LOVER ETERNAL
Black Dagger Brotherhood Series, Book 2
J. R. Ward
Dedicated to: You.
In the beginning, we didn't hit it off, did we?
But then I realized the truth about you and I fell in love.
Thank you for letting me see through your eyes and walk awhile in your boots.
You are just so… beautiful.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
With immense gratitude to the readers of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
Without you, the brothers wouldn't have a home on the page.
Thank you so very much:
Karen Solem, Kara Cesare, Claire Zion, Kara Welsh, Rose Hilliard.
With love to my family and friends, and with continued reverence for my
Executive Committee: Sue Grafton, Dr. Jessica Andersen, Betsey Vaughan.
Glossary of Terms and Proper Nouns
Black Dagger Brotherhood (pr. n.) Highly trained vampire warriors who protect their species against the Lessening Society. As a result of selective breeding within the race, brothers possess immense physical and mental strength as well as rapid healing capabilities. They are not siblings for the most part, and are inducted into the brotherhood upon nomination by the brothers. Aggressive, self-reliant, and secretive by nature, they exist apart from civilians, having little contact with members of the other classes except when they need to feed. They are the subjects of legend and the objects of reverence within the vampire world. They may be killed only by the most serious of wounds, e.g., a gunshot or stab to the heart, etc.