Levi had tried to ignore it, that growing need he felt every time he thought of her. She’d texted her thanks for the roses and the wrap and he’d nearly called her to ask her to dinner. But he hadn’t and now he sat, all by himself in his office at eight on a Friday night like an idiot.

“Why are you here?” Jonah came in and sat.

“Finishing up some stuff. I’m leaving in a few. What’s up with you? Where’s Carrie?”

“Spending the night at a friend’s house.” Carrie was Jonah’s daughter.

“Want to get dinner?”

“Yes, I do. I just got back from the mediation.”

Levi winced. “ Long- ass day.”

“I need a few drinks before I can process it. I’m brain- dead.”

He and Jonah were close. More like best friends than brothers most days, though they had their moments.

So it seemed sort of natural to bring Daisy up once their steaks had arrived. The Metropolitan Grill’s large booths relaxed him nearly as much as the scotch in his glass. “So I started seeing someone.”

Jonah looked up, interested. “Yeah? Who is she?”

“She’s twenty-four.” He blurted it out like a shameful secret.

But … read more ->

Chapter One

Lark shouldered her duffel and headed down the Jetway, hoping to avoid the cute and nice-smelling hipster college student who’d been trying to pick her up since they took off.

She really should have undone the spell she used to hide the bloom of purple, green, and yellow that bruised up her neck and onto her jaw. That sort of thing tended to lead women to take her aside to ask in concerned tones if someone was hurting her at home.

The answer was yes, of course, just not the way they thought. As it was against the rules to tell them a feral werewolf jumped her in MacArthur Park two days before, it was best left hidden to most eyes and avoid scenes with well-meaning humans.

It was nice to know people didn’t just turn a blind eye when they thought someone was being beaten up at home and it was a good reminder to use the obscura spell to hide evidence of her unconventional life.
By the time she caught sight of the escalators down to baggage claim, he’d caught up with her because he was all legs.

“Hey, do you need a ride or anything?”… read more ->

Chapter One

She rocked because it brushed her hair over her skin. It was the only way sometimes that she remembered she was still there. The sound of her feet shuffling across the floor, the way the blanket felt when she pulled it around herself tight, the songs she sang in her head?she knew she was real.

They wanted her to forget. Wanted her to forget she existed before they brought her here. They wanted to break her and tear her from reality, but she would not let them win. Because if they won, it meant she’d cease to believe she was real.

She was real.

She was real.

She was real.

“My name is Hannah Black. My parents are Shelby and Bertram Black. My name day is in midsummer as the grain is above my head.”

She spoke to herself to hear the noise. Her voice was rusty and she wondered if she even sounded remotely human anymore. She repeated the words her mother taught her in the time before she started at school.
Several times every day because it helped her remember the person she was. Before. When she got up every day and went to work. When … read more ->

Gibson de La Vega didn’t think much of the Bringer he sat across the table from. And he didn’t like having his time wasted with petty dominance games either.

Cats lived by a set of clear-cut rules. You didn’t enter anyone else’s territory without permission and you sure as hell didn’t go bringing in what was to some, nearly an entire jamboree’s worth of cats.
And yet, this was exactly the scenario he was faced with.

Ten cats showed up in de La Vega territory without prior notice from a jamboree they had very little knowledge of, much less a relationship with.

It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy the occasional spanking of an out-of-line feline. He nearly smiled at that. But these were clearly inferior cats who knew they had no leg to stand on with this bullshit. It would be easy enough to make them submit, but it was the principle of the thing.

Their actions made no sense. Which either rendered them witless or they had an ulterior motive. He didn’t like either scenario. Sometimes dumb was more dangerous than calculated.

“You come into our territory bringing ten cats without obtaining permission. This makes me wonder why. And … read more ->

Meriel stretched her legs out the open car door, unfolding her body to stand beside the shiny curves of steel. Part of the reason people stared was the car, and she totally got that. Normally, Meriel drove an Audi. Low slung, sporty and temperamental. Sort of like she was on a good day. Heh.Still, maybe a little bit of Nell’s sexy-momma mojo would rub off on her.

The valet tried to look sullen and bored as he approached with an outstretched hand. A valet at an industrial nightclub? What was the world coming to?

Sullen and on the verge of tears seemed to be similar looks for this boy. No way was he more than a hair this side of nineteen. His skinny jeans only emphasized just how thin his legs were. It must have been a serious workout for him to move in those big boots he had on. Couldn’t have been more than a hundred pounds soaking wet. Probably why his guyliner was running. Or maybe that was on purpose. Whatever, she didn’t really care. Emo boys were not her cup of tea anyway. As long as he didn’t scratch the car, he was free to weep and … read more ->

Brody opened his front door. “Why’d you knock? You have a key.”

Adrian moved past his brother and kicked off his shoes in the hall, hanging his jacket on the way.

