Guild Codex: Warped

Annette Marie presents Book 1 in the Guild Codex: Warped series. Make sure to check out the companion series, The Guild Codex: Spellbound and The Guild Codex: Demonized.

Agent Kit Morris. Has a nice ring, doesn't it? It's a big step up from "wanted criminal" or "that weird con-artist guy with weirder psychic powers," both of which recently applied to me. But my promotion to MagiPol agent comes with a few drawbacks. First, supremely talented and effortlessly gorgeous Agent Lienna Shen won't agree to a dinner date with me. Second, my new assignment has pitted me against a guild with very bad taste in pets. Third, those pets are demons, and those demons want to kill me. My psychic magic is great for conning people. It doesn't do jack shit against hellish orcs. If I screw this up, my dinner date will be with a demon-and I'll be the dinner. Even better, I kind of suspect this supposedly straightforward assignment is actually the tip of an unholy iceberg of power-hungry malefactors bent on destroying all law and order in the city. I should probably mention that last part to my boss.

As a former con artist, I love a convoluted, mind-bending scheme as much as the next guy. But as a recently promoted MagiPol agent, I love it significantly less than that guy. Especially when the life of a kidnapped teen hangs in the balance. Between confusing orders and conflicting evidence, this whole investigation has me and my partner, Lienna, spinning in circles. Why is our boss keeping this case off the books? Why is our top suspect, the most notorious rogue in Vancouver, mired in contradictions? And why am I the only one who cares more about the victim than their own ulterior motives? Everyone wants me to shut up and follow orders, but that's not my style. I'll do whatever it takes to save this kid-even if that means returning to my roguish roots.

As a con man-turned-MPD-Agent, I'm fairly new to the whole "upholder of justice" thing, but even for me, there are some lines you just don't cross. Agent Söze of the MPD's Internal Affairs department, on other hand, seems determined to slime his way across every ethical line in existence like an over-sized eel on a power trip. Can you tell I don't like this guy? While he's dismantling the precinct and hunting down rule-breakers among the staff-a category which my partner and I definitely fall into-a veritable storm of crazy is spreading through the city. Local troublemaking guild, the Crow and Hammer, has been accused of harboring a demon mage, and while I'm not sure what to believe, I've got bigger problems to tackle. That is, until a certain notorious rogue druid calls me up about that big IOU I accidentally promised him. Now I have no choice but to dive into the chaos-though if I can knock Söze down a peg or two in the process, it'll be worth it.

What's a hardworking MagiPol agent need to do to get a little R&R? Between Agent Söze, the treacherous Internal Affairs tyrant whose taken over my precinct, and the super illegal sorcery my partner Lienna was hiding in said precinct-which is now missing-my usual routine of busting magical criminals has fallen apart in favor of hectic damage control. But that went out the window too when a respected Guild Master was found dead. Agent Söze is trying to cover it up, which is all the reason I need to make solving the murder my top priority. Except now Agent Söze is trying to arrest and/or kill me. Not entirely unexpected, but both dangerous and highly irritating. With the clock ticking on the next mysterious Guild Master murder, Lienna and I have to find a way to prove Agent Söze is behind it all. We need rock-solid evidence to bring him down, which is kind of tricky when crooked agents, shady allies, and cutthroat assassins keep complicating matters. And if we don't get to the bottom of it fast, my next day off will be in the morgue as another corpse to be swept under the corruption rug.

The weirdness level of my life has reached an all-time high. Which is saying something, considering I started out as a psychic conman and somehow ended up as a MagiPol agent. And not just any agent. Lately, I've been Captain Blythe's right-hand man and most trusted confidant. Yeah, I know. Super weird. It's also kind of awkward because, unbeknownst to her, I've also teamed up with her most loathed nemesis, Darius King, guild master of the Crow and Hammer and the number one guy on the Consilium's "To Be Eliminated" list. Oh, and the Consilium? It's just a secret organization embedded deep in the upper echelons of the MPD that's using its nefarious influence to take over the world. Or destroy it. We're still figuring that part out. "We" being me and Blythe. And me and Darius. But not Blythe and Darius. Like I said, it's awkward. Unfortunately, the Consilium knows we're on to them. It's only a matter of time before they reveal how much power they truly wield-and eliminate all three of us for good.