Death of Darkness (Immortal Guardians, #9)

by Dianne Duvall

[EBookObsessed]

Dianne Duvall never disappoints. We wanted an earth-shaking novel for our most beloved character and she has certainly delivered on all the action, suspense and romance we have come to expect.

Check out our Character Interview with Seth.

Spoiler warning, if you are not up to date with the series. This review also will be referring to happenings in this book.

Seth has been the leader of the Immortal Guardians for centuries. He lost his human wife and children a millennia ago and has since made a new family with his beloved Immortals. And like any father-figure, Seth takes on all the responsibility for their safety and happiness onto himself.

As we have seen since Night Unbound, the danger to Seth’s family grows with each new attack, each having been orchestrated by Gershom, who a being as powerful as Seth and one with a unknown vendetta against Seth. A vendetta he is willing to throw the world into an apocalypse for if it will bring pain to Seth. Gershom is determined to destroy Seth and is willing to destroy his Immortal family to do it. Each time Seth fails to capture Gershom, the pressure is weighing heavy and heavier on Seth’s shoulders. We have seen that lack of sleep is affecting his judgment, his performance, and his overall happiness. Anytime we see Seth in recent books, he is somber and almost bleak from his own self-flagellation, and with only the rare smile and those are mostly for his adopted daughter and granddaughter, Ami and Adira.

When Seth meets Leah, we see for the first time a real spark of joy in Seth and it is amazing. The joy he feels when he is around her is like a drug to him. It’s like throwing a light switch the way she lights him up. As soon as he sees her, you can feel all his self-torture drain away and for those precious moments when he is focused only on her, Seth finally knows happiness. Seth, and the audience, are so swept away by the happiness she brings out in him, that we all suffer this oppressive dread and anger when his phone rings bringing him crashing back to reality.

Of course, the workaholic in Seth tries to deny himself the pleasure of time with Leah. I thought at first that it was simply that Seth doesn’t know how to relax after centuries of jumping to protect the Immortals in need but the more you read you see that Seth doesn’t believe he deserves to step away from his duty and he feels guilty for taking even a moment of quiet pleasure for himself.

I loved that once his people started to realize Seth’s growing feelings for Leah and how he was denying himself the time to be with her, David, Aiden, Zach and even former-other Jared are all stepping in to take care of Seth’s growing Immortal family and field the phone calls and emergencies that drain so much of his time and energy so that Seth would have no excuse to spend time with her. Even Chris Reardon and the network are doing what they can to protect Leah and keep her safe so Seth can be happy. They are all forcing Seth to have a life outside of just being their leader. Even little Adira kept taking Seth and Leah’s hands and joining them, making them hold hands whenever she was around. They believe Adira has precog abilities so it may simply be that she knew they would fall in love but it was adorable nonetheless.

I have to admit that when I first read the description of Seth’s book, I feared that the story plot would fall into my most hated paranormal story plot where the deceased spouse is reincarnated and our hero doesn’t understand why he is so drawn to this new woman until he realizes that she’s his dead wife and then they must be together. I. HATE. THAT. STORY LINE! But if it turned out that way, I had been determined to try to enjoy Seth’s story regardless. But of course, I should have known that Dianne would not disappoint me and drag us down that rabbit hole.

I was soooo happy when it turns out that even someone as old as Seth, who has been mourning and celibate for a millennia, can meet someone new and learn to love again.

I loved that Dianne didn’t make Leah immune to telepathy, like Ethan. Seth simply didn’t read her thoughts. It was a matter of respect. He didn’t want to do that to her and he refused to invade her privacy. He even warned off all of the telepaths that if they read her mind, they would face his wrath. David does read her mind at the beginning but only to make sure she is not mind-controlled by Gershom since Ami and Adira frequent her store.

Another amazing thing is that Dianne chose Leah to be human. Yes, I said human. Leah isn’t a gifted-one. There are many reasons for that, especially since we will finally get some of the answers about who Seth, Zach and the others are and about where gifted-ones come from. All those things that she found a logical reason not to divulge in Night Unbound. While everyone is shocked that Leah is human, Seth does not shake his fist at fate and lament that Leah would grow old and die. Remember his first wife was human as well. He still falls in love with Leah knowing that their time together would be limited and he even brought her to meet a human/immortal couple so she would understand what the future held for them. While Seth can extend her life with his healing, she would not be immortal. But since neither Leah nor Seth is infected with the virus, I am wondering if there might be more babies to join Adira and little Michael in future novels.

I also loved that Leah is not a girl. She is a mature 46 year-old-woman. She has a confidence that we wouldn’t find in a 25 year old heroine. And her age is one of the reasons it takes so long for them to get beyond friendship. Leah doesn’t want to be Seth’s cougar girlfriend, since she believed him to be in his late twenties or thirties, at best. Seth doesn’t object since he fears an attack by Gershom if he knew how much Leah mattered to Seth. She understands his grief because she lost her husband and child and she understands why he feels he has to shoulder the whole burden on himself but she also stands up to him and doesn’t allow him to do it. Seth loved that she never felt intimidated by his size or the power that radiates from him.

This book is soooo good, I had to immediately read it again.

Thankfully, I had read several notes from Dianne that Seth’s book is not the end of the Immortal Guardian series as the ending has a let’s everyone get together and celebrate vibe like you might get at the end of a trilogy. Dianne, and we as a fandom, are having too much fun with these characters to walk away from them so soon.

This is still my favorite series and I can’t gush enough about it. Seth and Leah’s story is another triumphant addition. Everyone who likes Urban Fantasy and paranormal romance should be loving Dianne Duvall’s Immortal Guardians.

Received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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