Even vampires get tired of playing with their food…
Running an off-grid community for vampires is serious business, and Remy Winslow gives it her all. Weary of the world and its noise, she’s content to live at Dark Haven and away from the public eye. The last thing Remy needs is more press, but that’s exactly what she gets when Sage comes to Dark Haven.
Internet influencer and all around positivity pusher, Sage Samara can’t wait to chat up all the vampires available at the Vampire News Conference, and then after, during her stay at the mysterious Dark Haven ranch. And when she sees Remy looking utterly hot and powerful, she’s even more buzzed. Sure, she’s a human among vampires, but they totally don’t act that way anymore…right?
Disaster signals a swift change in politics, and then vampires start going feral. Between keeping Sage from being someone’s meal and trying to stop a war between species, Remy is too busy for the long dead emotions Sage is bringing back to life.
When a traitor threatens everything they’ve built, Remy may have no choice but to do the unthinkable.
Even vampires get tired of playing with their food…
Running an off-grid community for vampires is serious business, and Remy Winslow gives it her all. Weary of the world and its noise, she’s content to live at Dark Haven and away from the public eye. The last thing Remy needs is more press, but that’s exactly what she gets when Sage comes to Dark Haven.
Internet influencer and all around positivity pusher, Sage Samara can’t wait to chat up all the vampires available at the Vampire News Conference, and then after, during her stay at the mysterious Dark Haven ranch. And when she sees Remy looking utterly hot and powerful, she’s even more buzzed. Sure, she’s a human among vampires, but they totally don’t act that way anymore…right?
Disaster signals a swift change in politics, and then vampires start going feral. Between keeping Sage from being someone’s meal and trying to stop a war between species, Remy is too busy for the long dead emotions Sage is bringing back to life.
When a traitor threatens everything they’ve built, Remy may have no choice but to do the unthinkable.
“Hey, family!” Sage Samara gave her usual fluttering-lashes look at the camera on her phone as she posted her fourth ZimTak video of the day. “I’m on this super-secret mission, and you’re going to absolutely die when you find out what it is. But for now, it’s all hush hush! Wish me luck. Love you all!”Â
Sage hit stop and turned up the radio. So far, Bluffington had been a bust. It was pretty, if you were into trees and a zillion miles of fuck-all. But she was a city girl through and through and if her signal dropped one more time, she’d scream. Not that anyone would hear her.
“For real?” She slowed to a crawl behind an honest-to-god horse and buggy. The person riding it seemed not in the least bothered that Sage couldn’t get past thanks to the curves in the road. “Seriously. Is this 1980?” At last, she saw her opening and threw the sports car into second gear. She glared at the driver as she went past, but they didn’t have the decency to look over and see her irritation. “Whatever.”
Two miles later, while singing at the top of her voice to the latest Zero Pitch song, she yelped as the car began to judder. She turned down the music and the steering wheel shook so hard, it hurt to hold it. “What the actual fuck?” She pulled over as far as she could, but there was no emergency lane, just a grass-covered ditch. She hit the video button on her phone. “You guys, seriously. Oh my god, I’m so stressing right now. I totally have to get to my super-secret mission, and my car has bit the big one. Hopefully I won’t disappear like girls do in the movies while they’re out in the woods.” She widened her eyes and made a pouty face. “Better see what’s up!” She ended the video and got out of the car with a deep sigh.
Her high heel sank instantly, throwing her off balance. When she tried to right herself, the other heel sank, and she was flung face first onto the ground. Into mud, actually.
She struggled out of her heels and crawled on her hands and knees to the car, where she pulled herself up using the side mirror. She screeched when she saw mud splattered not just on her face, but all over the top she’d only bought two days before. The more she tried to wipe it off, the more it smeared, eventually mixing with her tears of frustration.
A sound caught her attention, and she looked up just as the horse and buggy were passing. The driver didn’t look over, but she caught the smirk on the person’s face, even though there was a large brimmed hat shading it.
“Hey!” She waved, as though the person hadn’t seen her. “I need some help here!”
