The Cross

The Cross
Scott G. Mariani

When an ancient cross is discovered in Eastern Europe it becomes a powerful weapon in the war between the trads and the Vampire Federation – but soon, the world is threatened by its discovery…

The cross of Ardaich, feared by vampires, was believed to have been destroyed during the bloody war between the Vampire Federation and the Trads. But its accidental rediscovery could be catastrophic.

Detective Joel Solomon can’t forgive VF agent Alex Bishop for making him a vampire. Yet when Federation arch-enemy Gabriel Stone enlists a vicious killer to retrieve the cross, the couple and their human allies become the only defence against pure evil.

If the cross is used to gain power by the Übervampyr, the sadistic and primeval race of elite vampires, it isn’t just ordinary vampires like Alex and Joel who will be in danger. Things could be about to turn very nasty for the human race…

A high-octane, action-packed adventure that will thrill fans of Charlaine Harris, Blade and The Passage.

The Cross

SCOTT G. MARIANI

Copyright (#ulink_2231c57c-d0bd-59dd-a9b3-dc319b342e22)

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

AVON

A division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Copyright © Scott G. Mariani 2011

Scott G. Mariani asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 9781847562135

Ebook edition © SEPTEMBER 2011 ISBN: 9780007342792

Version 2018-06-26

Epigraph (#ulink_fc8c2388-39ea-591e-8538-cba308df96fe)

As ever, thanks to my intrepid and tireless editor at Avon, Keshini Naidoo, who luckily for me enjoys the blood and gore of a vampire story even more than I do . . .

Thanks also to Nathan Shallcross at Armed Combat and Tactics UK for expert coaching in some particularly effective and nasty fighting techniques with the European longsword. Learning how to whip an opponent’s head off their shoulders with a four-foot blade is definitely the most fun I’ve ever had researching a novel.

Contents

Title Page (#u788a28b5-4dac-5817-8a5c-98ddaca6cba7)

Copyright

Epigraph

Nearly thirty years

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