Dark Dance

World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award–winning author

After the death of her temperamental mother, Rachaela Day pursued a quiet life. She was content selling books to make ends meet, immersing herself in stories and music, and avoiding unnecessary human interaction. Her single mother's cold resentment taught her that family ties are a burden, and that unconditional love doesn't occur naturally between blood relatives.

After four years as an isolated adult orphan, Rachaela's paternal family makes contact. Throughout her childhood, her father was but a shadow, someone her mother refused to talk about. Now, the Scarabae clan has invited her to stay with them in their countryside manor, an offer they will not let her refuse.

In a dilapidated home by the sea, Rachaela meets her extended family, eccentric elders who barely acknowledge her presence. Nocturnal by nature, they don't venture outdoors in the daytime. The house's windows diffuse sunlight. Miles from the nearest village, the Scarabae nevertheless have all their needs met, wanting neither cars nor phones to connect them to the wider world beyond their borders.

Despite her preference to be alone, the Scarabaes' seclusion is too much even for Rachaela. She is not being kept against her will, but the family will not help her leave. Then she meets the one Scarabae connecting her to this strange brood—her father Adamus. Unlike the others, he is young: too young to be her father. But Rachaela is a Scarabae, and if the family is to survive, she has a duty and a destiny to fulfill.