Cammy View & Creepy...

Well, I'm totally in my writer's cave pushing to get HIDDEN finished on deadline. Today I took a little break to walk my Scottie dogs right around dusk. We took the path that led past the cool graveyard and I snapped a Cammy View for y'all, and then I noticed a book someone had left. It was on the ground just outside the graveyard fence. CHECK OUT THE TITLE! Can you see it? DEAD OF NIGHT! A zombie book! Totally creepy... (Cammy says it should have been a vampire book!) Back to writing! XXXOOO PC

Fun in Phoenix

Thanks to all of our fans that came out to see us at awesome ComicCon in Phoenix. Our workshops were great (thanks for all the questions!), and I loved my panel with the fabulous Diana Gabaldon. Kristin is a total Dr. Who fan. And me? James T Kirk all the way! Back to writing HIDDEN... XXXOOO PC

Come see me in Phoenix this weekend!

Hey Guys! Come see me this weekend in Phoenix at their awesome ComicCon! Here's my schedule: Saturday: 12:00-1:00 - panel with the fabulous Diana Gabaldon 3:00-4:00 - I'm teaching a workshop Sunday 12:00-1:00 - I'm teaching another workshop The workshops will be about writing in general and about the House of Night. I'll be signing books afterwards. I think I'm signing books Friday as well, but I'm not sure when. You can google the Phoenix ComicCon for more info. I'm just going to go where they point me... See you in Phoenix! PC

Sliding into the end of HIDDEN!

Check out this awesome picture of The Black (my mare who is so much like Lenobia's Mujaji). It was taken by J. Brodland, a photographer friend of my ranch manager. Isn't she beautiful! Working my way through the last half of HIDDEN! Ooooh! XXXOOO PC

New favorite place!

Hey there Tulsa area fans! One of my best friends and I have opened an awesome restaurant in the heart of Tulsa! It's a fabulous Airstream where you can eat outside and pretend like you're on vacay! Lola's Gypsy Caravan can be found at 1347 E. 11th Street. Swing by - have some delicious food - say hi to Lola - and maybe Kristin and me, too!! Here's the on-line article about it: http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=39&articleid=20120508_39_0_Itslik450439 XXXOOO PC

Two for one!

It's a super cool coincidence that it looks like Kristin and I are going to finish our latest novels right around the same time! I'm almost done with HIDDEN, and Kristin is soooo close to being done with her first novel length, stand alone manuscript, tentatively titled ABOVE. (Kristin serves as teen voice editor on the House of Night books, and has had some short pieces published one her own.) But we are getting out and enjoying the beautiful weather on our new bikes! Ooooh! XXXOOO PC

An Awesomely Small World...

So, I get this email today from one of my very favorite ex-students, Dustin Chad Gann. He lives in NYC (I knew he'd end up there and be totally successful!). He was on the train riding into the city and he saw a woman reading one of my books. He snapped a pic. He and the woman started talking. He finds out she's a friend of one of my long time friends, and she'd just returned to NYC from visiting Tulsa. She proceeded to pull out her camera (she's an amazingly talented photographer) and showed Dustin pics of my ranch and me. He was all like, "Whhhhhat?? You know her, too???!" Such a cool small world... Yea for fabulous ex-students! XXXOOO PC

Happy Spring!

I'm more than halfway through HIDDEN! You will not believe what's happening!!! Hope y'all are having a wonderful spring. The bad weather has pretty much missed Tulsa and the ranch. It's been a wet spring, but the rain has been wonderful! Everything is green and growing. Makes for excellent writing weather! Wishing you love and light, PC

Follow Kristin!

Hey guys! Kristin has joined Twitter! Follow her at ChickenFrances! (No, I'm not going to tweet. It hurts my head. But yea for Kristin!) XXXOOO PC/Mom

HoN Motion Comic!

Oooh! Guys! Check it out! Dark Horse has created a motion comic based on part of the first HoN comic they released. You guys will recognize the story from THE FLEDGLING HANDBOOK! Awesomesauce!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjXRuP0Ol_w&list=PLD63319182D9529A4&index=7&feature=plpp_video

HoN shirt!

FINALLY! The first of our clothing line is ready! Right now it's just one shirt available through Hot Topic on line. This is our test run. If it does well we'll release all the others ASAP (and you should be able to buy them from Hot Topic stores).

Here's the link!

http://ow.ly/ajxtX

Happy shopping!!
PC

Oooh! Check us out!

Kristin and I are so honored and humbled by this.

XXXOOO
PC

Paradise!

