Jill Kismet is back from the grave in this explosive conclusion to Lilith Saintcrow's urban fantasy series.She wakes up in her own grave. She doesn't know who put her there, she doesn't know where she is, and she has no friends or family.She only knows two things: She has a job to do: cleansing the night of evil. And she knows her name.Jill Kismet.
When the dead call, she answers.Bounty hunting is a helluva job, but it pays the bills. And it lets Necromance Dante Valentine forget her issues--like struggling with her half-demon side and the memory of her lover's death.Now psychics all over the city are being savagely murdered--and a piece of the past Dante thought she'd buried is stalking the night with a vengeance. Too bad she's got no way to tell which fiend-or friend-to trust. Or that her most horrifying nightmares are gathering to take one kick-ass bounty hunter down for the count.But that's only the beginning. The Devil just called. He's looking for Dante's lover-the one he killed…
They will clean out the demons and the suicides, and move on. As long as they stay within the rules, Jill Kismet can't deny them entry. But she can watch-and if they step out of line, she'll send them packing.When Cirque performers start dying grotesquely, Kismet has to find out why, or the fragile truce won't hold and her entire city will become a carnival of horror. She also has to play the resident hellbreed power against the Cirque to keep them in line, and find out why ordinary people are needing exorcisms. And then there's the murdered voodoo practitioners, and the zombies.An ancient vengeance is about to be enacted. The Cirque is about to explode. And Jill Kismet is about to find out some games are played for keeps…
They will clean out the demons and the suicides, and move on. As long as they stay within the rules, Jill Kismet can't deny them entry. But she can watch-and if they step out of line, she'll send them packing.When Cirque performers start dying grotesquely, Kismet has to find out why, or the fragile truce won't hold and her entire city will become a carnival of horror. She also has to play the resident hellbreed power against the Cirque to keep them in line, and find out why ordinary people are needing exorcisms. And then there's the murdered voodoo practitioners, and the zombies.An ancient vengeance is about to be enacted. The Cirque is about to explode. And Jill Kismet is about to find out some games are played for keeps…
When a new hellbreed comes calling, playing nice isn't an option. Jill Kismet has no choice but to seek treacherous allies—Perry, the devil she knows, and Melisande Belisa, the cunning Sorrows temptress whose true loyalties are unknown.Kismet knows Perry and Belisa are likely playing for the same thing—her soul. It's just too bad, because she expects to beat them at their own game. Except their game is vengeance.Nobody plays vengeance like Kismet. But if the revenge she seeks damns her, her enemies might get her soul after all...
Another night on the Nightside…An ancient evil looms over Santa Luz. Prostitutes are showing up dead and eviscerated. And Jill Kismet just might be able to get her revenge against an old enemy.There's just one problem. Someone wants Jill dead-again. And if they have to open up Hell itself to kill her, they will.
Not everyone can take on the things that go bump in the night.Not everyone tries.But Jill Kismet is not just anyone.She's a Hunter, trained by the best — and in over her head.
When her police contact asks her to look into a "suicide", she suddenly finds herself in a labyrinth of deception, drugs, murder — and all-too-human corruption. The cops are her allies, except for the ones who want her dead. The hellbreed are her targets, except for the ones who might know what's going on. Her city is in danger, time is running out, and each lead only draws her deeper.How far will a hunter go when her city — and her friends — are on the line?Just far enough.
Dante Valentine has just about had it. First, she's hired by the Devil to hunt down four demons who escaped from Hell. Then, she finds out one of those demons is Eve, a child she swore to protect.To top it all off, her lover Japhrimel thinks that the Devil is right. And that all the demons, including Eve, belong in hell.It doesn't matter what she thinks is best for Eve. Because once you make a deal with the Devil, there is no going back.
Sophie never believed she was special. Avoiding a violent ex, she can't remember the last time she truly felt safe. Then vampires murder her best friend and Sophie is kidnapped by a dangerously sexy shape-shifter. Zach insists that Sophie is a Shaman — someone with a rare gift for taming his savage side — and he needs her to help him save his pack. Now, with a malevolent enemy closing in, Sophie and Zach must risk everything on a bond that may be their only salvation..
