my ear brought me back to the present. âDo you want me Archer?â She whispered, âDo you want to touch me?â Ruby reached out and took my hand. She held it up to her lips, her delicious pink tongue darting out to lick each individual digit. I held my breath as she then guided my hand between her legs and slid two of my fingers up inside of her. You drive me crazy... She rocked against my hand, arching her back and moaning. I suckled at her pink nipples as she burst apart again and again. âYouâre mine Archer.â She gasped between spasms, âYouâll always be mine.â I didnât argue. I kissed her again and then watched as she surrendered to me again. All I could think of was impaling her wetness. Oh God...Oh God... Ruby pulled at my shirt, pulling it over my head and then kissing me long and hard, her tongue darting about in my mouth. She knew how to drive a man to the edge, to take me right to the brink and then pull back. She was so beautiful, so willing... And so naked. She rubbed her steamy mound against me. I ached with longing, actual physical pain, with wanting her. She pulled me down into the floor, forcing me on top of her. âTell me you love me,â she said as she pulled at my pants. âTell me you love me and Iâll make every fantasy you ever had come true.â Another vision assaulted me. I could see us making love, I could feel our bodies touching, and then I saw the pale figure appear in the doorway. Melina... I stopped, panting and swollen. I pushed up on my arms and looked down at her, âRuby Iââ âI know that you love me.â She wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling me back down on top of her. âI know that you do.â âYes, I love you.â I choked out as I untangled from her embrace and rolled off her. âBut I canât do this to Melina.â âYou bring her up now?â âRuby...I...â She sat up and pulled on her clothes quickly, âDamn it Archer...Why canât you just make up your mind what you want. Me or her.â âI did make my mind up because I married her.â âYou are such a bastard.â About The Author Dana Michelle Burnett spent most of her life writing short stories and sharing them with family and friends. Over the years, her work was published in numerous commercial and literary magazines including Just Labs, Mindprints: A Literary Journal, Foliate Oak, and many more. Her short story John Lennon and the Chicken Holocaust was include in The Best of Foliate Oak 2006. Dana Michelle's Spiritus Series introduced the idea of a ghostly romance and became a Kindle bestselling series. Her Gypsy Fairy Tale Series combined the magic of the Tuatha De Danann and the Irish Travellers and the first book in the series,Once, was included in the Faery Realms Multi-Author Box Set. With this new series, Dana Michelle dives into the trials and tribulations surrounded the paranormal gifted during a war with vampires. She's an avid reader of anything dark and romantic. Dana Michelle lives in Southern Indiana with her dancing diva daughter and an assortment of pets. Dana Michelle loves connecting with her readers. You can find Dana at Presented By |
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