I'm out at the ranch writing writing writing, which I do all night and usually go to bed when the sun comes up. So I'm wandering around outside (thinking about how to fix a plot problem I'd just written myself into), and I walked around the corner to see this fabulousness! It looked like fairies visited my back yard! Oooh!

Back to my writer's cave...
PC

Kristin's Events!

Kristin's helping me out by doing some events by herself so that I can get HIDDEN finished. Today she's in Georgia! This is her at Kendrick High School in Columbus, GA. She's having a blast! WELL DONE KRISTIN!

XXXOOO
PC/Mom

Paddeling my way through HIDDEN!

(Current Cammy View!)

Cammy said I needed to get some sea air to clear my head in the middle of writing HIDDEN, so we went out in the Cammy Kayak. Obviously, he's captain of the ship!

HIDDEN is coming along well...lots of craziness at the HoN. (All of you LENOBIA'S VOW fans will be Super Pleased!)

No movie updates at this time. Director and screenplay are being worked on. NO, THEY'RE NOT CASTING YET. I'll post when I know something.

May your day be Caribbean bright!

Back to work for me...
XXXOOO
PC

From the ranch to the beach!

(Cammy's View!)


Exhausted from fighting fires in Oklahoma, Cammy has retired to "his" beach on Grand Cayman where he's donned his life jacket and is practicing safe swimming. I'm in my writer's cave writing...writing...writing... Actually I just realized I messed up a scene in HIDDEN, so tonight I'll be REwriting...REwriting...REwriting... Sigh.

XXXOOO
PC

Cammy "helping" the fire trucks

Yes, it's been TOO DRY in Oklahoma, which means some moron throws a cigarette butt out a truck window and catches half of the state on fire. This time it was my half - wayyyy too close to my ranch for comfort. But Cammy was on duty, howling and helping the firemen. Good job Cammy! (And a big thank you to our wonderful, hardworking firemen!)

Taking a short break from working on HIDDEN to do the rewrite of POSSESSED, a novella (paranormal romance) that I've written for a duology with my good friend Gena Showalter. It'll be out in November. Back to HIDDEN soon!

XXXOOO
PC

New mare!

Well, I keep forgetting to have either my wonderful man or my Totally Perfect Ranch Manager take a pic of me on my new mare! So, today we all rode and (typically) I remembered the picture thing after I'd unsaddled her and was putting her away. Here's the quickly remembered picture of The Black and me. Yep, Lenobia's mare, Mujaji, is much like her - totally black quarter horse who is super smart and super wonderful. My mare does have a tiny bit of white on her forehead, though. And she's a dreamboat. I adore her. I am calling her The Black - any horse lovers out there know why? What fictional horse did I name her after?

Still plodding my way through HIDDEN...

XXXOOO
PC

Out at the ranch...

I'm out at my beautiful ranch plodding through the first half of HIDDEN. Thought you guys would like to see my gorgeous outdoor fireplace (it's been a mild winter, but still...burrrrr...). The book is going great, and I just bought a new mare! Oh boy! I'll post pics of her soon, but diehard HoN fans will appreciate knowing that she's so freakishly like Lenobia's mare that it's as if I manifested her!! Soooo, what color is she???

XXXOOO
PC

Big Bonnie!

As many of you know, much of what I write is based on the "real" world - and the fabulous Percheron mare introduced in DESTINED is a prime example of this. Travis's Bonnie is really my Bonnie. She's 18.2 hands and does remind me of a dinosaur (a lovely one, though!). Bonnie is broke to ride, but her primary job is driving. Thought you guys would like to see pics of her in the barn getting tacked up, and then in my front pasture practicing some driving with my wonderful ranch manager and me (I'm in the puffy hat, of course!).

And, yes, it's freeeeezing in Oklahoma today!

XXXOOO
PC

Thanks guys! And HoN comic #4 is available!

Just wanted to say a quick "thank you!" to all our fans who have been so vocal about how much they love LENOBIA'S VOW. FYI: HIDDEN (October 2012) opens from Lenobia's point of view! (NO, I CAN'T TELL YOU ANYTHING MORE ABOUT HIDDEN.)

Oh, and yes, the cover for NEFERET'S CURSE is on the back jacket of the Lenobia novella. No, I don't know the exact release date for it yet, but I imagine it'll be in about a year.

Check out the awesomeness that is the HoN comic #4! In it Zoey learns a lesson from ancient Egypt and Cleopatra. You can get the HoN comics at any comic book store in the US and the UK (yes, they will soon be available all over Europe - keep checking with your local comic stores!), or order them directly from the Dark Horse website.

