Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, seductive cloth as her brother. Imprisoned for eons by their mother, the Scribe Virgin, she finally frees herself-only to face a devastating injury. Manuel Manello, M.D., is drafted by the Brotherhood to save her as only he can-but when the human surgeon and the vampire warrior meet, their two worlds collide in the face of their undeniable passion. With so much working against them, can love prove stronger than the birthright and the biology that separates them? #1 New York Times bestselling author J. R. Ward's thrilling new novel in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. J. R. Ward lives in the South with her incredibly supportive husband and her beloved golden retriever. After graduating from law school, she began working in health care in Boston and spent many years as chief of staff for one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation. Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Acknowledgements GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND PROPER NOUNS   ONE - PRESENT DAY AQUEDUCT RACETRACK, QUEENS , NEW YORK TWO - CALDWELL, NEW YORK TRAINING CENTER, THE BROTHERHOOD’S COMPOUND THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT - OLD COUNTRY PRESENT NINE - ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL CALDWELL, NEW YORK TEN ELEVEN TWELVE THIRTEEN FOURTEEN FIFTEEN SIXTEEN SEVENTEEN EIGHTEEN NINETEEN TWENTY TWENTY-ONE TWENTY-TWO TWENTY-THREE TWENTY-FOUR TWENTY-FIVE TWENTY-SIX TWENTY-SEVEN TWENTY-EIGHT TWENTY-NINE THIRTY THIRTY-ONE THIRTY-TWO THIRTY-THREE THIRTY-FOUR THIRTY-FIVE THIRTY-SIX THIRTY-SEVEN THIRTY-EIGHT THIRTY-NINE FORTY FORTY-ONE FORTY-TWO FORTY-THREE FORTY-FOUR FORTY-FIVE FORTY-SIX FORTY-SEVEN FORTY-EIGHT FORTY-NINE FIFTY FIFTY-ONE FIFTY-TWO FIFTY-THREE FIFTY-FOUR FIFTY-FIVE FIFTY-SIX FIFTY-SEVEN FIFTY-EIGHT FIFTY-NINE BY J. R. WARD THE BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD SERIES   Dark Lover   Lover Eternal   Lover Awakened   Lover Revealed   Lover Unbound   Lover Enshrined   The Black Dagger Brotherhood: An Insider’s Guide   Lover Avenged   Lover Mine       NOVELS OF THE FALLEN ANGELS   Covet   Crave NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa   Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England   First published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.   First Printing, April 2011   Copyright © Love Conquers All, Inc., 2011 All rights reserved REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA   Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:   Ward, J. R. (Jessica Bird) Lover unleashed: a novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood/J. R. Ward p. cm.—Black dagger brotherhood; 9) ISBN: 9781101513477 1. Vampires—Fiction. I. Title. PS3623.A73227L695 2010 813’.6—dc22 2010052840       Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.   PUBLISHER’S NOTE This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.   The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. IN LOVING MEMORY OF MARGARET BIRD DEDICATED TO YOU:     You, a “brother” indeed. I think you are right where you are supposed to be—and I’m not the only one who feels that way. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS With immense gratitude to the readers of the Black Dagger Brotherhood and a