HOLT Medallion Award Winner. With the vampire world on the brink of civil war over the scarcity of untainted human blood, battle lines are being drawn between the once peaceful vampire and human enclave of Penton, Alabama, and the powerful Vampire Tribunal. Mirren Kincaid once served the tribunal as their most creative and ruthless executioner-a time when he was known as the Slayer. But when assigned a killing he found questionable, Mirren abandoned the tribunal's political machinations and disappeared-only to resurface two centuries later as the protector and second-in-command of Penton. Now the tribunal wants him back on their side. To break their rogue agent, they capture Glory Cummings, the descendant of a shaman, and send her to restore Mirren's bloodthirsty nature. But instead of a monster, Glory sees a man burdened by the weight of his past. Could her magic touch-meant by the tribunal to bring out a violent killer-actually help Mirren break his bonds and discover the love he doesn't believe he deserves? Absolution is the second installment of the Penton Legacy, a sensual and thrilling new series from paranormal romance novelist Susannah Sandlin.