Happy reading! Back to work on HIDDEN for me...
PC

Lenobia's Party pics!

Thanks so much to all our wonderful fans who came to our party! Here we are with our prize giveaway - my handsome Dad introducing us - and a few of our awesome fans (hi Sarah Dees! happy birthday!).

We had a blast! And y'all did a great job with the tattoos!!!

We heart you!
PC

Lenobia's Vow Party!

Hi Guys!
I got my copies of LENOBIA'S VOW, and the novella is beautiful! I think y'all will love the story (I made myself cry - and Kristin cry - so you know what that means - SORRY...), and the illustrations are gorgeous! Hope to see my Oklahoma fans at The Book Place on Tuesday, the 31st, 6:00-8:00 pm for the party. We'll have lots of books available for purchase - as well as all three of the comics. My comic adapter, Kent Dalian, will be there to sign as well. We're giving prizes and I do believe there will be yummy snacks! Ooooh! Here's the info:

Owner: Janice Mills
e-mail: service@the-bookplace.com

Store Location
North-west corner of
101st & Elm in Broken Arrow

Mailing Address
The Book Place
732 W. New Orleans, Ste. 136
Broken Arrow, OK 74012
(918) 455-1422

LENOBIA'S VOW LAUNCH PARTY

TUES, JAN 31ST

6:00 - 8:00 PM

LENOBIA'S VOW PARTY!

Oooh! It's almost time for the release of LENOBIA'S VOW! I love this novella so much! And I'm super excited about the launch party Kristin and I are hosting at The Book Place in Broken Arrow, OK (just down the street from where I used to teach!). It's going to be a fabulous party! We'll have snacks, prizes for best costumes/tattoos, a Q&A, and one lucky fan will win a signed copy of my favorite illustration from the novella (pictured above), entitled The Kiss. So come party with us HoN style! Details are:

Lenobia’s Vow Launch Event
Featuring PC and Kristin Cast
January 31, 2012
6-8pm

THE BOOK PLACE
732 W. New Orleans
(Northwest corner of 101st & Elm)
Broken Arrow, OK 74012
(918) 455-1422

For those of you who can't make the party, but want a signed copy of Lenobia (or any of our other books), you can place your order with the Book Place by calling 918-455-1422 or emailing janice@the-bookplace.com. They’ll need your credit card number, mailing address, and how you would like it/them signed. Books can be shipped anywhere in the United States! If you live outside Oklahoma, the book with shipping is $15.00. If you live in OK, $15.92 with sales tax & shipping. Just remember, LENOBIA'S VOW can't be shipped before January 31st.

Hope to see a bunch of you on the 31st! It's gonna be fun!

XXXOOO

PC

Happy Holidays!

Wishing all of you a joyous holiday season! I'm still on Cayman and two chapters away from being done with my Harlequin novella (title is AFTER MOONRISE and will be out in November 2012 in a duology with my good friend Gena Showalter). Then I'll take a little break and begin the next House of Night novel, HIDDEN, the first of the year.

Happy reading everyone!
PC

Checking in!

Hi Guys! Just checking in...sorry I've been so quiet, but I'm hiding at my house on Grand Cayman (Cammy loves "his" beach!) writing a paranormal romance novella that will be published in a duology with my good friend Gena Showalter (more info on title and pub date to come), and I'm doing the Master Cleanse (google it if you don't know about it - I'm really enjoying it) - so my energy has been super focused here.

I probably won't have any more movie news until early in 2012. I know my producer is working hard on the set of the latest Resident Evil movie, and I don't imagine he'll be free until after the holidays. Don't worry - as I find out casting and filming info I'll post it.

LENOBIA'S VOW will be released January 31st, and we're having a giant release party at The Book Place in Broken Arrow, OK. I'll give you guys more info about that as we get closer to the date.

HIDDEN will be the next big book in the HoN series, and it will be released in October of 2012. I'll be launching into it soon!

The comics are awesome! The next one will be released December 7th. Hope you're enjoying them as much as I am. My adapter, Kent Dalian, and I have been brainstorming more HoN comics and I'll have news about that soon. He is for sure adapting my retelling of Beauty and the Beast, GODDESS OF THE ROSE, to comic/graphic novel format for Dark Horse. I know my Goddess Summoning readers will love seeing that story come to life! I don't have release dates for the first of those comics yet, but stay tuned...

Happy reading everyone!
PC

Comic madness!

The first issue of the HoN comic is out! Check out what readers are saying!

