Dead Man's Hand

Death may come to us all, but true killers never die. Ten years after the ritual that changed everything, Ace is now not only an Elder alongside her mate Nero, but the mother of a vampire child named Octavian. But the miraculous nature of his existence isn't the only thing that has Ace wondering what's in store for them. The tenuous alliance between the witches and the werewolves seems to be unraveling. Additionally, Srinta-Nero's sire and the first of their bloodline-seems to be going insane with fear over a demon that Ace and Nero have never heard of before. Ace believes the witches are planning something catastrophic. Will she and the others find a way to thwart the plan, or will they suffer the consequences?

To stop a ritual for power, bloodlines must be drawn in the sand. A war that has raged for a millennia may come to a close as werewolf alpha Lukis attempts a ritual that will give him unspeakable power and incite a cataclysmic event affecting the whole world. He is willing to sacrifice everything for it, even his own offspring. Leading a coven of vampires, Ace aims to stop him, but she may be thwarted by her own past and a love triangle she wanted no part in. Her sire and former lover Nero has decided he no longer wants to adhere to the separation he and Ace agreed on decades ago, longing to rekindle the flame between them. But Ace is resolute-the mission comes first, even if the pull toward Nero is stronger than she'd like to admit. Six, the progeny she sired in secret, arrives soon after, asking for help, and her acute instability threatens to upend the mission and Ace's reunion with her sire. Blood is thicker than water, but family can be a real pain in the fangs.