Lover Arisen is the twentieth book of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward. It's preceded by Lover Unveiled, the first book of the Lair of the Wolven series Claimed, and The Wolf of the Black Dagger Brotherhood: Prison Camp series.
Synopsis[]
Possessed by the demon Devina, Balthazar is once again on the hunt for the Book of Spells—and fighting an undeniable attraction to a woman. As a thief, he has stolen a lot of things…but he never thought his heart would be taken by another. Especially not a human.
As a homicide detective, Erika Saunders knows there is something otherworldly going on in Caldwell, New York. Mutilated bodies that cannot be explained are all over her case list—and then there are her nightmares in which she’s hunted by shadows and captivated by a mysterious man who is both a suspect and a savior.
When Devina’s wish for true love is finally granted, Balthazar and Erika unwittingly become the gateway for the rebirth of an old enemy of the Brothers. Will the very thing that brings them together lead to the ultimate destruction of the Brotherhood? Or will they have to lose everything in order to save the race’s most sacred defenders?
Main Characters[]
Other Characters[]
Speaking Roles[]
- Andy
- Brenda
- Butch
- Christopher Ernest Olyn
- Devina
- Fritz
- Jane
- Keri Cambourg
- Lassiter
- Manny Manello
- Murhder
- Nathan
- The Omega
- Pete
- Phury
- Rahvyn
- Rhage
- Sahvage
- Sarah Watkins
- Syn
- Syphon
- Tohrment
- Vishous
- Wrath
- Xcor
Mentioned or non-Speaking Roles[]
- Connie
- Darius
- Ehlena
- George
- Havers
- Herbert Cambourg
- Jim Heron
- Jose de la Cruz
- The Landrey Family: Peter, Michelle, and Stacie
- Lash
- Layla
- Lyric
- LW
- Mae
- Mary
- Qhuinn
- Rhampage
- Saxton
- The Scribe Virgin
- Sissy
- Thomas "TJ" Klein
- Veronica Sibling-Crout
Plot[]
Warning[]
Reminder that this wiki contains spoilers so please proceed with caution.
Readers should be aware that this book contains drug use, murder, attempted murder, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, domestic abuse, and sexual assault.
Prologue[]
The Omega, already weakened, castrates himself and leaves it on his bed where it begins slowly regenerating, calling it his son, before leaving.
Chapter 1[]
Erika Saunders investigates the murder of an entire family, which reminds her of her own family's deaths at the hands of her ex-boyfriend.
Chapter 2[]
Balthazar wakes up at the ruins of Mae's house, screaming and dematerializing away from Devina sexually assaulting him in his nightmares. He remembers Lassiter telling him that love would save him from her, not the Book of Spells, and thinks about his encounter with Erika, which enrages the jealous Devina lurking in the back of his mind. He holds his gun up to his temple, determined to get rid of the demon, when his cousin, Syphon, appears.
Chapter 3[]
Devina mourns the scorching of a high end couture bag, even putting it in a child-sized coffin. After the "funeral", she argues with the Book of Spells, demanding something from it that it won't give.
Chapter 4[]
To cleanse the horror of her current case, Erika re-watches the video of Balthazar at the drug dealer's trailer, taken via a hidden camera.
Chapter 5[]
Syphon reports on Balthazar to Vishous and they're both concerned. Vishous goes to Lassiter for help about the Book, but the fallen angel tells him that he can't.
Chapter 6[]
Balthazar watches Erika from outside the window at her office and wonders how he can protect her. Vishous stops by to give him some cigarettes and they both agree he shouldn't be at the mansion for awhile because of Devina's hold on him.
Chapter 7[]
Erika wakes at her desk from a nightmare involving Balthazar, the Book, and malevolent shadows.
Chapter 8[]
Chapter 36[]
Vishous confronts Lassiter, demanding to know what Rahvyn did to Nate. The angel tells the Brother that it's the same thing as what she did to Sahvage and it's not dissimilar to Mary's state, that it's both a blessing and a curse. Vishous asks if that means that Rahvyn's as powerful as the Scribe Virgin if she managed to pull off resurrection twice. Lassiter says no, she's more powerful. If Devina's going to be walking the planet, then vampires are going to need her if they want to survive.
Chapter 37[]
Balthazar gives Erika a quick rundown of his history, including that of the vampire race, which solves a lot of mysteries she'd encountered in Homicide. He then asks her what happened on June 24th, fourteen years ago.
Chapter 38[]
Erika tells Balthazar of how her ex brutally murdered her family before killing himself, thinking her dead. Even though she normally doesn't cry when talking about it, she breaks into sobs. After comforting her, they have sex and have a mind-meld.
Chapter 39[]
Even though Balthazar doesn't like it, Erika heads to the Bloody Bookshop to pick up her unmarked car and tries to convince herself she's not falling in love with him; only, her car wasn't where she left it.
Back at her townhouse and trapped by the sun, Balthazer hears Lassiter's voice saying that love will save him and he realizes Erika's the solution to his Devina problem, not the book.
Chapter 40[]
Rahvyn sees the Book of Spells calling to her in her dreams. Upon waking, she feels guilty about Nate's situation and then wonders why she doesn't do the same for the other patients at Havers' clinic.
Chapter 41[]
Lassiter checks in on Balthazar after the vampire had started to text him, but never actually hit send. Balthazar's wondering about Devina's hold on him since he'd fallen asleep twice while with Erika, but she didn't appear. Lassiter's even weirder than usual, obviously hiding lots of things.
