Joleene Naylor is the author of the glitter-less Amaranthine vampire universe, a world where vampires aren't for children. Comprised of a main series, a standalone prequel, and several short story collections, she has plans to continue expanding with a trilogy and standalone novels. 
In her spare time, Joleene is a freelance book cover designer and for-fun photographer. She maintains several blogs, full of odd ramblings, and occasionally updates her website at JoleeneNaylor.com. In what little time is left, she watches anime, plays PokemonGo, and works on her crooked Victorian house in Villisca, Iowa. Between her husband, family, and pets, she is never lonely, in fact, quite the opposite. Should she disappear, one might look for her on a beach in Tahiti, sipping a tropical drink and wearing a disguise. 

The prequel to the Amaranthine series tells the story of Patrick and Michael, how they got tangled into Claudius' web, and their valiant fight to escape.

When Patrick's missing brother returns, he brings a world of darkness. Turned into a vampire against his will, Michael is the coven's whipping boy. When Patrick tries to help, he's claimed as a slave who spends his weekends preparing victims, scooping ashes, and falling prey to the vampires' twisted desires.

There's only so much hell he can take. When vampires from a warring coven offer sanctuary in exchange for cooperation, Patrick agrees. What he thought would be a few months drags into a long smear of nightmares and, though he fights for hope and freedom, the cost of victory may be more than he bargained for.


Brothers of Darkness

Patrick called Katelina, but she didn't answer or call him back. He took it as a sign of her decision and told himself it was for the bestexcept that now he had nowhere to go. Hailey and Anthony could be anywhere, and the one place he'd felt safe from them was the bar Katelina and her friend frequented. 


It was almost two weeks later, and nearly closing time at the grocery store, when he went through the checkout. Booze, a couple of TV dinners, toilet paper, frozen waffles, milk, and an economy bag of toasted O's. He threw a candy bar in at the last minute, and handed over cash when a voice said, "Patrick?"


He turned around to find Katelina holding a bucket of ice cream.


"Oh, hey." He didn't know what to say, so he tossed out, "Shopping late?"


"Snack run." She hefted the bucket to the conveyor.


Chapter 58