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/house-of-night-dark-horse-111109.html

http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2011/11/09/comic-review-house-of-night-1/

Latest Movie News

Just wanted to keep you guys in the loop. WE HAVE NO UPDATED MOVIE NEWS. Yes, the series has been optioned by Davis Films of the Resident Evil franchise for more than two years. I AM WAITING IMPATIENTLY ALONG WITH MY FANS, so refer all of your frustration, questions, casting choices, dreams and wishes for what could be total awesomesauce if, as Stevie Rae would say, "The dang things ever get made!" to my producer, Samuel Hadida, at Davis Films. XXXOOO PC p.s. Let me know if you hear anything!

USTREAM TONIGHT!

Here's where you can go for more info: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/house-of-night

We're in beautiful NYC getting ready for the event tonight, and guys, WE HAVE A HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE! OH BOY!

XXXOOO
PC

Comics! Oh boy!

Oooooh! Look at these! SO COOL!

http://www.tfaw.com/blog/2011/11/01/pc-cast-welcomes-us-into-the-house-of-night-comics-from-dark-horse/

Hilarious blog article written by our Dark Horse senior editor (he's also Joss Whedon's editor! oh boy!)

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/10/pc-cast-and-the-house-that-the-house-of-night-built

And our fabulous main artist:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=34853

We totally heart us some Joelle!

XXXOOO
PC

Dark Horse teaser!

Wow! Guys, this is so cool! Check it out:

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/10/28/house-of-night-comic-video-teaser/?a_dgi=aolshare_twitter

PC

Destined Video!

Ooooh, y'all! Check out the video trailer my awesome publisher made for DESTINED!

LIve Stream Event for DESTINED!

Okay, the venue is the Mont Clair Art Museum, 3 South Mountain Ave., Mont Clair, NJ 07042. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. We speak at 7:30.

Here's more info:

The House of Night Facebook page has announced Destined: A House of Night Event.

This event will be an online chat between P.C. and Kristin Cast and fans around the world. Fans are asked to submit questions for the event and watch to see if their questions get answered. Questions can be submitted to houseofnight@stmartins.com.

The event will be taking place on November 2, 2011 from 7:30-8:30 PM EST. On the facebook event page we have a list of ways you can watch. You could watch on Facebook, Ustream or even on your iPhone or Android device via Ustream.

Can't make it during those times? Don't worry, you can actually watch the even after it has taken place.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Chat with P.C. and Kristin Cast - National House of Night | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/house-of-night-in-national/chat-with-p-c-and-kristin-cast#ixzz1bfH7n8vj

I'll let y'all know more info as I get it. Oh, also just 'cause I know some of you guys are super curious - the reason we're not touring for this book is because it's too close to Kristin's wedding, and also because of my tight deadline schedule this year. But, oh baby, I wish we were able to return to some of our favorite places like Victoria and San Francisco and Portland and Chicago and Austin and our second home on Grand Cayman (just to name a few). We miss you guys!

XXXOOO
PC

DESTINED LAUNCH IN OKLAHOMA!

OH BOY IT'S TIME TO LAUNCH DESTINED!!! So, here's where Kristin and I will be:

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25TH
WALMART #838
220 S Highway 97
Sand Springs, OK 74063
918-245-0213

We'll begin at 7:00 pm and do a little talk and then open it up for a Q&A session with our fabulous fans (Kristin won't let me give away secrets, but you guys can try to distract her...). Then we'll sign books!

Yes, we're also doing a livestream cool event in the NYC area that will be open via the magick of the internet to a whole bunch of you guys (I don't really understand that part) on November 2nd. More to come on that when I have specifics.

Hope to see y'all at Wallymart in Sand Springs!

XXXOOO
PC

Dark Horse preview!

Oooh, guys! Check out this preview of the first HoN comic! OH BOY!

https://digital.darkhorse.com/profile/1202.house-of-night-free-preview/

XXXOOO
PC

LotR Concert! Oh boy!

I just went to the MOST AWESOME concert ever! The LORD OF THE RINGS concert in San Diego! Wow - what an amazing night! Full orchestra - incredible conductor - live choir - and totally into it audience. If y'all get a chance to attend one of these GO!

Loved it!

Hey, Lenobia is done...can't wait for you guys to read it! And it's almost DESTINED release time!

XXXOOO
PC

Destined Author Event – Vote now!

Since we can’t do a major tour for DESTINED would you guys LOVE a virtual author event streamed live? Cast your vote at the HON Facebook page: www.facebook.com/houseofnight

Chapter two of DESTINED!

