Chapter 4

Stephen Sulkey

For nearly three centuries, Bedelia Marie Dubois has lived by one rule: she does not hunt the innocent. But the ancient vampire of Savannah has become far more than a creature hiding in the shadows. Humans, vampires, witches, werewolves, and other supernatural beings now look to her for protection—and forces older than anything she has faced before are beginning to take notice. As threats gather around Pecan Hill and those closest to her are placed in danger, Bedelia is forced to confront enemies whose power reaches far beyond the world she understands. At the same time, mortality strikes where even her extraordinary abilities cannot defeat it, forcing her to face a painful truth: immortality does not mean she can save everyone she loves. What begins as another battle to protect her family becomes something far greater—a confrontation with Bedelia's own past and the mystery of what she truly is. For almost three hundred years, Bedelia has walked through the shadows. Now the shadows are beginning to answer to her. The Queen of Shadows is the fifth novel in Stephen Sulkey's The Bayou Girl series, blending Southern Gothic atmosphere, supernatural horror, dark fantasy, action, and the continuing story of a vampire who may be far more important—and far more dangerous—than even she realizes.