While Makeda focuses on sorcery, the mwindaji regroup after their failed assault in Kentucky. Korlemo, a thousand-year-old Ibori vampire, escaped. Makeda reconnects with her deceased great-grandmother. She travels to Memphis to apprentice under two sorcerers. While there, Makeda realizes the sorcerers are keeping secrets, and their motives are suspicious. But with a demon threatening her life, Makeda is eager to learn. However, the cost is significant. The more her sorcery skills grow, the greater the threats. Alliances fray and danger spreads. Makeda considers an alliance with the mortal enemies of the mwindajis. The risks are tremendous. Support the mwindaji or pursue sorcery and claim her heritage. Factions take sides, each clambering for control and the safety of their own lineages. Mistakes lead to tragic consequences. Makeda seeks support from a dear friend as the duplicity of a loved one unravels.
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Dark Blood Awakens is the first book in the mwindaji paranormal urban fantasy series. An audiobook is also available.

Mwindaji Media Kit
As a fan of fantasy books, I really enjoyed this take on the world of vampires, werewolves and witches! I enjoyed how it focused on ‘Black girl magic with myths from the African diaspora’, giving a different perspective to the tale. I liked the use of Creole language throughout the book, and found it really added to the atmosphere of the book - taking time to translate these adds another layer to your understanding of the tale. All in all, a great first book in the series!Love Reading Review
Michelle Corbier’s Dark Blood Awakens is an inventive paranormal urban fantasy, the first in the Mwindaji series. Corbier derives clear pleasure in layering details and delivering clinically-correct gruesomeness ("his femur crunch[ed] between her teeth”). The dark humor of depicting a rural hospital that’s financially viable because its patients feed the local vampire/werewolf population is a witty, subversive stab at managed health care. Nonetheless, Corbier delivers a lively read for paranormal fans, threading humor and female empowerment throughout her tale. Blue Ink Review
Ready for a dark fantasy full of mystery, vampires, and werewolves? Dark Blood Awakens puts an African American spin on a classic vampire-werewolf story, giving it a unique new paranormal order that keeps you guessing page after page. But now there’s no time to waste. We have a 1,000-year-old vampire to hunt and secrets to uncover. Write With Light Dark Blood Awakens is an action-packed and thrilling paranormal adventure that will take its readers on a compelling, shocking, but above all, incredibly entertaining journey! The journey the reader will encounter throughout Dark Blood Awakens will keep you entertained, enthralled, and excited from start to finish. This is all thanks to the author Michelle Corbier, who hooks her readers from the very start to the very end. That is why I already have to recommend this book to you lovely readers! However, if you need more convincing then continue to read to learn more about this captivating story Dark Blood Awakens! Red Headed Book Lover

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Dark Blood Awakens is a paranormal urban fantasy incorporating Black girl magic with myths from the African diaspora.
As a child, Makeda’s mom forced her to abandon sorcery. Instead, she pursued a career in nursing while killing monsters with her family of mwindaji. For over a millennium, the mwindaji have hunted Korlemo, a 1000-year-old vampire.
While working in Haiti, Makeda’s desire to recapture her sorcery skills increases. When a lead takes her to a Kentucky rural hospital searching for Korlemo, she uses Baoumali, the language of sorceresses, to reclaim her heritage. During her investigation, Makeda develops a steamy romance with the local sheriff and uncovers a macabre secret the hospital administration will kill to keep silent.
With time running out, Makeda must recapture her sorcery and choose where her alliances lie. If the mwindaji cannot destroy the monsters haunting the hospital, people will die—starting with her boyfriend.
Dark Blood Awakens is the first book in the series weaving African mythology into urban fantasy.