Sorry guys - I'm between Montana (where I just bought the Most Awesome Gelding in the Universe!) and San Diego (where I'm cooking up a special HoN treat for y'all with my good friend Colette Baron-Reid, and I just realized chapter two of DESTINED has been posted on the HoN site. Here's the link: http://www.houseofnightseries.com/books/destined/

Enjoy!
PC

Lenobia's Vow - Cover Revealed!

New lines from Destined!

Bonnie’s huge hooves drove into the ground. Lenobia could feel the mare’s powerful heartbeat. The warm night air whipped her hair back and the Horse Mistress leaned even farther forward, encouraging Bonnie to let loose—to give her everything.

The mare responded with a burst of speed that shouldn’t have been possible for a creature who weighed two thousand pounds.

As the wind whistled around them, lifting Lenobia’s long silver hair in time with the Percheron’s mane in that magickal dance that melded horse to rider, Lenobia thought of the ancient Persian saying: The breath of heaven is found between a horse’s ears.

“That’s right! That’s exactly right!” Lenobia yelled, and clung to the speeding mare’s back.

DESTINED EXCERPT!

THANKS TO MAIKE FOR LETTING ME KNOW MY PUBLISHER POSTED THIS EXCERPT FROM DESTINED! I'm working hard on Lenobia's story, and I was totally preoccupied and clueless.

You can go to the House of Night website and click into the DESTINED link to see it all pretty, but here ya go:

Destined - Excerpt

Prologue

Zoey

I think my mom is dead.

I tested the words silently. They felt wrong, unnatural, as if I was trying to comprehend the world turning upside down or the sun rising in the west.

I drew a deep, sobbing breath and rolled onto my side, reaching for another tissue in the box that was on the floor next to the bed.

Stark muttered and frowned and moved restlessly.

Slowly and carefully, I got out of bed, grabbed Stark’s giant sweatshirt from where he’d tossed it, pulled it on, and curled up on the beanbag chair that sat near the wall of our little tunnel room.

The beanbag made that smushy noise that always reminds me of the balls in those inflatable kid party houses, and Stark frowned and mumbled something again. I blew my nose. Quietly. Stop crying stop crying stop crying! It won’t help. It won’t bring Mom back. I blinked a bunch of times, and wiped my nose again. Maybe it had just been a dream. But even as I thought the words my heart knew the truth. Nyx had pulled me from my dreams to show me a vision of Mom entering the Otherworld. That meant Mom had died. Mom told Nyx that she was sorry for letting me down, I reminded myself as tears leaked down my cheeks again.

“She’d said she loved me,” I whispered.

I had hardly made any noise, but Stark tossed and turned restlessly, and muttered, “Stop!”

I clamped my lips together, even though I knew my whisper wasn’t what was messing with his sleep. Stark was my Warrior, my Guardian, and my boyfriend. No, boyfriend is too simple a word. There’s a bond between Stark and me that goes deeper than dating and sex and all the stuff that comes and goes with normal relationships. That’s why he was so restless. He could feel my sadness—even in his dreams he knew I was crying and hurt and scared and—

Stark pushed the blanket off his chest and I could see that his hand was clenched into a fist. My gaze went to his face. He was still asleep, but his forehead was furrowed and he was frowning.

I closed my eyes and drew a deep, centering breath. “Spirit,” I whispered. “Please come to me.” Instantly I felt the element brush against my skin. “Help me. No, actually, help Stark by shielding my sadness from him.” And maybe, I added silently, you could help shield some of my sadness from me, too. Even if it’s just for a little while. I drew another deep breath as spirit moved within and around me, swirling over to the bed. Opening my eyes I could actually see a ripple in the air surrounding Stark. His skin appeared to glow as the element settled against him like a diaphanous blanket. I felt warm and glanced down at my arms and saw that the same soft glow was resting against my skin. Stark exhaled a long sigh with me as spirit worked a little soothing magick, and for the first time in hours I felt a little, tiny bit of my sadness lift.

“Thank you, spirit,” I whispered and crossed my arms, hugging myself tight. Wrapped in the comforting touch of the element I felt closest to, I was actually a little sleepy. It was then that a different kind of warmth penetrated my consciousness. Slowly, not wanting to disturb the comforting spell the element was working, I unwrapped my arms from around myself and touched my chest.

Why is my seer stone warm? The small, round stone was dangling from its silver chain, resting between my breasts. I hadn’t taken it off since Sgiach had gifted it to me before I’d left the beautiful, magickal Isle of Skye.

