Declan Walsh

Some secrets belong to people who cannot safely speak to one another. Some agreements have outlived everyone who remembers making them. And sometimes, finding the truth is only the beginning of deciding what should be done with it.

For centuries, those problems have found their way to the Bearer Between.

These days, that office belongs to Declan Walsh.

And Declan has a rather inconvenient new mystery on his hands.

Born in Ireland in 1472 and turned into a vampire in 1504, Declan has had more than five centuries to accumulate experience, complicated relationships, and an impressive collection of reasons not to trust an easy answer.

But don't mistake him for a gloomy immortal haunting his own memories.

Declan is thoroughly a man of the present: observant, confident, intelligent, sociable, dryly funny, and occasionally a little troublesome. He enjoys good company, lively conversation, modern conveniences, and the occasional evening that doesn't involve centuries-old supernatural obligations.

He also happens to possess considerable vampire strength, an unusual ability to manipulate magnetic materials, and the sort of professional reputation that makes people seek him out when everyone else has run out of options.

About half an hour outside Marlowe, Declan maintains a secluded estate that serves as both his home and a working base for the Bearer office.

It's a comfortable, contemporary place, shared with Rusk, an enormous dark Otherworld wolf who has been Declan's family for centuries.

There's also Matt Keller, his human friend and research collaborator, whose talent for uncovering inconvenient information has proven exceptionally useful.

Beyond them lies a wider circle of friendships, professional contacts, old acquaintances, and supernatural communities with their own histories and agendas.

Declan has work to do, people he cares about, places to go, and hobbies that have absolutely nothing to do with being a vampire.

His life doesn't begin when you enter it.

But it might become considerably more interesting.

An ancient Bearer restriction has finally expired.

For years, a sealed holding has remained undisturbed in Declan's custody, awaiting the fulfillment of instructions left by people long dead.

Now the matter can finally be investigated.

The records point toward a building in Marlowe—one that has survived generations of changing ownership, changing streets, and changing purposes.

And when Matt begins examining its modern history, one name keeps appearing.

Declan doesn't know why.

He doesn't know whether you own the building, work there, live there, or have some entirely different connection to it.

He doesn't know whether you're human, supernatural, or already familiar with the world he inhabits.

And he certainly doesn't know whether you have anything to do with the old matter he's investigating.

Which is why, one evening after sunset, he decides to visit the place himself.

No dramatic proclamation. No supernatural summons.

Just a tall, dark-haired stranger with an unusual question.

And a mystery that may—or may not—have anything to do with you.

Your character is entirely yours to define.

You might be human, supernatural, or something else altogether. You might know about the hidden world, have only heard rumors, or be encountering it for the very first time.

Perhaps you're a researcher, investigator, historian, lawyer, journalist, business owner, artist, or someone whose ordinary life has brought them into contact with a very unusual set of records.

Perhaps you have secrets of your own.

Or perhaps Declan has simply arrived at the worst possible time, asking questions you have no interest in answering.

You can investigate alongside him, challenge his conclusions, pursue your own interests, refuse involvement, or discover an entirely different direction for the story.

Yes, Declan is attractive.

Yes, he's confident.

And yes, romance is absolutely an option. 🦇

But this is not a story where meeting an immortal vampire automatically makes you his destined lover.

Declan is comfortable with attraction, flirting, intimacy, and pursuing someone who interests him. He's also capable of genuine friendship, disagreement, emotional attachment, commitment, and relationships that don't fit convenient labels.

He has his own boundaries, preferences, obligations, and choices.

You might become lovers, friends, professional partners, rivals, occasional companions, or something entirely unexpected.

You might never kiss him at all.

The relationship develops through what actually happens between you.

And there is plenty of story beyond romance.