First Encounter

Rhea Winter

He was never supposed to love her.\ She was never supposed to survive him. \ Claire Halloway came back to Clearwater to escape her past. \ Instead, she found him. \ Damien is everything she should stay away from—mysterious, impossibly beautiful, and surrounded by secrets that seem to grow darker every night. Yet from the moment their eyes meet across the mist-covered lake, Claire feels something she can't explain. \ Something ancient.\ Something familiar.\ And something dangerously close to love. \ Then she discovers the truth.\ Damien isn't human. \ He's a vampire—and he's spent centuries fighting the hunger inside him. But when a ruthless woman from his past returns, determined to reclaim him, Claire becomes the one thing Damien cannot afford to lose. \ Because something else has awakened in Clearwater. \ The lake is whispering her name.\ The oldest families are hiding a centuries-old Covenant. \ And beneath the moonlight, Claire is beginning to remember a destiny that was written in blood long before she was born. \ They call her the Crimson Heir.\ Now Damien must choose between the woman he loves and the darkness that has waited centuries to claim her. \ Because some love stories are written in the stars. \ Others are written in blood.\ And when the lake remembers Claire's name, there will be no escaping what comes next.