No Tender Mercy

Who says The Apocalypse has to be the end of good times? For Diego Salazar, the career his father had insisted was his destiny turned out to be the perfect preparation for the End of Times. The Army made him a warrior—and then it turned him into a monster. As second-in-command of Fort Davis, deep in the New Frontier, his days have been spent hunting for other monsters and then spending their free time doing what comes naturally for vampires. Humans serve two purposes, and he's fine with that—until his unit accepts a ragtag bunch of survivors and brings them inside the military camp. Now, the one thing he thought would never happen to him—finding one woman who holds his interest longer than a night—happens in an instant of sudden, searing lust, and he quickly makes sure everyone knows he's claiming her for his own. For Ramona Jeffers, the repeating message going out over the airwaves, inviting refugees to come to a safe haven at Fort Davis, is a beacon of hope. The leader of a small group of survivors that has been searching for refuge, she's weary from constantly scavenging for food and shelter and always watching over her shoulder for the dangers that hide in the darkness. When she arrives at Fort Davis and discovers that vampires are in charge, she sees her hopes crumbling before her eyes. But the vampires there offer the refugees a deal—their labor and their blood, if they will give it—in exchange for a safe place for them and their families. Knowing they may be risking everything, Ramona and her small "tribe" agree, not knowing that others are watching and waiting to take everything they have...