Wonderingly, I pulled the stone out from under the sweatshirt, running my fingers over its smooth, marble surface. It still reminded me of a coconut-flavored Life Saver, but the Skye marble glittered with an unearthly light, as if the element I had invoked had made it alive—as if the warmth I felt was because it pulsed with life.

Queen Sgiach’s voice echoed through my memory: “A seer stone is in tune with only the most ancient of magicks: the kind I protect on my isle. I am gifting you with it so that you might, indeed, recognize the Old Ones if any still exist in the outside world . . .”

As her words replayed in my mind the stone turned slowly, almost lazily. The hole in its center was like a mini-telescope. As it shifted around I could see Stark illuminated through it, and my world shifted, too, narrowed, then everything changed.

Maybe it was because spirit was so close to me at that moment, but what I saw didn’t feel anything like the mind-blowing first time I’d looked through the stone on Skye and had ended up passing out.

But that didn’t mean it was any less unsettling.

Stark was there, lying on his back, most of his chest bare. The glow of spirit was gone. In its place I saw another image. It was indistinct, though, and I couldn’t make out his features. It was like someone’s shadow. Stark’s arm twitched and his hand opened. The shadow’s hand opened. As I watched the Guardian sword—the massive long sword that had come to Stark in the Otherworld—took form in Stark’s hand. I gasped in surprise and the phantom-like Warrior turned his head in my direction and closed his hand around the sword.

Instantly the Guardian sword shifted, changed, and became a long black spear—dangerous, lethal, tipped in blood that looked way too familiar to me. Fear spiked through me.

“No!” I cried. “Spirit, strengthen Stark! Make that thing go away!” With a noise like the beating wings of a giant bird, the apparition disappeared, the seer stone went cold, and Stark sat straight up, frowning at me.

“What are you doing over there?” He rubbed his eyes. “Why are you making so much noise?”

I opened my mouth to try to explain the bizarre thing I’d just seen when he sighed heavily and lay back down, flipping open the covers and motioning sleepily for me. “Come here. I can’t sleep unless you’re cuddled up with me. And I really need to get some sleep.”

“Okay, yeah, me, too,” I said, and on shaky legs I hurried to him and curled against his side, my head resting on his shoulder. “Hey, uh, something weird just happened,” I began, but when I tilted my head so that I could see into his eyes, Stark’s lips met mine. The surprise didn’t last long, and I slid into the kiss. It felt good—so good to be close to him. His arms went around me. I pressed myself against him while his lips followed the curve of my neck. “I thought you said you needed some sleep.” My voice sounded breathless.

“I need you more,” he said.

“Yeah,” I said. “Me, too.”

We lost ourselves in each other then. Stark’s touch chased away death and despair and fear. Together we reminded each other of life and love and happiness. Afterward we finally slept and the seer stone lay cold and forgotten on my breast between us.

Chapter One

Aurox

The human male’s flesh had been soft, pulpy.

It had been a surprise how easy it had been to destroy him—to end the beating of his feeble heart.

“Take me to North Tulsa. I want to go out into the night,” she’d said. That was the command that began their evening.

“Yes, Goddess,” he’d responded instantly, coming alive from the corner of the rooftop balcony that he’d made his own.

“Do not call me Goddess. Call me . . .” She’d looked contemplative. “. . . Priestess.” Her full lips, slick and reddened, turned up. “I believe it is best if everyone should simply call me Priestess—at least for a short while.”

Aurox had fisted his hand over his heart in a gesture he instinctively knew was ancient, though it somehow felt awkward and forced. “Yes, Priestess.”

Priestess had brushed by him, gesturing imperiously for him to follow her.

He had followed.

He’d been created to follow. To take her orders. To obey her commands.

They’d entered something Priestess had called car, and the world had flown. Priestess had commanded him to understand the workings of it.

He’d watched and learned, just as she’d commanded.

Then they’d stopped and exited the car.

The street had smelled of death and rot, corruption and filth.

“Priestess this place is not—”

“Protect me!” she’d snapped. “But do not be protective of me. I will always go where I wish, when I wish, and do exactly what I wish. It is your job, no, your purpose to defeat my enemies. It is my destiny to create enemies. Watch. React when I command you to protect. That is all I require of you.”

“Yes, Priestess,” he’d said.

The modern world was a confusing place. So many shifting sounds. So much he did not know. He would do as Priestess commanded. He would fulfill his reason for creation and—

A male had stepped out, blocking Priestess’s way.

“You way too pretty to be in this here alley so late with nothin’ but one boy keepin’ ya company.” His eyes widened, as he took in Priestess’s tattoos. “So, vampyre, you stoppin’ here to get you a little snack from this boy? How ’bout you give me that purse then you and me, we’ll talk ’bout what it’s like to be with a real man?”