The buggy kept on buggying.
She used the bottom of her blouse to wipe the dirt from her eyes and then looked at the car. The right front tire wasn’t just flat, it was shredded. She looked back down the road and saw pieces of the tire marking the length of her inattention. “Shit.”
She leaned on the hood and pulled out her phone. Surely she could still get a tow truck out here. She opened the map app and waited for it to pinpoint her location, but a gray bar with “no signal” across the front quickly dashed that hope. She couldn’t very well call for a tow and say she was on some road in some ditch.
Tears formed, and she brushed them away. Okay, so she’d have to walk until she found a house. That buggy must have been going somewhere, and it couldn’t be that far. Right? She pulled her suitcase from the trunk—glad it had four wheels—and locked the car even though it wouldn’t be going anywhere. She stuck her feet into her ruined heels, swearing when mud squelched between her toes. She’d only hobbled about a hundred feet when she heard a car engine. She stepped into the middle of the road with her suitcase. No one was going to pass her by this time.
An old pickup truck with tinted windows, including the windshield, came into view and slowed to a stop well away from where Sage stood. No one got out.
“Who are these fucking people?” She huffed and sighed as she dragged her case toward the truck. She left the case directly in front of it so it couldn’t drive off, then went to the driver’s side.
“That your tire back there?” The person tilted their head. A large cowboy hat shaded their face, and the deep voice didn’t give any indication of gender.
Sage looked at the pieces of shredded rubber in the truck bed. “Eww. Why would you pick that up? Yes, it’s my tire. And I don’t have any signal so I can’t call for a tow, and this totally rude buggy guy drove right past me even though it was so obvs I needed help.”
“Mm.” The person opened the door and got out, motioning for Sage to get in the other side. “No spare?”
Sage rolled her eyes. “I needed the extra space for my stuff, and it seemed dumb to carry around something I wouldn’t need.” She felt her face flame at the knowledge that she did, in fact, need it. “Whatevs. Lesson learned, I guess.”
“I’ll put your case in the back. Hop in. I’ll tell you where your car is, and you can call for a tow from the nearest hotel.”
Sage winced a little as the person tossed her suitcase in the back with the shredded rubber. She pulled herself up and into the truck, which had an old-fashioned bench seat. Mud coated her jeans, and she tried to wipe it from her face again, only to transfer mud between the two places to make it worse. Once the driver got in, she could finally see them properly.
And promptly wished she could crawl back into the ditch and hide.
The woman was hot. Like, cowboy in chaps for a lesbian calendar hot. Butch porn hot. New York City didn’t compare kind of hot. Her plain white T-shirt hugged a firm-looking body, and her roughed-up jeans were clearly authentic, not expensively trashed. The cowboy hat covered short hair. She melted, just a little. Too much would seem needy.
“How do I know you’re not a killer? I know there are plenty around here,” Sage asked, trying for cute and sweet in lieu of sexy, since the mud definitely fucked that look up.
“You don’t, I guess.”
The woman looked her over, clearly unimpressed. “You’re free to get out and wait, but you won’t know that about the next person who comes along either.”
That wasn’t comforting, but at least the woman wanted Sage to stay with her. “All right then. I’ll let you be my knight in shining armor.”
The woman’s eyebrow quirked, and she didn’t say anything as they set off down the road. Sage continued to pick at the mud in her hair, dropping it out the window and stressing about how she was going to do her job now. This kind of exclusive came along once in a lifetime, and she absolutely couldn’t blow it.
“Where were you headed?”
“The VCN conference, and then Dark Haven for a week.” She tried to say it like it totally wasn’t a big thing, even though it definitely was. Not that this hot butch cowboy would have any idea what she was talking about. Although, those eyes… With a start, she realized that the woman looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place her. The tinted windows, though…was that just for show?
The woman’s expression hardened ever so slightly. “Right.”
Was there a hint of judgment in that one word? Before she could get to the drama, the woman turned into a driveway with a small signpost that read Rac’s Place. It led to a large farmhouse with several cars parked outside.
