Wait For Dusk by Jocelynn Drake

Spoiler warning!! Spoilers from the previous book, Pray For Dawn, here. None for Wait For Dusk.

"There is no sanctuary in the night...

Feared even by her own kind for her mastery of fire, the nightwalker Mira is summoned by the coven to take her rightful place as Elder. But with this honor comes grave responsibility - a commitment to the annihilation of the un-leashed naturi. For now the foul creatures walk the earth - and neither vampire nor human will survive their horrific onslaught.

A tide of blood is sweeping relentlessly across the European continent, as Mira is dispatched to Budapest for the most devastating test yet of her astonishing powers - and falls in to a well-laid trap. With the dark secrets that haunt her growing darker by the hour, she must confront the terrible truth of her past and protect her fragile sanity in the face of unanticipated treachery - a betrayal by her trusted ally, her beloved enemy, the vampire slayer Danaus."

This is the 5th book in the Dark Days series and after Danaus' POV for Pray For Dawn (book #4) we're back with Mira. PFD ended on a hell of a cliff hanger and WFD picks up exactly where it left off. Mira is confronted with a new enemy, someone who could prove worse than the now prisoned bori to deal with. He wants something from her and is determined to get it. As he leaves, promising to be watching, Valerio appears on the Coven's orders to tell Mira to return and take her place as an Elder. She knows it can't be avoided, but she refuses to appear alone, taking Danaus with her under the lable of 'consort'.

The other Elders and a few ancients (vampires who've hit the 1000 year mark) make life difficult for Mira, as expected, but it's not until she arrives in Budapest, to rid it of naturi, that the real games begin. She's sure Elder Macaire wants her dead, and at any cost, so she knows being in Budapest at his request will be dangerous. But Danaus betrayal is something she never saw coming. Mira's fighting several different fronts, trying to rid the world of naturi, keep the supernatural world hiden from humans, and now she's doing it not knowing who, if anyone, she can trust.

Got hooked from page one and couldn't put it down. It's fraught with tension and pain as Mira faces new, bigger challenges and Danaus' betrayal. Which I wouldn't have seen coming if not for it being on the blrub. But having it there was a great hook and I think maybe added something because I knew it was coming and I was wondering how he could possibly end up on the opposite side to her with how things were going.

From book one I've been sure Mira is not strictly a nightwalker. I've always thought that she can't have been completely human before she was turned because of her ability to manipulate fire. And it is finally addressed in this book. But the answer surprised me and the repercussions are huge. Not something that can be cleared up all in one book either. I love the developments of Mira and Danaus relationship, including the bad stuff. They just play off each other so well, their differences, the way they've both changed through the series, how they've gotten so close and understand each other so well. With Valerio in Budapest with Mira though, it also gave an interesting glimpse in to her past. The was she used to behave with him when they spent time together a couple of centuries ago. And how she's changed since then, and why. It's almost a darker Mira we're faced with here as she attempts to do the right things, filled with guilt and grief over the loss of Lily, the street kid she and Danaus more or less adopted in the previous book. She's determined now to destroy the naturi by whatever it takes. Nothing is about to stop her. She comes face to face with Rowe again here as well, for the first time since book 3, Dawnbreaker.

As always there were twists and turns I didn't see coming and the tension just build until the ending. It was shocking and sad and made me cry, second Dark Days book running to do so! It was dark, and passionate and fantastic. I love the world building in this series, how the different creatures all work against each other, their own limitations and strengths. It all just comes alive on the page and it's easy to get lost in it. I can not wait for the next book, and while I'm very grateful for getting 2 books within a month of each other, I'm wishing the next one was out with the same time frame! This has become one of my favourite series having only felt so-so about the first, and not much better about the second one. I love Mira and Danaus and both their strengths and weaknesses. But alongside Pray For Dawn this is my favourite of the series so far. Awesome book, awesome series and I'd highly recommend it. 9/10

Pray For Dawn by Jocelynn Drake

Spoiler warning! This is the 4th book in the Dark Days series and there are a few spoilers for earlier ones in this review. If you've yet to start the series, skip this review and just pick up book 1, Nightwalker ;)

"Pray for salvation...

Pray for daylight...

Murder has pulled Mira out of the shadows and back in to the living world...

