Phoenix is old. Too damn old to still be alone. But when you’re the leader of the Blackjacks, a group of mixed-blood vampire fighters, a happily ever after comes a very distant second to survival. The True Order is determined to wipe them out and she’s going to make sure that doesn’t happen. Seven Blackjacks against an unknown number of pure-blood’s - the odds aren’t in their favour.
Then he was taken…
Court was the one fighter she let in, the one she broke her own rules with, the one she shared her bed with, the one she gave her heart to. When he vanished without a trace, he took a piece of her with him. Three years later he’s back from the dead, but it’s not the reunion she dreamt of. Court doesn’t recognise her, doesn’t recognise any of the vampires he fought with.
Phoenix must push her personal feelings aside as the enemy seems hot on Court’s heels, desperate to get to him before his memory resurfaces. Someone is trying to purify the race and Court is the key that could bring about the end - not just of the Blackjacks, but of all mixed-blood vampires.
Phoenix is old. Too damn old to still be alone. But when you’re the leader of the Blackjacks, a group of mixed-blood vampire fighters, a happily ever after comes a very distant second to survival. The True Order is determined to wipe them out and she’s going to make sure that doesn’t happen. Seven Blackjacks against an unknown number of pure-blood’s - the odds aren’t in their favour.
Then he was taken…
Court was the one fighter she let in, the one she broke her own rules with, the one she shared her bed with, the one she gave her heart to. When he vanished without a trace, he took a piece of her with him. Three years later he’s back from the dead, but it’s not the reunion she dreamt of. Court doesn’t recognise her, doesn’t recognise any of the vampires he fought with.
Phoenix must push her personal feelings aside as the enemy seems hot on Court’s heels, desperate to get to him before his memory resurfaces. Someone is trying to purify the race and Court is the key that could bring about the end - not just of the Blackjacks, but of all mixed-blood vampires.
Court stands in the shadows, watching her apartment. He checks the time on his cheap watch and grimaces to himself. Two in the morning. He’s been standing in the freezing rain for three hours. The hunger is refusing to leave him too. He’d helped himself to some food from a street vendor about four hours ago. Luckily the man was a little too overweight to give chase for too long. Even after the burger and chips, the cramps kept pulling at his gut, making thinking difficult. All he desperately wants to do is crawl into bed and bury himself under the duvet. Just a shame he doesn’t have a bed let alone a duvet.
He straightens up as a group of girls approaches the building. They laugh and talk loudly amongst themselves as they huddle under three enormous umbrellas. A few of them are being helped along the path by their friends. Explains why he was waiting in the rain for so long. They must have been out for the evening. Right in the middle of the group he spots her. He can’t let her to go inside the building. There’s no way he’d get through the security on the door.
Court pulls down his hood and hurries across the street. He’s got one shot at this. There’s a strong chance they’ll scream bloody murder and he’ll be chased off by every security guard in the area.
Two of the girls notice him approach, their alarm displayed on their faces. Here goes nothing.
‘Excuse me?’
The group stops and she looks over at him. Nothing registers on her face for a few seconds then her eyes open wide. ‘Court?’
‘Hi, Thea.’
‘Oh my god! What are you doing here?’
‘Can I talk to you for a minute?’
‘Thea, who’s this guy?’ one of the other girls asks as she eyes him suspiciously.
‘Don’t worry. He’s my brother. You go ahead.’
The group lingers a little longer, clearly not thrilled about leaving her alone with him, then make their way inside the building.
‘I can’t tell you how glad I am that you remember me.’
Thea frowns as she examines him. ‘What do you mean remember you? Are you okay? You look terrible. Where the hell have you been? It’s been two years without even a text. What happened?’
‘Two years? You haven’t seen me for two years?’
‘No. What’s going on, Court?’
‘I don’t know. I’ve been looking for you for weeks.’
She gestures for him to follow her around the side of the building to the garden. Thea leads him under the covered patio area around the back and shakes her umbrella out before closing it. ‘Okay, talk. Where were you?’
‘I wish I knew. I woke up in a forest about a month ago and the only thing I remember is you.’
She frowns at him for a long time before she speaks. ‘This isn’t a joke, is it? You’re being serious.’
‘No, it’s not a joke.’ He groans and doubles over as a wave of cramps hits.
‘Okay, okay. One thing at a time. You need to feed.’
‘I just had a burger. Don’t think it agreed with me. I feel like shit.’
Thea directs him towards one of the metal chairs against the wall. ‘Sit down.’ She pulls up another chair in front of him. ‘Okay. Let’s take this one step at a time. You must be starving. We better find you someone. The burger isn’t going to keep you going. Feed, then we can talk.’
‘After that dodgy burger I don’t want to risk anything else.’ Thea sits back and stares over at him. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
‘When you say you don’t remember anything, do you mean you don’t remember anything at all? I mean like… anything.’
He shakes his head no. ‘Just you.’
‘So you don’t know what you are?’
‘What I am? What the hell are you talking about?’
Thea takes a deep breath. ‘Okay. This is going to be a fun one to explain. I guess there’s no easy way to put this. You’ve got cramps because you need food, and I don’t mean a burger. Well, you need regular food too, but you need something else to stay strong and stop the cramps.’ She frowns and looks away from him. ‘I’m not sure how often though. I think you said it depends on whether it’s human or your own kind.’ She curses and looks back at him again. ‘I’m sorry. I was still trying to get my head around it when you disappeared.’
‘Thea, what the hell are you taking about? What do you mean my own kind?’
‘You need blood.’
‘I’m sorry, I need what?’
‘Blood. You’re a vampire, Court.’
Phoenix is the leader of the Blackjacks - a group of mixed-blood vampires that too many vampires want dead. They try to keep their own kind alive, but too many have gone missing, including one of the Blackjacks.
Court was not only the second in command, but he was also Phoenix’s strength, support, and lover. After he goes missing on a mission and Phoenix and her team cannot find any trace of him, he is presumed dead, only to show up three years later on a video killing other vampires.
Court has no memory of anything – not even being a vampire, but suddenly he must come to terms that he is part of a group and that those who had wiped his memory clean and imprisoned him for years want him back.
The story has all element of greatness; a tight group of family-like friends, high stakes, danger, secrets, mysteries, vampires with wings, and (almost) magical powers.
The plot is well-paced and very interesting. There are many characters, but they all prove their value in advancing the plot and attaching the reader to their own stories. Will the readers relate to or even like all the characters? Probably not. But are they well-written enough to at least evoke a curiosity to follow the rest of the series? Probably yes.
The story felt a bit lacking at some points; some scenes could have been used to explore certain aspects better. The readers are not given enough answers by the end of the book. Even though this is the first book in a series, things could have ended better for the readers to get a bit of a closure regarding certain things that would excite them to read more rather than wonder if anything will even be answered in the following one. The whole story felt like an introduction to the characters and their world with so little being answered.
On the other hand, the chemistry between the main leads is palpable from the very beginning and their romance is interesting, especially with so much at stake. The subplots and side characters do not take from the main plot or characters, but only add to them and prove that they can stand alone in other books.
The book is a well-written page-turner that I recommend to anyone who likes elements of fantasy.