Erika finds several missed calls from her partner, Trey, who tells her that he'd come by her place to check on him, but didn't see her; she realizes that Balthazar must have messed with his memories. He tells her that he has her unmarked and that he's been worried about her since the murder case that was so similar to her own tragedy. She remembers Balthazar slitting his own throat and her own suicide attempts and is grateful for where she is now.
Chapter 42[]
Rahvyn runs into Nathan in the clinic's cafeteria and she admits that she doesn't belong here in the present, he tries to convince her that she does belong and is welcome. However, she knows that others will want to control her for her powers. He asks her what his future will look like if he's injured or ages and she tells him that he will remain forever as he is now.
Chapter 43[]
Erika goes to pick up her unmarked car and stops to look at a red dress in a shop window and sees Lassiter, who looks melancholy. She goes to try and talk to him, but he disappears. She does a bit of clothes shopping and finds some acceptance about her scars.
Chapter 44[]
Balthazar convinces Sahvage that the Book and Devina both survived the fire.
When Erika returns home, Balthazar practically pounces on her.
Chapter 45[]
Lassiter tells Rahvyn that he has to save two people and in doing so, make a sacrifice, but promises that things will be different. She offers to help him, but he tells her it's something he has to do alone. He admits that he was taken with her the first time he saw her. She tells him that she could feel him staring at her and she liked it, as she liked him visiting her in the clinic when she recovered from the power expenditure of resurrecting Nathan. Lassiter creates a carpet of flowers at her feet so she could have something beautiful and experience some of the wonder he feels whenever he looks into her eyes. Poor Nate watches them embrace from a distance and runs off, heartbroken.
Chapter 46[]
Balthazar admits to Erika that he'd gone to the drug dealer for coke to avoid sleeping and thus Devina, moreover, he'd asked Vishous to kill him if he became a threat. He confesses that he'd killed the drug dealer because when he went to erase his memories, he saw that the dealer had killed his girlfriend, who he'd been abusing. While Erika could overlook theft, murder's a bit too much for her to swallow at first, but then she remembers the first time the dealer had nearly killed Connie and how terrified the other woman had been.
He also tells her that when their minds melded, he saw her mother's death and that Erika misremembered the events. Her mom had been screaming at her to run, but Erika had interpreted it as pleas for help when she'd been frozen in shock and fear even as she'd wanted to do something. The guilt she felt over the years since the murderer had been her boyfriend - as well as survivor's guilt - further warped her memories.
Balthazar accidentally lets it slip that he loves her and she tells him she loves him, too. After making love, Erika tells him she doesn't want to leave her job, it's too important to her. Balthazar promises to make it work and they both agree to moving if need be, at which point they realize they both want to move in together.
When going to shower, Erika discovers strange bruising all over her body just before collapsing.
Chapter 47[]
Doc Jane, Vishous, and Butch come to examine Erika. Butch uses his ability to purge the Omega's essence on her and is the only one who can keep her alive until Balthazar can get the Book.
Devina arrives back home after having sex with Lassiter, wanting more of him because she loves how much he hates being with her. To keep stringing him along, she intends to keep Erika barely alive and suffering for awhile. She discovers that the Book is gone.
Chapter 48[]
The Brotherhood and Bastards arrive at Devina's lair and they fight her shadows, which don't stand a chance against Vishous' left hand. Once the shadows are gone, she tells him that the Book's gone and she has no idea how or who took it, but they can't touch her because she's incorporeal. A handsome blonde man in a black suit arrives with a dozen red roses and Vishous orders everyone to retreat, recognizing the newcomer as the son of the Omega and they're in no kind of shape to take him on. During the retreat, they discover Balthazar's bleeding right before he loses consciousness.
Chapter 49[]
Rahvyn arrives at Luchas Place with the Book in hand. She empathizes with it in that they've both caused harm without intending to, being agents of chaos; it's tired of being used to harm.
After her moment with Lassiter, she realizes Nathan had, had feelings for her and regrets that she'd hurt him again. She leaves him a voicemail saying good-bye before walking towards the crater left by her arrival and leaves the physical plane with the Book, intending for both of them to remain untouchable forever.
Chapter 50[]
Erika wakes up to Vishous telling her that Balthazar needs her or else he's going to die and he explains what had been wrong with her. The Brothers help her limp to Balthazar's room and tell her that as his female, it'll give him the will to live as he's a bonded male. V helps tuck her weakened body next to Balthazar, who's unconscious.
Hearing Erika's voice brings him back to consciousness.
Epilogue[]
Balthazar moves out of the mansion and stops by the cave where Lassiter's been holed up for three days while everyone looks for him. Lassiter only speaks to ask after Balthazar and Erika now that they're free of Devina. Balthazar guesses that Devina only left Erika alone because Lassiter slept with her. Lassiter tells her that there's more, Devina needed a sacrifice of true love to get her own true love, and she'd intended that to be Balthazar and Erika, but it didn't turn out that way. Lassiter tells him that the Creator had really been the one to save them.
Back at her place, Erika's getting ready for a date with Balthazar. When he arrives, he tells her that he's still allowed to fight alongside the Bastards and Brothers, but they're worried about potential security risk for the First Family, so they asked Balthazar to move out. Vishous plans on upgrading her security while they look for a more secure house, which was another stipulation for Balthazar's safety.