Priestess sighed and sounded bored. “You’re wrong on both counts: I am not simply a vampyre, and this is no boy.”

“Hey, what you mean by that?”

Priestess ignored the man and looked over her shoulder at Aurox.

“Now you should protect me. Show me what kind of weapon I command.”

He obeyed her without conscious thought. Aurox closed on the man with no hesitation. In one swift movement, Aurox plunged his thumbs into the man’s staring eyeballs, which made the screaming begin.

The man’s terror washed over him, feeding him. As simply as drawing a breath, Aurox inhaled the pain he was causing. The power of the man’s terror swelled through him, pumping hot and cold. Aurox felt his hands hardening, changing, becoming more. What had been normal fingers became claws. He pulled them from the man’s eyes when the blood began to seep from his ears. With the borrowed power of pain and fear, Aurox lifted the man, slamming him against the wall of the nearest building.

The man screamed again.

What a wonderful, terrible thrill! Aurox felt more of the change ripple through his body. Mere human feet became cloven hooves. The muscles of his legs thickened. His chest heaved and split the shirt he had been wearing. And most wonderful of all, Aurox felt the thick deadly horns that swelled from his head.

By the time the man’s three friends ran into the alley to help him, he had stopped screaming.

Aurox dropped the man to the filth and turned to place himself between Priestess and those who might believe they could cause her harm.

“What the fuck?” The first man skidded to a halt.

“I ain’t never seen nothin’ like that,” said the second man.

Aurox was already absorbing the fear that was beginning to radiate from them. His skin pulsed with the cold fire of it.

“Is they horns? Ah, hell no! I’m outta here.” The third man turned and scurried back the way he had come. The other two began to back slowly away, eyes wide, shocked and staring.

Aurox looked to Priestess. “What is your command?” In some distant part of his mind, he wondered at the sound of his voice—how it had become so guttural, so bestial.

“Their pain makes you stronger.” Priestess looked pleased. “And different, more fierce.” She looked at the two retreating men and her full upper lip lifted in a sneer. “Isn’t that interesting . . . Kill them.”

Aurox moved so quickly the nearest man had no chance to escape. He gored him through his chest, lifting him so that he writhed and shrieked and soiled himself.

This made Aurox even more powerful.

With a mighty toss of his head, the skewered man flew into the building to land, crumpled and silent, beside the first man.

The other man didn’t run away. Instead he pulled out a long, dangerous looking knife and charged at Aurox.

Aurox feinted to the side and then, when the man overcompensated, he stomped a cloven hoof through his foot, ripping off his face as the man fell forward.

Breathing hard, Aurox stood over the bodies of his vanquished enemies. He turned to Priestess.

“Very good,” she said in her emotionless voice. “Let us leave this place before the authorities descend.”

Aurox followed her. He walked heavily, his hoofs gouging furrows in the dirty alley. He fisted his claws at his side as he tried to make sense of the emotional storm that flowed through his body, taking with it the power that had fueled his battle frenzy.

Weak. He felt weak. And more. There was something else.

“What is it?” she snapped at him when he hesitated before entering the car again.

He shook his head. “I do not know. I feel—”

She laughed. “You don’t feel at all. You’re obviously overthinking this. My knife doesn’t feel. My gun doesn’t feel. You’re my weapon; you kill. Deal with it.”

“Yes, Priestess.” Aurox got in the car and let the world speed past him. I do not think. I do not feel. I am a weapon.

---

Aurox

“Why are you standing here looking at me?” Priestess asked him, staring at him with eyes of green ice.

“I await your command, Priestess,” he said automatically, wondering how it was possible to have displeased her. They had just returned to her lair at the top of the magnificent building called Mayo. Aurox had walked to the balcony and simply stood there, quietly, gazing at Priestess.

She blew out a long breath. “I have no command for you at this moment. And must you always stare at me?”

Aurox looked away, focusing on the lights of the city and how they glittered alluringly against the night sky.

“I await your command, Priestess,” he repeated.

“Oh, by all the gods! Who would have known the Vessel created for me would be as mindless as he is beautiful?”

Aurox felt the change in the atmosphere before Darkness materialized from smoke and shadow and night.

“Mindless, beautiful, and deadly . . .”

The voice rang in his head. The enormous white bull formed fully before him. His breath was fetid, yet sweet. His gaze was horrible and wonderful at the same time. He was mystery and magick and mayhem together.

Aurox dropped to his knees before the creature.

