It’s never a good combo to be broke and desperate. You do stupid things. Like accidentally sign your soul over to hell. When I interviewed for a new security job, I didn’t bat an eye that it was for a literal graveyard shift...headstones and all. I mean, at the hourly rate they were offering, who cares? I got this. Turns out, I’m not guarding a graveyard like I thought. It seems I’ve just walked my broke ass into protecting a gate to hell. Yeah...I don’t got this.

Six years ago, I awoke in a cage with no knowledge of who I was or where I’d come from. Six years ago, I was spared the flesh markets and instead thrown in with a group of savages, where I learned it was fight or die. Now, eight Orders of Assassins are converging on the only home I’ve ever known. All in hopes of purchasing new blade slaves for their ranks. I’m for sale, yet all I want is a life far from death and ownership. Then I meet them, the Order of Scorpions. Their allure is a threat to the freedom I crave, but I won’t fall victim to their sting, no matter how tempting it might be.

I never thought in a million years that the bones would choose me. The power, the magic, was supposed to go to someone else in the family. I was counting on it. But now my Grammy Ruby is gone, and here the bones sit on my kitchen table. I thought bitter relatives would be my biggest problem. But I’ve barely had time to find a familiar before trouble comes a-knocking. The kind that possesses smoldering green eyes and a smile that can turn any woman dumb. His name is Rogan Kendrick, and he’s certain that someone is hunting down and taking my kind. According to him, I’m next.

My name is Vinna, and I've been keeping a lot of secrets. You would too if you'd experienced some of the weird shit I have: red-eyed monsters chasing me, markings on my body appearing out of nowhere, a strange power that crackles colorfully over my skin from time to time, and don't get me started on the weapons I can conjure up almost out of nowhere.

I am a latent wolf shifter. Or so I thought. Then, life as I knew it changed in a flash - or more accurately, an electrocution. I’ve woken up in a strange place, surrounded by strange people who hate me. They’re in the middle of a war, and I look like I belong on the wrong side of it. If that’s not enough to qualify as a really bad day, I now have wings and a strange animal to figure out because it turns out that there’s not a damn latent thing about me.

You'd think that basically being in charge of love would be an epic job, right? Wrong. Sure, I can blow some Lust into people's faces and watch the show, but I can't actually participate. It gets old, trust me. Same goes for love. I can pass it out like sugar-free lollipops at a dentist's office, but I can't get any love for myself. It totally sucks. I used to consider myself a hopeless romantic, so why wouldn't I choose to become a cupid? Sounds like a good idea, right? Wrong again. They don't call us stupid cupids for nothing.

Real wolves bite...I was taught my whole life about the importance of true mates, how when you find that one wolf for you, everything falls into place. Everyone who taught me that was a liar. When I found my true mate, happily ever after sure as hell didn't start, but hell definitely began. I ran away, and now I've been searching for peace for weeks as I drive around the country. I didn't mean to take the wrong road. I didn't mean to make it to that small town. And I didn't mean to meet two men, who set me and my wolf on fire.

I live with a pack of misfit shifters. We aren't going to be winning any popularity contests, but our hodgepodge bunch is more loyal than even the strongest pred packs. I should know. I grew up in one of them. As soon as they realized I was different, I was despised, even by my own family. So I left, joined Pack Aberrant, and I've steered clear of alpha pred assholes ever since. Until my heatwave hits, and I accidentally jump three coyote shifters in a parking lot. Whoopsie.

There were six of us. Caged, turned into monsters, and tormented with brutal tests of our horrific emerging abilities. We had only each other to count on...until our escape attempt ended with one dead, the others recaptured, and me dragged away into a different nightmare.

They make me feel like I belong for the first time since my parents were murdered. And when they touch me, my whole world sparks to flame. But they have enemies. Those who would give anything to harm what they hold dear. And while they’ll do whatever it takes to keep me safe, sometimes falling in love will put you right in the line of fire.

I’ve walked the streets of Phoenix Valley for twenty two years knowing exactly who I am: an orphan, a human, a nobody. Summoned by The Hex to test my humanity, I was prepared to fail, destined to be the same mundane girl. I was wrong. Pandora’s Box called to me, sensing a magic I never knew existed. With my world turned upside down and full of possibilities, I must now call Paradise Heights home. To live amongst supernaturals, attend Saints Academy, and find my place.

Every beat of my heart is the tick of a time bomb, reminding me to squeeze as many thrills out of life as I can. A horde of nightmarish monsters jumping me in the middle of the night? Nope, that's too much even for me. So when three demonic figures leap out of the shadows to my defense, my choices are trust my unexpected champions... or die. Not exactly a tough decision. The beastly men wrench me away from my home, claiming they'll keep me safe. They say there's something special about me—something the others want to devour and they mean to protect.

Nightmare Penitentiary is no joke. The worst of the worst in the paranormal world end up at NP, and I just got sentenced there. For others, this might be cause for freaking the hell out. But for me, it’s a f--king relief. You see, I’ve been sold off to the big bad asshole, Alpha Bowen - thanks Mom and Dad! But if they think I’m going to go quietly, or at all, they haven’t been paying attention to how I roll. 

I make a living out of screwing over the jerks who capture and torment supernatural beasties. But when I free a bunch of particularly powerful monsters from their cages, I'm not counting on them following me home like lost puppies - stunningly hot lost puppies, but still. These manly monsters are determined to repay me for my help, and they won't get out of my apartment, until they're satisfied we're even. There's something to be said for allies so devoted they'll tear off heads and shred souls on your behalf. I'm all for joining forces.

All I wanted was to keep my head above water. To survive long enough to hit my 18th birthday so I could escape the nightmare that my homelife had become. But all of that was turned upside down the moment they showed up. The best friend from my past. The surly brooder. The kindhearted nerd. The king of campus. The dark one.