Devil's Night

Erika: His name is Michael Crist. My boyfriend's older brother is like that scary movie that you peek through your hand to watch. He's handsome, strong, and completely terrifying. The star of his college's basketball team and now gone pro, he's more concerned with the dirt on his shoe than me.Michael: Her name is Erika Fane, but everyone calls her Rika. My brother's girlfriend grew up hanging around my house and is always at our dinner table. She looks down when I enter a room and stills when I am close. I can always feel the fear rolling off of her, and while I haven't had her body, I know that I have her mind. That's all I really want, anyway.Until my brother leaves for the military, and I find Rika alone at college. In my city. Unprotected. The opportunity is too good to be true. Because you see, three years ago she put a few of my high school friends in prison, and now they're out. We've waited. We've been patient. And now every last one of her nightmares willcome true.Contains mature themes.

Banks: Buried in the shadows of the city, there's a hotel called The Pope. Ailing, empty, and dark, it sits abandoned and surrounded by a forgotten mystery. But you think it's true, don't you, Kai Mori? The story about the hidden twelfth floor. The mystery of the dark guest who never checked in and never checks out. You think I can help you find that secret hideaway and get to him, don't you? I will never betray him. So sit tight. On Devil's Night, the hunt will be coming to you. Kai: You have no idea what I seek, Little One. You don't know what I had to become to survive three years in prison for a crime I would gladly commit again. I want that hotel, I want to find him, and I want this over. I want my life back. But the more I'm around you, the more I realize this new me is exactly who I was meant to be. So come on, kid. Don't chicken out. My house is on the hill. So many ways in, and good luck finding your way out. I've seen your hideaway. Time to see mine. Contains mature themes.

WINTER Sending him to prison was the worst thing I could've done. It didn't matter that he did the crime or that I wished he was dead. Perhaps I thought I'd have time to disappear before he got out or he'd cool off in jail and be anything but the horror he was. But I was wrong. Three years came and went too fast, and now he's anything but calm. Prison only gave him time to plan. And while I anticipated his vengeance, I didn't expect this. He doesn't want to make me hurt. He wants to make everything hurt. DAMON First thing's first. Get rid of her daddy. He told them I forced her. He told them his little girl was a victim, but I was a kid, too, and she wanted it just as much as I did. Step two . . . Give her, her sister, and her mother nowhere to run and no fuel to escape. The Ashby women are alone now and desperate for a knight in shining armor. But that's not what's coming. No, it's time I listened to my father and took control of my future. It's time I showed them all-my family, her family, my friends-that I will never change and that I have no other ambition than to be the nightmare of their lives. Contains mature themes.

"Do you know what a papal conclave is?" Damon: Will is gone. He hasn't been seen in months, and the texts coming from his phone are almost certainly forged. Something's wrong. We need to act now. Michael is ready to tear down The Cove, Rika's hiding something, Evans Crist is a threat, and Winter's father is still out there. Everyone is off in a million directions, and we're vulnerable. It's time to do this. It's time to claim our place. Rika: A few years ago, I never thought I'd be here. On board Pithom. Miles out at sea. At a table with Michael Crist, Kai Mori, and Damon Torrance-men I now consider family. We've locked ourselves on this yacht for however long it takes to address our agenda, and we won't leave until everything is on the table. Even things I don't want to talk about. Things Michael doesn't know. We will find Will. We will solidify our plans, and we will remove any threats. If we survive Conclave. Contains mature themes.

EMORY: Will Grayson has always been an animal, though. Reckless, wild, and someone who was never bound by a single rule other than to do exactly what he wanted. There was no way his grandfather was going risk him humiliating the family again. Not that the last time was entirely his fault. He might've enjoyed backing me into corners in high school when no one was looking, so they wouldn't catch on that Mr. Popular actually wanted a piece of that quiet, little nerd he loved to torture so much, but ... He could also be warm. And fierce in keeping me safe. The truth is ... He has a right to hate me. It's all my fault. And I regret nothing. WILL: I never minded being locked up. I learned a long time ago that being treated like an animal gives you permission to act like one. Their only mistake is believing anything I do is an accident. I can sit in this house with no Internet, television, liquor, or girls, but I'll come out of here with something far more frightening to my enemies. A plan. I just didn't expect one of my enemies to come to me. I can smell her hiding in the house. She's here. Blackchurch houses five prisoners. I'm only one of her problems. Contains mature themes.

Penelope Douglas presents a Devil's Night novella. Contains mature themes.