Killers of the Dawn

Killers of the Dawn
Darren Shan

The allies of the night prepare for the final, deadly confrontation. Darren and Mr Crepsley will get more than they bargained for when they come face to face with the Vampaneze Lord.The allies of the night prepare for the final, deadly confrontation. Darren and Mr Crepsley will get more than they bargained for when they come face to face with the Vampaneze Lord.Outnumbered, outsmarted and desperate, the hunters are on the run. Pursued by the vampaneze, vigilante mobs and the police, Darren Shan, the Vampire Prince, is public enemy Number One! With their enemies baying for blood, the vampires prepare for deadly confrontation. Is this the end for Darren and his allies?

KILLERS OF THE DAWN

THE SAGA OF DARREN SHAN

BOOK 9

KILLERS OF THE DAWN

THE SAGA OF DARREN SHAN

BOOK 9

Hunt for Darren Shan on the web at

www.darrenshan.com

For:

Bas – my dawn bird

OBE’s

(Order of the Bloody Entrails) to:

Maiko “minder” Enomoto

&

Megumi “fault-finder” Hashimoto

Gillie Russell & Zoë Clarke – the Sisters Grimm

the Christopher Little Clan – troll-masters

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Other Books in the Series The Saga of Darren Shan

Copyright

About the Publisher

PROLOGUE

IT WAS an age of deceit. Everyone was suspicious of everyone else — and with good reason! You never knew when a trusted ally would turn, bare his fangs and rip you to pieces.

The vampires and vampaneze were at war – the War of the Scars – and the result hinged upon finding and killing the Lord of the Vampaneze. If the vampires did that, victory would be theirs. Otherwise, the night would belong to their purple-skinned blood-cousins, who would drive the vampires to extinction.

Three vampires were sent by Mr Desmond Tiny to hunt the Vampaneze Lord — Vancha March, Larten Crepsley and me, Darren Shan. I’m a half-vampire.

Mr Tiny told us that other vampires couldn’t assist us in our hunt, but non-vampires could. Thus, the only one to accompany us was a Little Person called Harkat Mulds, though a witch known as Lady Evanna also travelled with us for a short time during our quest.