A Time of Demons & Destiny

A TIME OF DEMONS & DESTINY THE VAMPIRE’S COURTESAN SERIES SAMI VALENTINE CONTENTS Preface Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Epilogue Sneak Peak of A House of Fangs & Fate About the Author Copyright © 2023 by Sami Valentine. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by US copyright law. PREFACE Hello, gentle reader, I’m Sami Valentine and I welcome you to a paranormal tale set amid the shadows of Victorian age society. Your heroine is a witch, Juniper St. James. She knows world-shaking secrets that any vampire would kill to keep hidden. This is the first of five books in the Vampire’s Courtesan series that will be published throughout 2023-2024. As implied in the blurb, my series depicts the darker side of historical life as well as vampires and the supernatural. Some content warnings include profanity, toxic relationships, sex work, drug/alcohol use, violence, coercion, poverty/class struggles, and mental illness. If you haven’t read any of my books before like the Red Witch Chronicles, turn the page and start the novel. You don’t need to know anything about my other works to enjoy this one! If you’re in the middle of reading the Red Witch Chronicles, then you already know about Juniper St. James, Lucas Crawford, Maxwell Baldacci, and other characters in A Time of Demons and Destiny. You’ll experience the drama behind the rumors and historical records in the Vampire’s Courtesan series. I suggest that you read to Black Market Witch (RWC Book 7) and then start this series. You’ll get a major revelation in that book so you can learn the full story when Red and her friends do. Thank you for picking up this book. Reader support means more than you could know. 😊 The Vampire’s Courtesan Reading Order A Time of Demons & Destiny A House of Fangs & Fate A City of Blood & Betrayal A War of the Dead & the Damned A Future of Souls & Smoke PROLOGUE April 23, 1893 England Juniper listened for the vampires lurking upstairs. When would they return to their captives in the wine cellar? Candlelight flickered over shelved bottles and the English detective beside her. He charged the cellar door, ramming his shoulder against it. The stout wood didn’t budge. It was barred from the outside. She’d heard the lock when they were thrown down here. The room was too small to hide in, much less merit another exit. “That she-devil took my revolver,” Detective Eugene Pauly said, patting the pockets of his tweed suit. His British accent lost its polish in his agitation, so she could hear his origins—the rough industrial neighborhoods of Southwark by the Thames. He’d lost his hat too. No Victorian gentleman went anywhere without one unless under duress. “A firearm wouldn’t be effective against our captors. This townhouse looks quaint from the street, but it could turn into a slaughterhouse soon.” “I realize the gravity of our situation, miss.” “If you truly did, you wouldn’t have come, Detective.” Juniper examined the sole source of precious light, a tarnished candelabra on a bent stand. How long would the flickering candles last before leaving the prisoners in total darkness? She extinguished five of the seven to save for later. An unseen rat scurried behind a wine shelf. She shivered. Great, all they needed was something else ready to bite them. Add a root canal, and it was in the running for her worst day ever. How long would vampires deliberate about the fate of their prisoners? Calm down, she told herself. You’re not dead … yet. She pointed to the only furniture in the room—a wooden chair. “If we break this, the legs will be more useful than your handgun.” “I’ve heard better jokes.” “I wish it was one,” Juniper said, eyeing her unlikely cellmate. The Black man was in the London Metropolitan Police force and far from his jurisdiction. Did his superiors know where he’d gone? The stubble on his chin and bloody split lip hinted at the hard journey from the Old Smoke. He was a better detective than was good for him. A less competent one would have been safe at home now. How had he discovered her anyway? In her long skirts and high lace collar, she’d blend into any crowd. She erased her natural American accent months ago in elocution lessons. No one knew her real surname. She had ditched her last known alias to flee the vampires before they had recaptured her. He shouldn’t have any reason to suspect that she was more than she seemed. Yet he looked at her as if he knew more than he should. The detective asked, “How do you know this incredulous fact?” “Unimportant,” she said. The explanation would baffle him anyway. She walked in darker worlds than he could imagine. “Why were you tracking me?” “I’m investigating a murder, and the evidence led to you once again. You’re not my suspect, but you could be his next victim. My supervisors wouldn’t care about a dead courtesan. You’re fortunate that I do,” he said, as if it was a burdensome charity. She would have been grateful for his condescending concern if it wouldn’t get him killed. The supernatural was superstition to him. He didn’t understand the very real danger they were in. She said, “Worry more about yourself, sir. I am.” “In five years with Scotland Yard, I’ve encountered crimes that made onlookers sick. Murderers have