“You can make your call from here. Tell Rac your car is at the entrance to the old Rose Bower.” The woman threw the truck in park, jumped out, put Sage’s suitcase by the stairs, and then got back in the truck. All without another word.
Sage stared as she drove off. “So rude.” What a shame too. She and a woman like that would have made fire look cold with what they could do in the sheets. The screen door squeaked open behind her, and she turned.
“Hey there. Can I help you?”
The woman speaking from the shaded porch was tall and slender. She had shoulder-length braids and cheekbones that Sage would die for. “Yeah, hi. Um, my car got a flat, like totally shredded, and this woman gave me a ride and said I could use your phone.” She held up her cell. “No signal.”
The woman smiled widely, and Sage’s knees went weak. Fangs.
“Of course. Come on in and clean up. Looks like the mud might have won the fight.” She bent and looked at the suitcase. “Zipper is busted too. You’ll have a time getting it open, and then you won’t be able to shut it again. Should probably keep it closed till you get where you’re going. I’ll set some clean clothes outside your door.”
Sage swallowed and gave her brightest smile. This was her first taste of the vampire world outside of the city. She could do this. “That would be amazing, thanks.”
The woman lifted Sage’s suitcase like it didn’t weigh fifty pounds and then held the screen door open for her. The inside was simple, nothing fancy, but it felt like a place to relax in. If, of course, you weren’t going to be dinner.
“I’ve got one room empty tonight, and you can take that. Any idea where your car is? I can call our local garage and see if they can spare anyone.”
“The woman who dropped me off said to tell you,” she hesitated, “well, to tell someone called Rac that it’s at the entrance to the Rose Bower.”
“I’m Rac, and that’s all I need.” She opened the door to a room. “Here you go. Come on down and have dinner when you’re ready.”
Sage closed the door and locked it behind her. That was dumb, but she couldn’t help it. What were the chances of her staying in an inn run by a vampire just as she was about to go to their biggest conference of the year? She shuddered and dug out her papers of safe passage and laid them on the desk. She’d have to keep them on her all the time now.
The shower felt heavenly, even if there weren’t any high-end soaps, and the clothes she found outside the door fit almost perfectly. She tugged at the burnout T-shirt and tried not to think about the possibility that the person who’d worn them no longer needed them. Ever again.
She made her way downstairs and noticed there weren’t any pictures. No art, no decorations, no knick-knacks. There were lots of books, but nothing that was simply pretty. She’d always thought vampires were a frivolous bunch. With lifetimes of money, why not?
When she got to the dining room, it was empty except for Rac sitting there, flipping through a newspaper. She looked up. “Food?”
“Please. I’m starving.” Sage sat down and poured a glass of water from the jug. Rac left, presumably to go into the kitchen, and Sage set her papers next to her glass, the red seal bright against the white tablecloth.
Rac came in and set down a chicken dish of some sort that smelled divine. Her gaze flicked to the paperwork and she gave a small nod, then sat across from Sage.
“I admit to wondering why a human would risk crossing this neck of the country.” She tilted her head toward the papers. “Safe passage only helps if you have time to hold them up. Or if the vampire in question cares a blood cell for government documents. Not all do, you know. Especially here.”
Sage murmured her appreciation of the food and took a quick photo. She could always post it later, when she had internet again. “I know, but I’m kind of an internet celebrity. People would totally notice if I went missing.”
Rac’s head tilted almost like a dog’s. “And you think a vampire in the middle of vampire country cares about that, do you?”
“Well, yeah. Since you guys got the green light to be totally yourselves, which is awesome, by the way, everyone knows you have strict rules about who you can feed on and who you can’t. And perception is everything. You don’t want to look like the bad-guy monsters anymore, and seriously, who can blame you?” She finished eating and took a long drink of water. “And besides, like, all my followers know I’m here.”
Rac’s expression was one of bemusement, but Sage was tired and didn’t want to get into the whole vampire-human politics thing tonight. “I’m so beat.”
