Timber

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.

“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.

Tonight was meant to be about kink. Our lives are a nightmare of last-minute deployments and near misses, and we needed the break. Instead, we broke. The whole world broke. But as city after city is blown apart, and with a club full of civilians to protect, we have to pull it together and get them to safety. No matter how we’re feeling. No matter how many family members are disintegrating into ash. We have a job to do, so we’ll be each other’s strength.

My name is Rachel Price, and two months ago, I walked away from the perfect man. Sweet and funny, and so hot it should be illegal—we shared one magical night. No names. No strings. I never thought I'd see him again. I was wrong. It turns out Mr. Perfect is the playboy grinder for the Jacksonville Rays, the NHL's hottest new hockey team . . . and I'm his new physical therapist. Oh, and the jerk doesn't even recognize me!

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.

Cruel. Heartless. Quarantined. The ruthless boys of Everlake Prep never saw lockdown coming. But the virus isn’t their number one enemy. I am. And as if being confined to a boarding school for the elite wasn’t bad enough, now I’m stuck in isolation with the boys who hate me most too. With the virus escalating and my dad’s name splashed through the news, my entire world is falling apart. What he did has cast a dark shadow over me. And the Night Keepers want to make me pay for his crimes.

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.

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.

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.

My parents made a deal with the devil, and now I’m a Hell Fae captive. Enslaved. Owned. Thrown to the Hellhounds and expected to survive. Because only survivors earn their mates. It doesn’t matter that I don’t want to be a bride. I’m a Halfling. Part Hell Fae and part girl-who-doesn’t-give-a-shit. But because of a bargain, he owns me. Lucifer. The Hell Fae King who created this godforsaken realm. Also known as the orchestrator of these deadly bride-trial games.

I don’t believe in fate, but I do know this…the King who killed my brother is a dead man walking. And I’m prepared to sacrifice my heart, body and soul to ensure I get my revenge.

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.

Emersyn Sharpe doesn’t belong in our world. In fact, the very last place she should be is with us. But someone is hurting her. We’ve all seen it. We tried to ignore the warning signs. We tried to trust the people around her. We tried to believe in her world. Too late. When she nearly died in front of us, we had to act. We took her. She doesn’t belong in our world, but I’ll be damned if someone lays a finger on her under my watch. I’ll kill them first.

I thought I’d hit rock bottom when I turned 16. The day I broke my first love's heart, ending things before I could ruin his career as a rock star. But damn, was I wrong. Things got progressively worse from that moment on, until now. Eight years later, when I find myself homeless, jobless, covered in blood, and running from a ghost of my past.

One day I'm Royal Elite School's small fly, the next I'm hunted and left to die. He doesn't only shred my life to parts, but he's also coming after my heart. He thinks he broke me, but the new princess will bring the king to his knees.