As the fire-wielding enforcer of the nightwalker cover wrestles with the mind destroying ghosts of her dark past, the slaying of a senator's daughter in Savannah threatens to expose her kind to the brilliant light of day. The dawn of chaos has come. The naturi have broken free of their eternal prison to feed on the defenseless and unbelieving of an unprepared Earth.

Mira and Danaus - vampire and vampire slayer - must unite to prevent the annihilation of their separate races. But for Danaus the challenge if intensified, for he must also fight the bori who covets his soul. And Mira, the nightwalker he must protect - whose power if the Earth's last hope - is rapidly going insane."

This fourth book in the Dark Days series is very different for one big reason: it's told from Danaus POV instead of Mira's. This is the first time we get a look in to the mind of the hunter since we met him in book one. He's fought Mira, promised to kill her, fought alongside her and saved her on more than one occasion. But he's always been a bit of a mystery, never showing that much of himself. Now, finally, we can find out what he really thinks and feels. Towards Mira and about the world around him. He's lived a very long life, seen a lot of wars, lost a lot of friends, and is continually fighting to keep the human world safe from the dark one it doesn't know.

Pray For Dawn picks up a couple of months after the events of book 3, Dawnbreaker, and Danaus is being summoned back to Savannah, Mira's domain. Once there he quickly discovers not everything is well. A senator's daughter is dead and the family are making a lot of noise in the press. The killing wasn't by a human and it could put pressure on the vampire community, so it needs to be hushed up and quickly. Danaus is ordered by Themis leader Ryan, to protect Mira and help figure out who the killer is and what their aim is. Not an easy task at the best of times, but it's harder still when the bori who owns part of Danaus' soul, is fighting for full control, and he's determined to have it.

I loved this book from the start. It was oddly easy to switch from seeing the world from Mira's eyes, to Danaus'. He sees things differently to Mira and has his own personal demons to fight as well. Danaus thinks a lot, sees things in a lot of detail and doesn't miss much. It was very interesting seeing from his POV how he deals with the people around him, what matters to him, how he can/will work with others be they human, vampire, lycan or other. Getting more of his backstory was eye opening as to why he is how he is, why he's so determined to destroy vampires. His relationship with Mira has always been a bit strange. Hunter and vampire forced to work together but promising to kill each other one day. It's been a relationship that's built slowly and I know I'm not alone with the thinking 'will they, won't they get together'. That is something that's continued through this book, clearer than before, but still not front and center and something that's still not got a clear outcome.

A lot happens in this book between the dead girl, Mira's rapidly failing sanity, the naturi and the bori and it was hard to put down. There are some pretty big shocks along the way and a moment that very nearly caused tears for me. Mira's behaviour is off from her first appearance in PfD, but it's not until near the end where we find out just what is going on with the nightwalker. Mira not quite being herself made for some interesting, painful and tense moments, and particularly interesting was how Danaus responded to them. The vast world created in this series is expanded with further knowledge about the bori, and how their presence effects vampires and others. Also a further look in to the workings of the vampires in Mira's domain, of which one scene in particular made for entertaining reading. There is a lot in the way of personal struggles in this book, with Danaus and Mira, and I'd love to see some of the moments of this book from her POV as well. But Danaus made for a great narrator and I'm really, really pleased with how this book came out. I don't always get on with changes of POV and while I was really looking forward to seeing what Danaus really thought of Mira, I wasn't completely sure I'd love this book like I did book 3. Turned out, I really shouldn't have worried because I loved this one more.

Pray For Dawn is my favourite book of the series so far. It's fast, action packed with a very twisting ride of emotions. Seeing the world through different eyes doesn't just change how I viewed Danaus, but certain other characters as well. The ending was tense and fraught with danger not knowing how it was going to end for certain people. And it's a hell of a cliff hanger!! I got to the end and almost screamed in frustration. It's a cruel point to end the book, but at least it's only a month long wait for book 5, Wait For Dusk, which from the blurb (and the cover, if you've seen it, you'll know what I mean) promises to be even more shocking and awesome. Anything longer may well have killed me because it is a very dramatic ending. I've read a lot of cliff hanger endings, but this is one of the worst. I can't wait to find out what happens next for Mira and Danaus (book 5 is back to Mira's POV, out 27th July). And maybe get a glimpse of Mira's thoughts regarding a few certain moments of this one. A fantastic book, a great series, and one that should be read as soon as possible! 9/10