The Brotherhood & Vampire Society
Vampire society is starting to take precautions due to the new warfare tactics of the Lessening Society. Civilians have been cautioned to travel in pairs.
Zsadist
A member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. He was kidnapped by his nanny when he was was a baby and sold into slavery. He spent 100 years as a blood slave, being abused in every way possible until his brother came and saved him. Thanks to his hundred years of careful training with the Mistress, there was no level of shit he hadn’t survived. Physical pain, mental anguish, cringing depths of humiliation and degradation, hopelessness, helplessness: Been there, sweated that.
Because of his past, he is emotionally closed off and feels nothing until he meets Bella. He was clearly having an emotional reaction, although damned if he knew what it was. All he picked up on were the ancillary symptoms. Inside himself there was nothing, no feeling that he could identify. When she was kidnapped, he becomes obsessed and goes on a savage manhunt to find her.
He falls in love with Bella. She makes him feel …alive. Awakened. He opens up about his past and bonds with her. When Bella leaves him, he decides to better himself and become worthy of her love. He learns to read and write. He mates her properly.
Bella
Bella is a female of worth, she is on the highest level of aristocracy. She is sister to Rehvenge.
She was abducted by Mr. O in Lover Eternal. He was obsessed with her because she reminded him of a past girlfriend that was killed. “I love you he said. I love you so much…I can’t live without you.” Bella was rescued by Zsadist and taken to the Brotherhood’s mansion.
Bella was drawn to Zsadist in Dark Lover when she saw him in the training center and she had been praying that he would save her. She knew what she wanted and she went after him. After her abduction she seeks Zsadist for comfort. For her, he was…the one. She doesn’t back down when he tries to push her away. No one had ever took that tone with him. The anomaly alone would have gotten his attention, but the fact that it was her stunned him out.
Bella becomes pregnant and returns to tell Zsadist. When she learns that he wanted her back and tried to better himself for her, they decide to be mated.
Phury
Zsadist’s twin brother. He is celibate and addicted to red smoke. His dealer is The Reverend.
Phury is consumed by the guilt over Zsadist’s kidnapping as an infant and the tourture that he went through as a result of being a blood slave. He has given up having a life of his own to watch over and keep Zsadist in line. Zsadist murmured, “You live less than half a life. You always have.”
Phury wants Bella for himself and resents Zsadist. It should be me in there with her. Washing her, Easing her. Caring for her. Its this feeling and the hatred he has for himself that he decides to move up to Heroin.
John Matthew
John Matthew is his human given name, Tehrror is his warrior name. He was born in a bathroom stall at a train station. He was raised by nuns at Our Lady of Mercy Orphanage. Bella introduced him to the Brotherhood when she realized he was a pretrans male. He is mute and communicates by sign language.
He was taken in by Tohrment and Wellsie and went to live with them. He feels like he belongs somewhere for the first time in his life. He finds out that he is a descendant of Darius and is most likely his son and that he has a sister, Beth, the Queen.
He begins classes with Brotherhood’s training school and is picked on from the start. He knew he was tripping all kinds of social wires, setting off land mines right and left, what with his names and the raised-by-humans thing and his inability to talk. He had a feeling this school day was going to be one hell of an endurance test, so he might as well save his energy.
Tohr & Wellsie
Tohrment and Wellsie are mated and are expecting their first child. They take John Matthew in and see him as a son.
Tohrment is a member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. He is in charge of the brothers since Wrath ascended to the throne. He has a violent reaction when he hears of Wellsie’s death. A raw scream shattered the air…the burst of energy that followed was so strong it shattered the glass door…one by one down both lengths of the hall, the fluorescent ceiling lights exploded…energy vibrated up through the concrete floor, leaving cracks that ran into the cinder-block walls… Tohrment disappears.
Wellsie is shot and killed by Mr. O, as she visits a spiritual leader in reference to planning a winter festival.
Butch
Butch has adjusted to his new life with the Brotherhood. The former homicide detective was an anomaly in their world, the only human who’d ever been let into the Brotherhood’s inner circle. Butch was V’s roommate, Rhage’s lifting partner in the gym, Phury’s clothes-whore buddy.