Rac seemed to snap back from wherever she’d gone. “I called our local garage, but they can’t get your car till tomorrow. They’ll stop by here to get the keys, fix the tire, and then drive it over when it’s ready. Keep you from standing out in the open.”
“Wow, that’s so fantastic. And kind. Thanks so much, really.” Sage tugged on the T-shirt. “I love this. So retro.”
Rac smiled enough to show the tips of her fangs. “Feel free to keep it. The person who wore it doesn’t need it anymore.”
A tiny flicker of fear finally made its way through Sage’s illogical optimism. “Great, thanks.”
Rac laughed. “Not because she’s dead. Or even undead. She’s pregnant with her third kid, and the likelihood she’ll ever be that small again is as likely as I am to start eating Brussels sprouts.”
Sage laughed a little too forcefully. “Obvs. Of course. Didn’t even cross my mind.” She noticed the paper Rac had been reading. “Oh hey, that’s where I’m headed. The Vampire Community News Conference.”
“Really.” Rac leaned back in her chair. “Seems like a dangerous thing to do.”
Sage rolled her eyes. “Yeah, for normal people, I guess. But I’m totally a vampire rights supporter. I even marched for equality last year with the New York Vampy Vamps.” She grew irritated when Rac didn’t look impressed. “Anyway, I run a ZimTak channel that has over a million followers. The VCN invited me to report on the conference for my peeps, so they can get a better understanding of how great you all are.”
Rac nodded, slowly, her gaze never leaving Sage’s face. It was intense.
“And then,” she said, trying not to tap her fingers against the chair and make it obvious she was nervous, “I’m going to be staying at Dark Haven. I’ll be there for a week, seeing how they live, what they’re up to, all that. Like, modern investigative journalism. When I’m done, you’ll have a million more people on your side.”
“Do we need people on our side?” Rac asked, still as intense.
“Well, yeah. I mean, history has shown what happens when people turn against you.” Sage rolled her shoulders. “I so need a massage. I hope the hotel has a spa.”
Rac stood and shoved her hands in her pockets. “I’d be a little more cautious if I were you.” She looked Sage over. “And I damn sure wouldn’t get naked and wait for a vampire masseuse to work out my knots.” She picked up Sage’s plate. “Sleep well.”Â
They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I do it all the time and don’t intend to change that. However, I agree that you shouldn’t have assumptions when you pick up a book, and Dark Haven by Brey Willows is a beautiful example of why this is.
Sage Samara is a social media influencer who believes in vampire rights and has decided she will support the vampire community by proving to her followers that “they are just like us.” She’s been invited to attend a vampires-only conference, followed by a weeklong stay in the remote vampire community of Dark Haven. Remy “Wind” Winslow is the leader of the community, as well as the orchestrator and face of the recent movement to convince the government to pass a bill granting vampires rights. Despite being a public figure, Remy would like nothing more than to stay in Dark Haven and shut out the rest of the world. However, knowing that perception is key to making humans more accepting, she grudgingly agrees to allow Sage to invade their privacy. Unfortunately, not all vampires are thrilled with the changes, and someone is out to undermine Remy’s work to keep peace. As violence escalates between the factions, it’s a race to find the culprit before an unwinnable war between vampires and humans breaks out, and Remy loses everything and everyone she ever cared about.
I learn something new from every book I read, but once in a while, a story will knock me back in my seat. This is one of those books. In addition to getting all the sexy vibes between Sage and Remy, the tense political fallout from the friction between the humans and vampires, and being immersed in the world-building of vampire society, what ultimately grabs me is Sage’s transformation from being a bubble-headed social media darling to being a person with soul, empathy, and awareness. The line that whacked me upside the head is “Instead of standing aside and using my platform so they could be heard on their own merit, I spoke from a place as an outsider.” I will carry this line with me forever.
Just a heads up about content warnings. The story deals heavily with the issues that marginalized groups contend with, bullying and physical violence come into play, and there are explicit sex scenes.
I give this book five stars because it ticks all the boxes for me. Dark Haven is captivating, sexy, full of snarky humor and heart, and is incredibly relevant. Brey Willows is a writer to watch, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!