“It was late. I didn’t want to just walk in. You and Elise could have been doing all manner of things and my fragile psyche can’t handle that.”

“It’s seven at night. You called her, didn’t you?” Brody looked him up and down and jerked his chin toward the kitchen. “Come on. There are leftovers.”

“Where are your fine ladies?”

“They’re out with Erin and Ella. Beer?” Brody put one in front of him before going back to the fridge.

Adrian looked around the room. Drew his knuckles over the same spot on the kitchen table so many times it was smooth there. Sometimes he’d see what his brother had and be filled with a hundred different feelings.

He had a dad growing up. Until he was eleven anyway. But that man hadn’t been around nearly as much as Brody had been. Brody picked him and Erin up from school so much their teachers began to talk to him about any problems. It was Brody who checked homework.

Brody … read more ->

“Who is that?” Royal Watson, Anne’s used-to-be-boyfriend now best friend, leaned over to ask Nathan.

He turned to find himself mesmerized by the sway of a spectacular pair of breasts that happened to belong to none other than Lily Travis.

“That is not yours. That’s who she is.” Nathan frowned as she took a circuit of the floor with Andy Sanchez. Andy’s hand was mighty close to Lily’s ass. That was not going to happen. It was one thing to know she was still pissed at him after all these years. He could live with that. Probably. But it was another to imagine her with anyone else in town. That wasn’t going to be a reality he’d have to live with.

“Really now?” Royal grinned and looked pointedly at Nathan’s hand. “Don’t see any ring there. Why don’t you…holy shit, that’s Lily!” Royal found this ridiculously funny and Nathan wanted to punch him.

“Yes, it’s Lily. Stop laughing.”

“I laugh because your pain is amusing.” Royal shrugged.

Matt Chase came back over. “Sorry, I had to go smooch up on my woman for a bit. She let me and then shooed me off. Don’t know why we can’t all sit … read more ->

In a handy bit of coincidence, by the time she’d finished arranging things, she’d reached Der Mitte, the casino/hotel run by the Vampire Nation. Oh, if those tourists only knew. Der Mitte meant “The Center” in German. It was the center of Vampire politics and jurisdiction in Las Vegas. The Scion ruled the local Vamps with an iron fist.

Once she’d stopped the Porsche, the valet rushed forward. When he saw who she was, he inclined his head slightly. Not quick enough for Rowan to miss the hatred and distrust in his eyes. Still, the awe tingeing the edges of that hatred was enough for her. The moment she got out, one of the Scion’s toadies rushed toward her with a sycophantic smile. Rowan didn’t return it.

There were times she wished she could be softer, but soft meant people took advantage or saw it as weak. She couldn’t afford to be anything but cold and hard. Even if it left her alone in bed at night.
Mr. Toadie’s smile edged into a smirk. “Mr. Stewart is ending a business call, Ms. Summerwaite. Please come with me and I’ll escort you up to his quarters. He appreciates your coming to … read more ->

Ava saw the Welcome to Petal sign and sighed. Home. No matter what, it always called to her. She’d left, promising herself to never look back, and for the most part, she hadn’t. Built a good life for herself in Los Angeles.

Ten years and she’d grown comfortable in her skin. It had taken a long time to wash the stench of that three-room shack from her life. A long time before she didn’t cast her eyes downward every time she entered a store or restaurant.

A long time before she could give herself permission not to come back for holiday dinners soaked in too much alcohol and loathing. She’d choked on it her entire life. It had become second nature to feel inferior and ashamed.

And now it was over. Or so she hoped. Her father dead five years and her mother now gone just a few days before. The funeral would be in two days, which is what had brought her back to a place filled with too many memories and a place her heart had always thought of as home despite the bad ones.

She wasn’t close to her mother. Hadn’t spoken to her for longer than … read more ->

Chapter One

Eleven Standard Years Ago
Asphodel Portal City Lockup

“Sir, you can’t go in there!”

Andrei Solace didn’t bother looking up. Not that he’d have been able to see much with one eye swollen shut from the butt of the rifle he’d taken to the face. The pain had subsided to a dull, all-consuming ache, but the anger burned, low and steady, in his gut. Enough to get through another day.

The outsider spoke again, his tone nearly amused, partly chiding. “I’m afraid you’re incorrect about that.”

Andrei did risk a glance, curious about who spoke to a jailer that way.

Andrei expected another social worker. Gods knew he’d seen enough of them over his lifetime. Instead, what he got was the biggest man he’d ever seen. It was enough to have Andrei ignoring the pain from his injuries to swing his legs from the narrow cot to stand and edge closer.

“Look, sir, I’m sure you think you’re entitled to all sorts of things with your shiny shoes and soft hands. But this is my lockup, and I’m telling you there’s no entry to the cells without the proper paperwork.”

The big man looked down his nose, not … read more ->