It’s an even thinner one between wrong and dead…Terrible has always been on the wrong side of the law, living up to the only name anyone ever gave him. As the chief enforcer for Downside’s most powerful criminal, it’s his job to collect debts and protection money by any means necessary. And he’s very good at his job.But part of that job is also to keep Bump’s various employees safe. So when a street dealer is found dead and a prostitute is brutally attacked, Terrible immediately starts using his fists to hunt down the ones responsible.He’s determined to find and destroy them. They’re determined to use his desire for the woman he secretly loves to break him.

    All of them were Gifted, and all of them have been drained of their blood. Kai is a reluctant telepath with a skewed Gift—she sees thoughts instead of experiencing them. So, unlike other Midlanders, she can intuit that they have a “Guardian.” She also knows that the Guardian Nathan isn’t human. His true nature hasn’t been divined. Neither has hers. But when another one of the Gifted is found dead, Kai herself becomes a suspect. And only Nathan can save her.Previously published in On the Prowl.

    

    Yet now, from out of the darkness, shines the light of eternal life . . . eternal love. Twilight Phantasies Cruel fate condemned Eric Marquand to walk forever in shadow -- alone. To possess his soulmate was to destroy her. But Tamara believed in taking fate into her own hands . . . Twilight Memories Rhiannon was a dangerous creature of the night. If Roland cast her away, it would be like driving a stake through her heart -- exactly what the mortal on her trail wanted! Twilight Illusions He was the greatest of his accursed kind. But Damien's ancient mystic power was threatened by a terrible weakness -- a passion for a woman of mortal flesh and blood . . .

    BUTCHER * LUCIENNE DIVER * CHRIS MARIE GREEN * CHRISTINA HENRY New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine has modern-day potions witches Holly and Andrew facing off against a firebrand politician who wears literally killer boots in a Texas-sized rodeo of trouble. Boot-loving Cadogan vampire Lindsey must team up with off-again, on-again vampire partner Luc when a woman from her past is targeted by supernaturals in New York Times bestselling author Chloe Neill’s all-new adventure. And New York Times bestselling author Rob Thurman features Trixa Iktomi from her Trickster series dealing with magical vengeance and magical footwear. Taking kick-ass urban fantasy literally, USA Today bestselling authors Kalayna Price and Faith Hunter bring together the best of the genre to once again prove when you’re fighting supernatural forces, it helps to keep your feet on the ground.

    They look just like me, just like you. But they can kill. They do kill. And I’ve fallen in love with one.I wish I’d walked away. I wish I’d followed my gut. I wish he’d been there when I became the victim.You’ll love this fresh take on a tired genre, because vampires should be bad, and they should do it well. So hurry and start the series today. Don’t be the last to discover it.

    To celebrate Valentine's Day, I present a special Half-Moon Hollow short story featuring all the vampire men we know and love.

    It was a flash in the moonlight, a blur of motion like I'd never witnessed before. No human had the capacity to move like that. When I found myself face-to-face with him there in the meadow, I knew without a doubt that the journal was authentic. I knew that my grandfather hadn't been crazy at all. Because a foot away from me stood a vampire. What do you do when you find out the people you trust have been hiding a terrible secret? When Sarah Wood's father passes away and hands over to her the responsibility of running the family's inn, she finds put things are far more complicated than she first imagined. She's not just responsible for running the inn. She's become the Vampire's Warden. This is part one of a three-part series. It is 31,880 words long. It is a novella.

    Gryphon is hurting and hunted and he attracts her as no man ever has before. He is a Monère, one of the children of the moon-and what's more, so is she.Long exiled from the moon, the men of the Monère serve-and mate-with imperious Queens who can channel the rays of their far-off homeland. Gryphon believes that Mona Lisa is a Queen- perhaps the first of Mixed Blood ever known. But her introduction to the nighttime court of the Monère, simmering with intrigue, casual lust, and calculated cruelty, is far from smooth. The other Queens are infuriated by her potential powers, and they are all menaced by a group of rogue males who have broken away from the women's sway. Even as she battles threats from within and without, Mona Lisa is determined to discover who she is, and to explore the limits of her growing power-and her secret desires.

    As a last resort, she signs up for the Midnight Liaisons dating service, never expecting that she’d find the alpha she seeks. She certainly didn’t expect Jackson Wilder, a laid back, sexy-as-sin outsider who claims to be an alpha.But Alice has a problem that most female wolf alphas don’t — she’s a virgin. And the female alpha of a wolf pack always belongs to a male alpha. Luckily for her, Jackson’s utterly gorgeous and willing to take things slow. But is he alpha enough to help her save her pack…or is he too easy-going to be the man she needs?

