Being in the Guild is our life…or death. Not everyone is created equal, and not everyone is truly cut out for the work we do. It’s not pretty, it’s not glamorous, and it’s sure as shit not moral or good. The weight of the sins we carry can become too much for some, and they crack. When they do, they become a threat. No one quits the Guild. Not really. Either they cut a deal to make themselves useful in another capacity, or they get eliminated. But who, you might ask, can kill a killer? Who scares the boogeyman into running and hiding? Men like me.

Five years ago, I masterminded the infamous massacre of the Tri-state Timberwolves. The streets outside the Wolves HQ ran red with the blood of the old guard, and not one of those members loyal to my father were spared mercy. Not a single one. I let the media twist and distort the story. My new recruits eagerly proved themselves in spreading false news, in covering our tracks. To the general public, the Tri-State Timberwolves were extinct. But that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Vault is a Madison Kate Novella but is intended to be listened to after the Hades series, as several events overlap and this story does contain multiple spoilers for the Hades series.

Every four years, the criminal underworld engages in a game. The Game. The challenges range from the impossible to the deadly to the truly insane. Things that only a crazy person would tackle. I’ve won the game five times. This time will be no different. I’m at the top of my field now, the best of the world’s thieves. There’s nothing I can’t steal, and this time, the game is all about theft, subterfuge, and sleight of hand. Starting with a legendary painting of poppy flowers.

“Madison Kate Danvers was murdered tonight.” Those words changed my life, and not for the better. They were wrong, of course. I wasn’t dead. But I was set up. After being charged with a string of offences - and made an example of by my political-minded father - I’m eventually released back into Shadow Grove with one thing on my mind. Hate. Someone is going to pay for derailing my carefully laid-out future. How very convenient that someone just moved into the bedroom down the hall from me.

I always thought I’d start the apocalypse. Instead I’ve been asked to help end it. How does one stop the end of the world, you might ask? You gotta knock up Lucifer’s vessel before he does. I know, I know. I was surprised too. But let me tell you, if ever there was an incubus made for the job, it’s me. With a name like Sin, you’d think this should have been the easiest task I’d ever been assigned. And you’d be correct. Except said vessel is a beautiful and dangerously powerful succubus in her own right. Oh, and she’s not interested.

You want my advice? Never look a gift horse in the mouth. You don’t want to see the rotten teeth. In this case, the gift is a scholarship to attend the prestigious Neveah University. The rotten teeth? Well, they came in the form of my brand new stepbrother and his little cohort of entitled, arrogant best friends. Four dangerously handsome and stupidly wealthy men who made up their minds about me long before we met. Men who are used to getting everything they want no matter what the price.

Once, I helped save a kingdom. Now, I’m trapped in a prison of thorns and nightmares. My crime? Knowing the location of a power that could reshape the world—a grimoire I swore to protect with my life. That secret is the only thing keeping me alive while my captors wait for me to break. Until he arrives. Beautiful. Ruthless. Dark, inscrutable eyes. A dangerously wicked grin. But he’s not here to rescue me. He wants the grimoire for himself–and he’ll destroy anyone who stands in his way. My only choice is a fragile, temporary alliance with a man I can never trust.

They say you can never go back… ‘Course, I never wanted to return. It took me years to age out. Once I made it, I took off and never turned around. Trust me, there were only three reasons I managed to survive there as long as I did and they abandoned me as soon as they were able. I’d like to say I didn’t blame them, but that would be a lie. I had zero desire to return. Yet here I was, on the road to Northland chasing a story cause my editor told me kids were disappearing… again.

It’s Monsters Night, the annual event where the portals to other realms and realities open, and monsters flood the streets to search for their potential mates. And I’m one of the candidates. Why? Because I broke all the rules. I fought back against the elitist system hellbent on enslaving humankind. And f--k if I’m going to let one of these monsters claim me. Let alone three of themOrcus.

My arranged marriage should have forged an alliance between my fiancé's gang and my father's. It turns out my fiancé had other plans. Like slaughtering my entire family the night before the wedding. I make it out alive, left with nothing but a thirst for vengeance. To crush the prick who betrayed me, I have to turn to the biggest pricks of them all. Hot, cocky, and dangerous, Wylder Noble and his men rule Paradise Bend. If I pass their brutal tests to prove I deserve their help, my ex doesn't stand a chance.

Meadowridge College was supposed to be a fresh start at the safest college in America. I'd be rubbing elbows with the elite of the world, while trying to complete my degree and find a path to a brighter future. My trauma had other ideas though. When the panic attacks send me into the arms of a gorgeous stranger in the library, it sets off a chaotic chain of events that end with me being kicked out of my dorms and forced to live and renovate a rundown old house on the edge of campus.

They rule my new town, my school, and with more money than God, there’s very little out of their reach. Four gorgeous, perfect, scary boys. There used to be five, but one of them died, leaving a fifth position that I now fill. I didn't ask for this. I didn't want to be part of this billionaire-boys-club. But no one cares about what I want. Sebastian Beckett is the worst of them. Their leader. He draws me in, and strips me of every defense I have. He calls me Butterfly, but it's not a pet name, it's a threat.

After Dad cut me off, it was time to start over, far away from my past. New city. New university. New life. A whole new me. Too bad they seem hellbent on ruining my plans. The Kings of Kilborn have set their sights on me, threatening to ruin everything I've built for myself. Kaleb is the broken prince, drowning himself in booze and women to fill the dark void within. Hardin is his quietly menacing older brother, with an intense stare that follows me wherever I go. Despised. Desired. Stalked. I try to hate them, but their unyielding attention and rough touches make me feel so alive.

Fate wouldn’t tie me to these men, would it? Sent to the ruthless academy for magicals after years hiding from the authorities, I'm behind, poor and, with my pet pig in tow, struggling to fit in. No surprises I'm picked out for ridicule by the other students - as well as the teachers. And four men in particular seem determined to make my life here hell.