Wild Seed — Octavia E. Butler

HE COULD NOT DIE:
Doro was a mind force who changed bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflex--or design. He roamed Earth, gathering the genetic Wild Seed: the tormented, mad thought-readers, seers, and witches. Some he helped. Some he destroyed. But Doro bred, ruled, owned them all. He feared no one--until he met Anyanwu.

SHE COULD NOT BE KILLED:
Anyanwu was an old woman, a young woman, a man, a leopard, an eagle, a dolphin--a shapeshifter. She could absorb bullets and make medicine with a kiss. She gave birth to tribes, she nurtured and healed--but Anyanwu would savage any who threatened those she loved. She feared no one--until she met Doro.

TOGETHER THEY WERE LOCKED IN A WAR OF WILLS.
From the African jungles to the colonies of America, Doro and Anyanwu were the father, mother, and gods of an awesome, unborn race. And their love and hate wove a Pattern of destiny that not even immortals could imagine...