Reviewer Comments: Nick Leondras is a soldier, fighting his demons, both figuratively and physically. He first discovers his second and third self when he is injured in Afghanistan and continues to live with them in him and when they separate. After one particular fight, he goes AWOL. He tries to find himself but runs into Dessa in Australia. She tells him he is a chimera as he has the goat, dragon and the lion as part of him. Nick finds it easier to fight the physical demons than the mental ones.
Dessa is a dryad, a tree nymph and an immortal, who has been around since Alexander the Great. She is protecting her forest in Afghanistan. One day in an airstrike, her heart tree is destroyed as is the forest around her. Her spirit crumples further under the knowledge the three little girls she loved are also dead. She seeks solace in a resort in Australia until she meets Nick again and asks him for a child.
There are many feelings the reader will have as they read this story. There is despair as Nick surveys the death and destruction around him as he fights an enemy. The loss of self as he realizes he has three parts that make him whole, and the lack of control he has of these three parts of his personality. Nick’s self destructive tendencies as he tries to deal with it all. The glimmer of hope he feels with Dessa. In turn Dessa, leaves and places herself in a place where she feels the most at peace and awaits her mate.
This is story is a Nocturne Bite and gives the reader a wonderful glimpse of two characters who are lost and alone and manage to find each other and themselves. Their connection is one that will remain forever and that hope, love and caring amidst destruction can exist for those who are willing to be open to all around them.