He still pines after Marissa, wanting to be with her. He sure as shit didn’t understand why Marissa had gotten to him as much as she had.
Marissa
Marissa still lives with her brother. She calls on Rehvenge, for feeding. She has never feed from anyone but Wrath. “I’m rather embarrassed, actually. I just don’t know what to do.”
Marissa runs into Butch in the clinic and asks him to call on her but he refuses.
Rehvenge
Rehvenge is six foot six, with a Mohawk and amethysts eyes. He is Bella’s overbearing older brother. As soon as he got her back, she was never going to be allowed out without his approval. He takes care of his mother and sister and would do anything for them.
Rehvenge is also known as The Reverend, although he keeps this a secret from his family. He is the owner of ZeroSum and a drug dealer and pimp.
Rehvenge is a sympath.
Lessening Society
The lessening society has amped up its war on the Brotherhood by continually abducting civilian vampires in an effort to locate the Brothers. The persuasion techniques used by Mr. X in Dark Lover have been introduced to other Lessers and Mr. O has become the lead interrogator.
Mr. X
Is not seen as much in Lover Eternal, but his influences are definitely present.
Mr. O
David Ormond, a lesser. He hates paling out so he dies his hair to stop from losing himself to the anonymity. He becomes second in command to Mr. X and in charge of the persuasion center’s training.
He kidnaps Bella because she reminds him of his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer. Jennifer was killed in a car crash by a drunk driver. He killed the driver and then joined the Lessening Society right after. He [Mr. O] knew it wasn’t Jennifer in that hole, but the vampire was so close to what had been taken from him, and he wasn’t going to be picky. He’d accept the gift he’d been given and guard it well. This time no one was going to take his woman from him. No one.
Mr. U
Is brought in by Mr. X since he has been responsible for building compounds in the past.
Is paired with Mr. O during the construction of the persuasion center and then becomes Mr. O’s partner at its completion.
Lessers
De-souled humans who are created by and serve the Omega. Enemies of the vampire race. They are chosen specifically for their capacity of violence and stripped of their souls in order to gain strength and longevity to hunt and kill vampires. They bleach out the longer they are in service, becoming pale skinned with pale hair, smell like baby powder and are impotent.
Discussion
What is your take on Zsadist falling in love with Bella? Do you believe in their relationship?
What is your take on Bella? Did you think she was a strong heroine?
How do you feel about the multiple conflicts in the book?
Which character are you most looking forward to learning more about after Lover Awakened?
What did you like most about Lover Awakened? Least?
Do you have a favorite quote or scene in Lover Awakened?
How would you rate the book overall?
Glossary of Terms and Proper Nouns
Vocabulary from the previous novels can be found on their discussion pages:
ahvenge (n.) – Act of mortal retribution, carried out typically by a male loved one.
cohntehst (n.) – Conflict between two males competing for the right to be a female’s mate.
ghardian (n.) – Custodian of an individual. There are varying degrees of ghardians, with the most powerful being that of a sehcluded female.
glymera (n.) – The social core of the aristocracy, roughly equivalent to Regency England’s ton.
mahmen (n.) – Mother. Used both as an identifier and a term of affection.
nalla (n.) – A term of endearment meaning “beloved”.
sehclusion (n.) – Status conferred by the king upon a female of the aristorcracy as a result of a petition by the femlae’s family. Places the female under the sole direction of her ghardian, typically the eldest male in her household. Her ghardian then has the legal right to determine all aspects of her life, restricting at will any and all interactions she has with the world.
symphath (n.) – Species within the vampire race characterized by the ability and desire to manipulate emotions in others (for the purpose of an energy exchange), among other traits. Historically, they have been discriminated against and during certain eras hunted by vampires. They are near to extinction.
tahlly (adj.) – A term of endearment loosely translated as “darling”.
whard (n.) – Equivalent of a godfather or godmother to an individual.
St. Martin’s Griffin has a new book trailer to celebrate the recent release of Tempest, which is the first book in The Tempest young adult series from Julie Cross. One lucky commenter will have a chance to win a copy of the book. As always, details are listed at the end of the post.
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