Detective Isabeau DeClercq moved to Chicago to get justice for her parents’ murders. She found Kindred Nik Lazare’s invitation to The Ark casino—the heart of Chicago’s supernatural underground—near their bodies. Nik’s dark reputation precedes him. Half-Kindred, Half-Powers, Isabeau wants to prove him guilty the human way, to honor her parents. Nik just wants to stay away from Isabeau when Pop orders him to work with her investigating a Kindred kill at the zoo. But soon a meeting of souls that defies logic consumes Isabeau and Nik.
Excerpt:
Nik Lazare’s appalled expression convinced Isabeau he recognized her. Good.
She glanced at his father, the kingpin of this illicit operation. Gambling on the main floor overhead might be legal—or so she assumed—Ethan had told her about this magically cloaked deck where unlucky humans bet their souls to win their greatest desires. Then usually lost. Nik Lazare was the general manager, in charge of it all.
“Why are you bringing that information to me?” Cezar asked.
“More than likely,” Ethan said, “the dead woman was a Kindred kill.”
“What brings you to that conclusion?”
“Her throat was ripped to shreds.”
Isabeau could see that Cezar was weighing his options before saying, “She was in a zoo with any number of animals who could have done that.”
“A zoo,” Ethan repeated. “Odd, I don’t remember saying that’s where we found the victim.”
A charged silence filled the room.
A few seconds of that was enough for Isabeau. On the attack, she turned to Nik. “Where were you about seven this morning? Out for a run through the zoo?”
He flushed and his already rugged features hardened. “Do I look like a killer to you, Miss...”
“Detective Isabeau DeClercq.” Thinking Nik looked exactly like a man who might do anything to get what he wanted, she watched him carefully for any sign of recognition of her family name. Nope. Nothing.
Forget you ever saw me before now.
Isabeau started. Nik hadn’t said that out loud. He was trying to use his Kindred influence on her! Which meant he couldn’t tell that she was something other than a one hundred percent normal human.
She put on a confused expression. “Did you say something?”
“I asked if I looked like a—”
“After that.”
Focused on her, Nik’s deep blue eyes darkened to nearly black, the same color as his hair. Isabeau refused to look away. Everything else in the room momentarily disappeared. People... movement... sound. The room narrowed around the two of them, felt like a tunnel with the air being sucked out.
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Excerpt:
Nik Lazare’s appalled expression convinced Isabeau he recognized her. Good.
She glanced at his father, the kingpin of this illicit operation. Gambling on the main floor overhead might be legal—or so she assumed—Ethan had told her about this magically cloaked deck where unlucky humans bet their souls to win their greatest desires. Then usually lost. Nik Lazare was the general manager, in charge of it all.
“Why are you bringing that information to me?” Cezar asked.
“More than likely,” Ethan said, “the dead woman was a Kindred kill.”
“What brings you to that conclusion?”
“Her throat was ripped to shreds.”
Isabeau could see that Cezar was weighing his options before saying, “She was in a zoo with any number of animals who could have done that.”
“A zoo,” Ethan repeated. “Odd, I don’t remember saying that’s where we found the victim.”
A charged silence filled the room.
A few seconds of that was enough for Isabeau. On the attack, she turned to Nik. “Where were you about seven this morning? Out for a run through the zoo?”
He flushed and his already rugged features hardened. “Do I look like a killer to you, Miss...”
“Detective Isabeau DeClercq.” Thinking Nik looked exactly like a man who might do anything to get what he wanted, she watched him carefully for any sign of recognition of her family name. Nope. Nothing.
Forget you ever saw me before now.
Isabeau started. Nik hadn’t said that out loud. He was trying to use his Kindred influence on her! Which meant he couldn’t tell that she was something other than a one hundred percent normal human.
She put on a confused expression. “Did you say something?”
“I asked if I looked like a—”
“After that.”
Focused on her, Nik’s deep blue eyes darkened to nearly black, the same color as his hair. Isabeau refused to look away. Everything else in the room momentarily disappeared. People... movement... sound. The room narrowed around the two of them, felt like a tunnel with the air being sucked out.
Genre: Paranormal Romance
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