Phoenix Hoard

Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle's Ebony Gate is a female John Wick story with dragon magic set in contemporary San Francisco's Chinatown. Emiko Soong belongs to one of the eight premier magical families of the world. But Emiko never needed any magic. Because she is the Blade of the Soong Clan. Or was. Until she's drenched in blood in the middle of a market in China, surrounded by bodies and the scent of blood and human waste as a lethal perfume. The Butcher of Beijing now lives a quiet life in San Francisco, importing antiques. But when a shinigami, a god of death itself, calls in a family blood debt, Emiko must recover the Ebony Gate that holds back the hungry ghosts of the Yomi underworld. Or forfeit her soul as the anchor. What's a retired assassin to do but save the City by the Bay from an army of the dead?

The follow-up to Ebony Gate, the critically acclaimed debut of Vee and Bebelle's “Phoenix Hoard” series. It Takes a Killer to Catch a Killer Emiko Soong, newly minted Sentinel of San Francisco, just can't catch a break. Just after she becomes the guardian for a sentient city, a murder strikes close to home. Called by the city and one of the most powerful clans to investigate, she traces the killer whose scent signature bears a haunting similarity to her mother's talent. The trail will lead her back to Tokyo where the thread she pulls threatens to unravel her whole world and bring dark family secrets to light. Meanwhile, the General rises in the East and Emiko must fight the hidden enemies of his growing army who are amped up on Blood Jade, while keeping her promises to her brother Tatsuya as he prepares for his tourney. Her duties as Sentinel and her loyalties collide when she must choose between hiding her deepest shame or stopping the General's relentless march.

Blade. Butcher. Thief. Worldbreaker. Emiko Soong has been called many things. But Worldbreaker is the worst. She unmasked the General and returned to San Francisco where her power is greatest. But the city, once her sanctuary from Jiaren intrigues, turns into her living nightmare. Clan wars erupt and Emiko's life becomes a treacherous quicksand of friend and foe. Unsure of who to trust, Emiko finds herself more alone than ever. When an ancient power rips through the Realm to land in her city, the General will stop at nothing to take it for his own. Emiko must face her past, present, and future, as she races to stop the General. Is Emiko's fate written to be the destroyer of worlds, or can she chart a new course to save her family? Phoenix Hoard #1 Ebony Gate #2 Blood Jade #3 Pearl City