“Get off your knees. Get up and go back there . . .” She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture toward the shadows that edged the far recesses of the rooftop.

“No, I’d rather he stayed. I enjoy gazing on my creations.”

Aurox didn’t know what to say. This creature commanded his attention, but Priestess commanded his body.

“Creations?” Priestess put a special emphasis on the last part of the word as she moved languidly toward the massive bull. “Do you often make gifts like this to your followers?”

The bull’s laughter was terrible, but Aurox noticed Priestess didn’t flinch at all—that instead she seemed to be drawn closer and closer to the creature as he spoke.

“How interesting! You are actually questioning me. Are you jealous, my heartless one?”

Priestess stroked the bull’s horn. “Do I need to be?”

The bull nuzzled her. Where his muzzle touched Priestess the silk of her gown shriveled, exposing smooth, naked flesh underneath.

“Tell me, what do you believe is the purpose of my gift to you?” The bull answered Priestess’s question with one of his own.

Priestess blinked and shook her head, as if she was confused. Then her gaze found Aurox, still on his knees. “My lord, his purpose is protection, and I am ready to do as you bid to thank you for him.”

“I will accept your lush offerings, but I must explain to you that Aurox is not simply a weapon of protection. Aurox has one purpose, and that is to create chaos.”

Priestess inhaled a deep, shocked breath. She blinked rapidly, and her gaze went from the bull to him, and then returned to the bull.

“Truly?” she asked in a soft, reverent voice. “Through this one creature I can command chaos?”

The bull’s white eyes were like a sick, setting moon. “Truly. He is, indeed, one creature, but his power is vast. He has the ability to leave disaster in his wake. He is the Vessel that is the manifestation of your deepest dreams, and are they not for utter and complete chaos?”

“Yes, oh yes,” Priestess breathed the words. She leaned against the bull’s neck, stroking his side.

“Ah, and what is it you will do with chaos now that it is at your command? Will you take down the cities of humans and rule as vampyre queen?”

Priestess’s smile was beautiful and horrible. “Not queen. Goddess.”

“Goddess? But there is a Goddess of Vampyres. You know that all too well. You used to be in her service.”

“You mean Nyx? The Goddess who allows her minions free choice and a will of their own? The Goddess who will not intercede because she believes so strongly in the myth of freewill?”

Aurox thought he could hear a smile in the beast’s voice, and wondered how that was possible. “I do mean Nyx, Goddess of Vampyres and Night. Would you use chaos to challenge her?”

“No. I would use chaos to defeat her. What if chaos threatens the very fabric of the world? Would Nyx not step in and defy her own rules to save her children? And by doing so wouldn’t the Goddess rescind her edict that grants humans freewill and betray herself? What would happen then to her divine reign if Nyx changes what is destined to be?”

“I cannot say, as that has never before happened.” The bull snorted as if in amusement. “But it is a surprisingly interesting question—and you know how much I enjoy being surprised.”

“I only hope that I can continue to surprise you over and over again, my lord.”

“Only is such a small word . . .” the bull said.

Aurox continued to kneel on the rooftop long after Priestess and the bull had departed, leaving him discarded and forgotten. He stayed where he had been left, staring up at the sky.

GO TRAPPERS!

So...as a much earned break from writing writing writing, I'm taking a mini-vacay to go to the fabulous Rendezvous in Cody, Wyoming. My nephew (yea Keithen!) is attending Northwest College up there, and he's a big wrestling star - so the coach, Jim Zeigler, and I came up with a cool idea for a fundraiser: the boys are gonna push a car ten miles through town during the Rendezvous, and get pledges to support them - then I'm going to match everything they raise! Oh, yeah! A double down! So all my fans in WY, please consider pledging to support the Trappers wrestlers. You can find more information at http://www.northwestcollege.edu/wrestling. And if you're at the Rendezvous I may see you there!

XXXOOO
PC

TRAPPER UPDATE! So, the car push was successful - the guys did it in something crazy like 7.5 minute miles. Thanks to everyone who supported the team! Go Trappers!

Catmouflaged!

I'm sweating my way through the first half of LENOBIA'S VOW and my writing "help" is sleeping on the job! Jeesh. (And, clearly, she's not missing many meals...) Fired!

Back to work...
PC

DESTINED TEASER!

(Keep checking for the next one...)

XXXOOO
PC

We want you to write in to the House of Night letter column!

Oooh, guys! Check this out! Post in!

http://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/587/we-want-you-write-house-night-letter-column

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PC

p.s. This isn't an actual snail mail write in thing - it's just posting on line.