Blood Opera Sequence

Reborn from her previous tragic life, an extraordinary girl is the key to the future of her family's vampiric bloodline in this Gothic dark fantasy. World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award–winning author "The Scarabae . . . We are history. We are the truth." Ancient and near-immortal, the Scarabae have lived among humanity for centuries if not millennia. Hunted like animals, driven from their homeland, the family retained their substantial wealth, surviving in seclusion. To ensure their survival, some choose to breed with ordinary humans. Rachaela is the offspring of one such union-and she has been seduced by the Scarabae to birth two daughters. Ruth was consumed by rage and violence before dying at the hands of one of her victims. Anna is driven by art and culture, calm and serene. Both matured at a rate that defied their natural biology, developing otherworldly beauty and intelligence in early childhood. Rachaela never wanted to be a mother, fearing her children's uncanny nature, and believing Anna to be the reincarnation of Ruth. Then Anna is taken by the progenitor of the Scarabae. He calls himself Cain, claiming to be the Biblical figure who spilled his brother's blood and fathered the vampire clan. Now, he pursues a new future for his family, one beyond the Scarabae legacy that alters Anna's very fate.

A woman discovers her father's familial history-and unsettling legacy-in this Gothic reinvention of the vampire myth from a multi-award-winning author. World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award–winning author After the death of her temperamental mother, Rachaela Day pursued a quiet life. She was content selling books to make ends meet, immersing herself in stories and music, and avoiding unnecessary human interaction. Her single mother's cold resentment taught her that family ties are a burden, and that unconditional love doesn't occur naturally between blood relatives. After four years as an isolated adult orphan, Rachaela's paternal family makes contact. Throughout her childhood, her father was but a shadow, someone her mother refused to talk about. Now, the Scarabae clan has invited her to stay with them in their countryside manor, an offer they will not let her refuse. In a dilapidated home by the sea, Rachaela meets her extended family, eccentric elders who barely acknowledge her presence. Nocturnal by nature, they don't venture outdoors in the daytime. The house's windows diffuse sunlight. Miles from the nearest village, the Scarabae nevertheless have all their needs met, wanting neither cars nor phones to connect them to the wider world beyond their borders. Despite her preference to be alone, the Scarabaes' seclusion is too much even for Rachaela. She is not being kept against her will, but the family will not help her leave. Then she meets the one Scarabae connecting her to this strange brood-her father Adamus. Unlike the others, he is young: too young to be her father. But Rachaela is a Scarabae, and if the family is to survive, she has a duty and a destiny to fulfill.

The Gothic dark fantasy trilogy that redefines vampire mythology from the World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award–winning author. The three volumes in The Blood Opera Sequence tell the saga of the Scarabae family, a near-immortal vampiric clan who have walked the earth since ancient times, ensuring the survival of their bloodline. Dark Dance: In a dilapidated home by the sea, Rachaela Day meets her paternal family for the first time. The wealthy Scarabae are eccentric elders, nocturnal by nature, with no interest in the outside world. Her one link to this strange brood-her father Adamus-is unlike the others. He is young, too young, to be her father. But Rachaela is a Scarabae, and if the family is to survive, she has a duty and a destiny to fulfill. Personal Darkness: Ruth is the latest Scarabae, the spawn of a union her mother Rachaela believed unholy. Defying the family, Ruth slaughters most of them, unleashing an insatiable murderous instinct. The hunter Malach will not allow Ruth's trail of destruction to lead back to the Scarabae-and he will kill any surviving witnesses left behind in her wake. Darkness, I: Rachaela has once again been seduced by the Scarabae to birth a daughter. Anna is mature beyond her years, possessing otherworldly beauty and intelligence. And now she has been taken by the progenitor of the Scarabae, Cain, who pursues a new future for his family, one beyond their legacy that alters Anna's very fate.