To the semi-official support group of the Smart Chicks, especially Kelley and Melissa. It’s so nice to be part of such an amazing group of women, never mind amazing writers. Rock on, Smart Chicks.

To Joe Bonamassa, because, always.

And to Cat, who puts up with the endless long days and deadlines and crises, and does it so gracefully. Love you, sweetie. I promise someday there will be a day without word count. But not today.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

In previous books up through Bite Club, we’ve seen events in Morganville through the eyes of Claire Danvers; since then, we’ve been visiting other points of view, especially in Last Breath, the book immediately prior to this one.

We’ll continue to see events this way in Black Dawn … so be sure to note who is narrating the scene for you at the beginning of each chapter. Because everyone has secrets …

… And some of them will be deadly.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Author’s Note

Introduction

Chapter One: Claire

Chapter Two: Michael

Chapter Three: Claire

Chapter Four: Claire

Chapter Five: Eve

Chapter Six: Claire

Chapter Seven: Shane

Chapter Eight: Claire

Chapter Nine: Shane

Chapter Ten: Michael

Chapter Eleven: Claire

Chapter Twelve: Eve

Chapter Thirteen: Claire

Chapter Fourteen: Hannah

Chapter Fifteen: Eve

Chapter Sixteen: Shane

Chapter Seventeen: Claire

Chapter Eighteen: Oliver

Chapter Nineteen: Naomi

Chapter Twenty: Eve

Chapter Twenty-one: Claire

Chapter Twenty-two: Oliver

Chapter Twenty-three: Claire

Chapter Twenty-four: Shane

Epilogue

Track List

INTRODUCTION

Morganville, Texas, isn’t like other towns. Oh, it’s small, dusty, and ordinary in most ways, but the thing is, there are these … vampires. They own the town. They run it. And until now they’ve been the unquestioned ruling class.

But now this dry, landlocked town has been flooded by unnatural rains, and the rains have brought something else … the predators who’ve hunted the vampires almost to extinction.

The draug.

They hide in the water. They feed on vampires by preference, humans by necessity, and even in a desert town, there’s no place safe now that they’ve arrived. Not for the vampires or for those few humans still standing beside them.

So hold on tight. Because Morganville’s changed.

And it’s a very dark new day.

CHAPTER ONE

CLAIRE

It would have been better if he’d screamed.

Michael Glass didn’t scream. Instead, he made a terrible keening noise in the back of his throat, arched his back, and began to flail violently inside his zipped-up sleeping bag. Fabric shredded under vampire strength, and insulation bulged out of the tears as he fought his way free, but even once the weight was off him he just kept … flailing.

Across the room, Claire Danvers bolted straight to her feet, tripped over her own sleeping bag, and managed to catch herself against a wall just before she hit the floor face-first. Her heart was slamming too fast against her ribs, and she had the sour, helpless taste of panic in her mouth.