Total Eclipse

But Ill single out one, because she was the first to tell me that the idea for Ill Wind was a good one.

Thank you, Sharon.

Okay, I lied; I will single out two, because about the time I was going to give up on this whole writing gig, I talked with fantastic writer Joe R. Lansdale, and he gave me the encouragement I needed to keep on defying gravity. Thank you, Joe. And hey, thanks for Bubba Ho-tep, too, while Im at it.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Joe Bonamassa

Lucie

Sheila Hanahan Taylor

Felicia Day

P. N. Elrod

Jackie Leaf

Heidi Berthiaume

Charles Armitage

Jackie Kessler

Richelle Mead

Patricia Anthony

R. Cat Conradalways

What Has Come Before

My name is Joa

Controlling all those awesome forces sounds like fun, eh? No. Not when it makes you a target for every psycho world-killing danger that comes along.

Good thing Ive got my friends at my backLewis Orwell, the most powerful Warden on the planet; Cherise, my best (and not supernatural) friend; a wide cast of sometimes dangerous allies whove got their own missions and agendas that dont always match up with mine.

And Ive got David, my true love. Hes also a supernatural Dji

But not even the most powerful friends in the world can help when real devastation hits. And it hit me and David, dead center, in our final battle with my old mentor and enemy . . . and it took our power away.

For me, thats an inconvenience.

For David, its fatal.

I have to find a way to fix this before its too late to save my belovedand maybe even humanity, because Mother Nature is waking up . . . and shes pissed.

Chapter One

Black corner.

It was the name Wardensand Dji

A black corner looked fine, but to anyone with sensitivity to power, it was desolate and sterile. Wardensthose who controlled the basic powers of naturesuffered when they were trapped inside one of these dead zones. Still, we got off better than the Dji

Dji

Wed been trapped in the massive black corner, sailing hard for the horizon, for days, and it was taking its toll at an increasingly horrible rate.

It was so hard, watching them suffer. It was slow, and painful, and terrifying to watch, and as our cruise ship sailed ever so slowly through the dark, empty seas, trying to get outside the supernatural blast radius, I began to wonder whether we would make it at all. The New Dji

Still, they fared better than the Old Dji

I couldnt imagine what the consequences of that were going to be. It was a terrible disaster, and I felt responsible. Hell, who was I kidding? I was responsible, beyond any shadow of a doubt. I was recovering from the aftereffects of the long battle and the injuries Id gathered along the way, but that was secondary to the guilt I felt about how Id handled things.

I should have been better. If Id been better, none of this would have happened. I wouldnt be watching my friends and allies suffer. I wouldnt be watching helplessly as the best of them, the ones whod given the most, lost pieces of themselves.

Dying in slow motion.

Lewis Orwell, the head of the Wardens, my old friend, the strongest human being Id ever met . . . Lewis had developed a perpetual, deep-chested cough that sounded wet and thick. Pneumonia, maybe. He looked as if he hadnt rested in weeks, and he probably hadnt. His reserves were used up, his body begi

And still he was up in the middle of the night, sitting with the Dji

Dji

Lewis was sitting in a chair next to a bed that held a small, still human form the size of a child. Ve

I sank down on the other side of her bed and took her hand. Her gaze, which had been fixed on the ceiling, slowly moved to rest on me. She felt cold. Her fingers flexed just a little on mine, and I felt rather than saw the faintest ghost of a smile.

Hey, kid, I said, and smoothed her hair back from her face. How are you?

It was self-evident how she was doing, but I didnt know what else to say. Nothing I could do was going to help. Like Lewis, I was utterly helpless. Useless.

Okay, she whispered. It seemed to be a great effort for her to form the word, and I saw a shudder go through her small body. I tucked the blanket closer around her, although I knew it wasnt going to help. The chill that had sunk into her couldnt be banished by warm covers and hugs and hot toddies.

Wed tried putting the Dji

It had been awful, and here, inside, she didnt seem as distressed. That was something, at least.

We were no longer trying to save them. We were just managing their decline.

Ve

And, in truth, I loved Ve