Master Chronicles

Chicago 1962. Gideon Keel is the most feared vampire in the city. Nobody dares to stand up to him - until somebody does. When his path crosses that of the charismatic civil rights activist, Gideon faces the first person in over sixty years to threaten his existence and live to tell the tale. Mary Straughn is beautiful, driven, and most of all, determined not to let anyone - even a vampire - hurt the people she is trying to lead into a better life. He knows he should kill her. Yet, when she needs help finding the vampires responsible for murdering two children, he finds himself agreeing to search the city for them. And all he asks in return is for one night alone with her.

A dark new drug on the streets of Chicago threatens to overwhelm the city's vampires and unleash chaos and carnage. Widespread use of 'obsidian' will turn the city into a bloodbath, and only two men can save the city before it's too late -- Gideon, a vampire fighting to maintain the balance between good and evil, and Jesse Madding, his human assistant. When Gideon is unknowingly dosed by the drug, he attacks Jesse with all the pent-up desire he has for his best friend -- and changes everything between them. While negotiating this strange new dynamic of desire, submission, bondage, and pain, they race to contain the violence threatening to destroy vampire and man alike. But can they find the source of this powerful drug before their own passion and growing emotions take them over completely?

Beauty is in the eye of the master ... Gideon Keel and Jesse Madding have seen dozens of gruesome crime scenes over the years, but nothing compares to the latest discovery -- a body put on horrific display. Clues in the apartment indicate that while the woman expired, party guests enjoyed rich caviar and expensive champagne. But there are no other clues about the victim or the culprits. Empath Emma Coolidge is determined to save her sister from the same monsters Gideon and Jesse are hunting. And she'll do anything for the two men who rescued her from a similar fate. The three plan a sting operation to infiltrate the small group of 'art connoisseurs' by sadistically turning Jesse into a living work of art, but will it be enough to save Chicago from more vicious murders in the name of beauty?

Born with the ability to read emotions, Emma Coolidge leads a life of self-imposed seclusion. Until she is saved by Gideon Keel and Jesse Madding, who befriend her and introduce her to people who can help her create a normal life. Everything is great but for one small problem. Emma longs to be more than friends with Gideon and Jesse, and wants to be part of their darker games involving bondage and sadism, but believes her desire can be nothing but a private fantasy. Gideon adores Jesse and wants nothing more than to give him everything he wants. When Gideon realizes Jesse wants Emma, as well, he decides to invite Emma into their games. But first Jesse and Gideon are forced to investigate a string of grave desecrations. They must unravel the mystery of who is stealing Black John's power, why, and how to reverse it before they can devote their time and energy to their mutual desire for a third in their bed.

History doesn't always die. Sometimes, it lives on. Discovering it can be too seductive to resist, and Jesse Madding could never resist find the answer and solving a mystery. A chance encounter on their first vacation in years introduces Jesse Madding to Marcus Brooker, a man who claims to have known the woman for whom vampire Gideon Keel abandoned his evil ways to fight for good. He says all the right things to tempt Jesse into a forbidden betrayal. Jesse pursues the truth about his love the only way he thinks he can, and arranges for a trip to New York to find the answers he thinks he wants. Gideon agrees to the New York trip, hoping for three weeks of pure pleasure with his human lovers. Pleasure is not all they find ... and the pain discovered there eclipses any pleasure he has ever known.

Stopping a murder that happened forty years earlier may be the only way to heal a tortured mind ... Six months after Jesse Madding is brutally tortured by Marcus Brooker, he is still experiencing flashbacks, panic attacks, and jumping at his own shadow. His lovers, Gideon Keel and Emma Coolidge, would do anything to help him, but Jesse refuses to be hospitalized for treatment, or even visit a therapist. Desperate for a change, Gideon and Emma suggest a radical solution. Jesse wants to fix his life. More than anything, he wants to be normal again. He doesn't want to live in fear. He doesn't want to be ashamed of his scarred and mutilated body. He doesn't want to shy away from Gideon's touch. Certain that the holding pattern will kill him, he agrees to Gideon and Emma's proposed solution: travel to an alternative dimension and save Marcus Brooker from witnessing Mary's grisly murder ... in order to save Brooker's soul.

Arson forces Gideon Keel and his human lovers, Jesse Madding and Emma Coolidge, to find a new home after all their possessions are destroyed. Jesse and Emma are drawn to a decaying mansion that once served as a boarding school, but has long since sat abandoned. With its winding halls and haphazard wings, its private chapel, and its two-story library, the house is too fascinating to refuse. But something sinister lurks in those winding halls. Something violent and dark. Something that locks the house, steals Gideon's memories, possesses Emma's body, and threatens Jesse's life on the evening of their housewarming party. As the night progresses and the body count increases, Jesse must find a way to stop Gideon from killing their friends. Even harder, Jesse must convince the vampire who doesn't remember him, or the love the three of them share, to fight for their lives.

Jesse Madding wakes up one morning to discover everything has changed and he is completely alone, both Emma and Gideon gone. Betrayed by the last person he'd expect, the life he once had is over, and a new existence must somehow be forged. Aching with the loss, Jesse vows to do everything he can to overcome the lies, return home, and find the vampire that makes his life worth living.

Having Jesse home again is the only reason Gideon Keel needs to celebrate. But their private party at Sangre screeches to a premature halt when their home is raided, Dominique is taken by Children's Services, and Jesse's counterpart is arrested. Meanwhile, Emma's case has been reopened, but that is only the beginning of the fallout. Jesse and Gideon must draw new boundaries for their relationship, deal with new rules and expectations in their lives, and stay one step ahead of Foster, the immortal who will stop at nothing to destroy Jesse before he can take his place as a proper Guardian.

Jesse Madding finds himself caught between three gorgeous men, an ancient demon, and a dedicated group of cultists ... A simple case for Gideon Keel and Jesse Madding turns into something far more complicated when they discover their friend's trouble-prone nephew was doing a lot more than just studying demon history. Jonah stole a holy book, and now the cultists he stole it from want it back. Protecting Jonah becomes even more vital when Jesse learns just who it is the cultists worship -- Castelain, an immortal demon who walks between worlds. Jesse finally has a name for the creature that stole Black John's power, the creature that wiped Gideon's memory, and the creature that possessed Emma. Might he also have a name for the being that nearly took his life and kidnapped Emma?

Rescuing their missing third was supposed to be the difficult part. But Jesse Madding and Gideon Keel are learning their work is only beginning. One month after her return to her normal life, Emma Coolidge seems to be healthy and well-adjusted from the time she spent captive in a hell dimension. Every night, though, reveals the depths of her trauma. She doesn't dream; she sleepwalks. When Gideon catches her unconsciously searching for a book about dimensional magic, he knows that it's time to put an end to her torment. But Emma isn't the only who can't seem to adjust. Jesse doesn't know how to handle his new powers when he's with Emma. Gideon fears that neither of his lovers need him at all anymore. And always, there's the fear Castelain will return to seize Emma, the prize she has already claimed as her own.

It's been four years since Jesse Madding and Gideon Keel rescued their lover Emma from a hell dimension, and their lives have settled into an easy pattern. Jesse and Gideon still keep the streets of Chicago safe from vampires and demons, while Emma has opened her own gallery. But things aren't exactly easy for the trio. Especially since Jesse is still learning how to deal with the fact that the world continues to move on ... while he never ages ...