Beauty and Power

Since becoming a vampire, Jerusa Phoenix has been dreading the day that she must go before the Stewards of Life to be judged. Then comes the night she returns home to find a pair of Hunters waiting for her. Jerusa and her coven are whisked away to meet with the Stewards, and she cannot rely on her maker, Silvanus, to save her this time. Silvanus has been gone for months, searching for the truth of who he really is. Jerusa is unsure what's worse, her pending judgment or that she may never see Silvanus again. The Stewards hold only two attributes worthy of immortality: beauty and power. Jerusa is strong and fast, far more than any fledgling, but the scar that remains on her chest from her heart transplant as a human will almost surely condemn her to death. Jerusa has one hope. She is the only vampire who can see the spirits of the dead. She has been warned to keep this gift secret from the Stewards, but what choice does she have? Something is amiss. A new enemy has risen from the ashes of the mountain prison where Silvanus was kept. Rumors abound of a growing army of savages. Jerusa can't bother with any of that right now, though. If she hopes to win her right to remain a perpetual creature, she must find a way to survive the Stewards' cruel and twisted tests.