Book excerpt: Magiere the dhampir thought that her nights of hunting vampires were over. Settling down in her newly adopted village of Miiska—now vampire-free thanks to her and her half-elf partner, Leesil—she looked forward to quiet days tending to her tavern. But far away in the capital city of Bela, a prominent councilman’s daughter has been found dead on her own doorstep—and all signs point to a vampire. Bela’s town council offers a generous bounty to the dhampir if she will slay their vampire, knowing that the battered and burned village of Miiska could use the infusion of cash. Magiere resists, wanting nothing more than to forget her past—and ignore her half-vampire nature. Only Leesil, her partner and confidant, can persuade Magiere to follow her destiny—before more innocents are claimed by darkness… Praise for Dhampir “Take Anita Blake, vampire hunter, and drop her into a standard fantasy world and you might end up with something like this exciting first novel.” —Chronicle “A mix of The Lord of the Rings and Buffy the Vampire Slayer…an engaging adventure.”—New York Times bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson