D S ARK LAYER a carpathian novel C F HRISTINE EEHAN D S ARK LAYER Titles by Christine Feehan MURDER GAME PREDATORY GAME DEADLY GAME CONSPIRACY GAME NIGHT GAME MIND GAME SHADOW GAME HIDDEN CURRENTS TURBULENT SEA SAFE HARBOR DANGEROUS TIDES OCEANS OF FIRE BURNING WILD WILD RAIN DARK SLAYER DARK SYMPHONY DARK CURSE DARK GUARDIAN DARK HUNGER DARK LEGEND DARK POSSESSION DARK FIRE DARK CELEBRATION DARK CHALLENGE DARK DEMON DARK MAGIC DARK SECRET DARK GOLD DARK DESTINY DARK DESIRE DARK MELODY DARK PRINCE Anthologies LOVER BEWARE (with Fiona Brand, Katherine Sutcliff e, and Eileen Wilks) FANTASY (with Emma Holly, Sabrina Jeff ries, and Elda Minger) FEVER (includes THE AWAKENING and WILD RAIN) D S ARK LAYER a carpathian novel C F HRISTINE EEHAN THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi— 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offi ces: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group. This is a work of fi ction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fi ctitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or t hird-p arty websites or their content. Copyright © 2009 by Christine Feehan. Text design by Tiffany Estreicher. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in vio- lation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. BERKLEY® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Library of Congress C ataloging-i n-P ublication Data Feehan, Christine. Dark slayer / Christine Feehan.— 1st ed. p. cm. ISBN:1- 101-13569-7 1. Vampires— Fiction. 2. Immortalism— Fiction. I. Title. PS3606.E36D3895 2009 813'.6— dc22 2009012810 To Christopher Walker, who, according to Domini, is not as Zen as Razvan, but I disagree. For My Readers Be sure to go to http://www.christinefeehan.com/members/ to sign up for my PRIVATE book announcement list and download the FREE e -b ook of Dark Desserts. Please feel free to e-m ail me at [email protected]. I would love to hear from you. Acknowledgments I have so many people to thank for their invaluable help with this book: Anita Toste, my sister, who writes poetry and always answers the call when I run out of rhymes and ideas for spells! Dr. Christopher Tong, who is incredibly intelligent and can do just about anything. Did I say “just about”? I meant anything. Th ank you so much for always, always being there no matter how busy you are. You are truly a gifted man and an amazing friend. Cheryl Wilson, my dear friend, who came through just when I was in my darkest hour. Domini Stottsberry, Kathie Frizlaff and Brian Feehan, who worked so hard to make this book the best it could be in every respect. For Lisset and Jack, who gave me something precious beyond measure for this book. In loving, beautiful memory . . .