Tristan d'Arcenne is what he always wished to be—Vianne di Rocancheil's Consort. But Vianne is no more a noblewoman, she is the Queen of Arquitaine, faced with treachery, invasion, war, and a Consort whose secrets may well shatter their marriage. For before Tristan was hers, he belonged to a King...and that King died by Tristan's hand.Arquitaine needs them both. The country is locked in a deadly game whose rules change by the moment. The Queen is an adept player, but hardly ruthless enough. The contest requires a man who has nothing to lose, a man who has already done the worst and will continue to do so for his wife, his country, and his own salvation.
Jack Gabriel's been the sheriff in Damnation almost since the town grew out of the dust and the mud. He keeps the peace—sort of—and rides the circuit every dawn and dusk with the chartermage, making sure the wilderness doesn't seep into the fragile attempt at civilization. Out there, away from the cities clinging to the New World's eastern rim, he doesn't remember what he was. Or at least, not much.But Damnation is growing, and along comes a schoolmarm. Catherine Barrowe is a right proper Boston miss, and it's a mystery why she would choose ...
Demons are preying on schoolchildren in her city, so Francesca Barnes does what any red-blooded librarian would do-she does some research and goes hunting. But the books she finds in a secret cache don't tell her the whole story. Chess has no idea what she's just stepped into or just how special she is. Orion is Drakul, part demon, and a loyal servant of the Order. He doesn't expect a motorcycle-riding librarian to be messing around with demonic forces, and he doesn't expect her to smell so damn good. But Ryan's got bigger problems. His partner has disappeared, and ...
Dante Valentine, Necromancer and bounty hunter, just wants to be left alone. But the Devil has other ideas.The Prince wants Dante. And he wants her now. And Dante and her lover, Japhrimel, have no choice but to answer the Prince's summons. And to fulfill a seemingly simple task: become the Devil's Right Hand, hunt down four demons that have escaped from Hell, and earn His gratitude.It's a shame that nothing is ever easy when it comes to the Devil. Because of course, he doesn't tell Dante the whole truth: there is a rebellion brewing in Hell. And there is a good chance that Lucifer is about to be pushed off the throne.But Dante is getting really tired of being pushed around. And this time, she might be angry enough to take on the Devil himself…
Vianne di Rocancheil is a lady waiting at the Court of Arquitaine, where she studies her books, watches for intrigue, and shepherds her foolhardy Princesse through the glittering whirl. Court is a sometimes-unpleasant waltz, especially for the unwary, but Vianne treads its measured steps well.Unfortunately, the dance has changed. Treachery is afoot in gilded and velvet halls. A sorcerous conspiracy is unleashed, with blood, death, and warfare close behind. Vianne must flee, carrying the Great Seal of Arquitaine with her. This is the one thing the conspirators need to rule, and they won’t rest until they have it. A life of dances, intrigues, and fashion has not prepared Vianne for this. Nor has it prepared her for Tristan d’Arcenne, Captain of the King’s Guard and player in the most dangerous games conspiracy can devise. Yet to save her country and avenge her Princesse, Vianne will become what she must and do whatever is required.A Queen can do no less.
Emma Bannon, forensic sorceress in the service of the Empire, has a mission: to protect Archibald Clare, a failed, unregistered mentath. His skills of deduction are legendary, and her own sorcery is not inconsiderable. It doesn't help much that they barely tolerate each other, or that Bannon's Shield, Mikal, might just be a traitor himself. Or that the conspiracy killing registered mentaths and sorcerers alike will just as likely kill them as seduce them into treachery toward their Queen. In an alternate London where illogical magic has turned the Industrial Revolution on its head, Bannon and Clare now face hostility, treason, cannon fire, black sorcery, and the problem of reliably finding hansom cabs. The game is afoot...
Dante Valentine has been through Hell. Literally. Her body shattered and her mind not far behind, she's dumped back into her own world to survive-or not-as a pawn in one of Lucifer's endless games.Unfortunately, he's just messed with the wrong Necromance. And this time she's mad enough to do something about it.This time, the Devil will pay.
When the Devil needs a rogue demon killed, who does he call?The Player: Necromance-for-hire Dante Valentine is choosy about her jobs. Hot tempered and with nerves of steel, she can raise the dead like nobody's business. But one rainy Monday morning, everything goes straight to hell.The Score: The Devil hires Dante to eliminate a rogue demon: Vardimal Santino. In return, he will let her live. It's an offer she can't refuse.The Catch: How do you kill something that can't die?
