A rumor has persisted in the vampire world of a dark slayer—a woman—who travels with a wolf pack and who destroys any vampire who crosses her path. Mysterious, elusive and seemingly impossible to kill, she is the one hunter who strikes terror into the hearts of the undead.
She is Ivory Malinov. Her only brethren, the wolves. Long ago betrayed by her people, abandoned by her family, and cast out by everyone she held dear, Ivory has lived a century without companionship or love. She has sustained her sanity by the habit of the hunt and the custom of the feeding. Until the night she picks up the scent of a man, her unexpected salvation. Her lifemate. The curse of all Carpathian women.
He is Razvan. Branded a criminal, detested and feared, he is a dragonseeker borne of one of the greatest Carpathian lineages, only to be raised as its most despised—and captive—enemy. Fleeing from his lifetime of imprisonment, Razvan now seeks the dawn to end his terrible existence. Instead he has found his deliverance in the Dark Slayer.
In spirit, in flesh and blood, in love, and in war, Ivory and Razvan are made for each other. For as long as they dare to live.
Book 20 in the Carpathian Dark Series
Sparrowgal's rating: 9.5/10
Sparrowgal's thoughts - Spoiler alert!
This is my FAVOURITE of all Christine Feehan's Dark series. I think I've read it about 20 times. I carried it on my phone and read it at work, on the train, any time I was needing something to do I would pull out this book and read it.
Ivory Malinov - beloved and betrayed sister of the treacherous Malinov brothers, hunts vampires, but her identity has been a secret. Her story was tragic and agonising, and shows extremely strong will to live. She was mutilated, chopped into pieces and thrown out onto a field, including being beheaded. Her heart was not incinerated so even though she would have easily died to her injuries, she lived, for one reason only - Justice.
Equally tortured, and even more misunderstood is Razvan - the hated turncoat, twin brother to Natalya (Dark Demon). He nearly killed Manolito (Dark Celebration), and committed multiple foul acts against the Carpathians. He is of the Dragonseeker blood, which is why he never turned, but he was not immune to mind control by Xavier, which is what all the Carpathians have overlooked. Razvan does not begrudge his status as most hated, he did it to protect his loved ones - his sister Natalya, his daughter Lara (Dark Curse) - and has managed to escape and was going to die in the sunlight, until he was rescued by Ivory. Ivory - who managed to recognise him as her lifemate, even without hearing his voice. It must be a female thing.
I loved the characters. Razvan, who was afraid to love, did not want another weapon that Xavier could use against him, yet remained noble and true in front of the other Carpathians. Ivory, who did not want or need a lifemate, fell in love with the gentle man, who was so noble inside but asked nothing in return. Razvan is not a warrior like Ivory, he is a strategist, and has a brilliant memory. Ivory has studied her enemy Xavier thoroughly and her careful planning and caution impress Razvan. Gregori and Mikhael are the only ones who see them for what they truly are, and without suspicion. When Gregori heals them, he sees the true agony they both have suffered, and it humbles him also.
At the end, where Ivory performs the mage spell to counter the parasites that have been killing the children and babies is truly amazing, and the adversity they both had to overcome to earn the respect of their race is amazing. But what is more amazing is how they don't even need nor want that respect. They have each other, and they need nothing more.
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