Ashes of Midnight by Lara Adrian

Andreas Reichen was the head of a German Darkhaven. But when he helped a Breed Warrior uncover some dirty dealings that implicated Wilhelm Roth, Roth's response was savage beyond imagining. He had Reichen's entire family, down to the women and children, killed, and set the Darkhaven on fire. Reichen arrived too late to save his family, and the act unleashed a savagery in him like nothing he'd seen or done before.

Something inside of him snapped, and he unleashed his talent, the talent to burn things with the mere act of his will. He'd been able to cause small fires before, but the rage he feels unleashed hellish fires that make his earlier talent seem like nothing. But as well as the fires, his rage also seems to have unleashed something destructive in him as well, something that makes him burn with a feverish heat as he prepares to take his revenge on Wilhelm Roth.

His first target of vengeance is the men who helped Wilhelm Roth. When they are dead, he turns his sights on Roth himself, going to Roth's Haven and burning it to the ground. But also at the Haven is Roth's wife, Claire. Unlike the two men, she is American, and was once the beloved of Andreas. But when Andreas left her for reasons of his own, Wilhelm proposed to her, and she accepted. Andreas remembers her with regret, and Claire remembers him with longing, for her marriage to Roth has been anything but happy. In response, she threw herself into good works and tries to ignore the sense of emptiness she feels inside. She may be Wilhelm Roth's wife in name, but not in any other way.

When Andreas comes back with his new power, she is rightfully frightened of his new ability, but she is also afraid for him, for she can sense his gift is killing him even as he uses it to gain revenge on Roth. But soon they will both discover that Roth hates Reichen with a vengeance, wanting to blight Andreas's life by taking away anything and everything that ever mattered to him... which included Claire.

Roth knows he cannot rely on Claire to resist Andreas. Andreas, after all, was the man that she loved very deeply. But when she begins using her talent for walking into the dreams of others against her former husband, Roth will have no choice but to kill Andreas and Claire both, before they learn about his secret breeding program to make more first-generation Breed and use them to take over the planet. But is Roth working on his own in this, or is it as the behest of another? And can Claire and Andreas rescue the women that her former husband is using to breed his new generation of Warriors? Most of all, can Claire and Andreas learn to love and trust each other again? Can the love and passion they shared finally snuff out the flames of Andreas's rage, before it consumes them both in its deadly flames?

The action moves from Germany to America as Claire and Andreas flee Roth's retaliation. Soon, Claire's walks into Roth's dreams reveals that he is involved in a horrible conspiracy involving the Old Ones, the aliens who came and interbred with humans to create the Breed. Everyone thought they had been destroyed, but one survives, and his first-generation descendant is breeding more warriors from his father to take over the Breed with him at its head, But can the Breed warriors put a stop to the scheme and free the women being used as broodmares? And can the Breed warriors from the more diluted bloodlines ever have a chance of stopping the Ancient one if he somehow manages to break free?

Whoo. This book was incredible! The feelings of rage and hurt that Andreas was feeling almost literally came off the page at me- so much so that it was scary. But very soon that scariness was augmented by another- the feeling that his powers, even as they helped him get his revenge, were killing him as well, breaking some essential part of him that made him human and made him able to feel anything *but* anger, rage and hatred.

The core of the book revolves around betrayal- mainly that of Wilhelm Roth, who has betrayed Andreas at least twice over- once when he took Claire away from Andreas, and again when he killed those who looked to Andreas for their protection. Claire has also been betrayed- Wilhelm Roth has no love inside himself to give. He only wanted to marry Claire because she was Andreas's, and he's betrayed her with other women in the time since. But most of all, he betrayed the vows he made to her when she married. Luckily for her and Andreas, she's never stopped loving him, nor he her.

Watching her and Andreas come back together to rebuild the love they'd once had and lost was really heart-warming, and seeing her step out of the shell that her husband had forced her into was equally moving. And yet we're also getting to see what Roth was up to, and with whom. The ending brought together a happy ending for Andreas and Claire, and advanced the plot of the remaining Ancient One... but it's not over yet. And I can't wait to read more. Recommended.