     And yet, there is an attraction, undeniable, to the vampire archetype, whether the pale European count, impeccably dressed and coldly masculine, yet strangely ambiguous, ready to sink his sharp teeth deep into his victims' necks, draining or converting them, or the vamp, the count's feminine counterpart, villain and victim in one, using her wiles and icy sexuality to corrupt man and woman alike... Edited and introduced by acclaimed anthologist John Joseph Adams (Wastelands, The Living Dead), By Blood We Live gathers together the best vampire literature from the preceding three decades, authored by many of today's most renowned writers of fantasy, speculative fiction, and horror. Contents: (Author, title (type, year of first publication, beginning page in print edition))01 - Neil Gaiman, Snow, Glass, Apples (short story, 1995, p3)02 - Anne Rice, The Master of Rampling Gate (novelette, 1984, p13)03 - Harry Turtledove, Under St. Peter's (novelette, 2007, p33)04 - Tad Williams, Child of an Ancient City (novelette, 1988, p43)05 - Michael A. Burstein, Lifeblood (novelette, 2003, p75)06 - Barbara Roden, Endless Night (short story, 2008, p88)07 - Garth Nix, Infestation (novelette, 2008, p106)08 - Carrie Vaughn, Life Is the Teacher (short story, 2008, p120)09 - Nancy Kilpatrick, The Vechi Barbat (short story, 2007, p134)10 - Kristine Kathryn Rusch, The Beautiful, The Damned (short story, 1995, p148) 11 - David Wellington, Pinecones (short story, 2006, p161)12 - Norman Partridge, Do Not Hasten to Bid Me Adieu (novelette, 1994, p165)13 - Sergei Lukyanenko, Foxtrot at High Noon (short story, 2008, p180)14 - Michael Marshall Smith, This Is Now (short story, 2004, p189)15 - Nancy Holder, Blood Gothic (short story, 1985, p199)16 - Jane Yolen, Mama Gone (short story, 1991, p204)17 - Joe Hill, Abraham's Boys (short story, 2004, p209)18 - Tanith Lee, Nunc Dimittis (novelette, 1983, p224)19 - Gabriela Lee, Hunger (short story, 2007, p240)20 - Caitlín R. Kiernan, Ode to Edvard Munch (short story, 2006, p250)21 - L.A. Banks, Finders Keepers (short story, 2008, p256)22 - Brian Stableford, After the Stone Age (short story, 2004, p275)23 - Kevin J. Anderson, Much at Stake (short story, 1991, p286)24 - Elizabeth Bear, House of the Rising Sun (short story, 2005, p297)25 - Lilith Saintcrow, A Stand-Up Dame (short story, 2008, p302)26 - Kelley Armstrong, Twilight (novelette, 2007, p316)27 - Eric Van Lustbader, In Darkness, Angels (novelette, 1983, p333)28 - Barbara Hambly, Sunrise on Running Water (novelette, 2007, p355)29 - Bruce McAllister, Hit (short story, 2008, p372)30 - Ken MacLeod, Undead Again (short story, 2005, p385)31 - Robert J. Sawyer, Peking Man (short story, 1996, p388)32 - Ben Lumley, Necros (short story, 1986, p396)33 - Catherynne M. Valente, Exsanguinations: A Handbook for the Educated Vampire by Anna S. Oppenhagen-Petrescu (short story, 2005, p409)34 - Charles Coleman Finlay, Lucy, In Her Splendor (short story, 2003, p415)35 - John Langan, The Wide, Carnivorous Sky (short story, 2009, p426)36 - Stephen King, One for the Road (short story, 1977, p464)37 - Ross E. Lockhart, For Further Reading (By Blood We Live) (essay, 2008, p477)

    In Bound to Me, for the first time, we travel back into Mira's distant past to see the great love affair that shaped her.

    Socialites, artists and A-list stars have been invited to Morgan Ward’s birthday bash, including Angelina’s boss, Delilah.For months, Angelina has been looking at the preparations from afar, but never did she imagine that, come the day, Miss Delilah would put her in a gorgeous gown and bring her along as her ‘plus one.’Wandering from crowded room to crowded room in the sumptuous mansion, Angelina grows overwhelmed and escapes onto a balcony, only to find it occupied by her host. That first meeting leaves her struggling for her very life, but she soon gets an unexpected do-over.Meeting Morgan Ward for the first time all over again, Angelina finds herself falling into his arms… But is it all only a fantasy?

    His higher ups want her eliminated. He simply wants her. The alpha side of him demands he claim her—that is, if she’ll have him. After all, he’s what she fears most—a wolf shifter. But there is more to Peren than even she’s aware of and the enemy is closer than anyone imagined. Critical Intelligence Roi Majors, wolf-shifter and second in command of the I-Ops, is having a hard time believing that Intel can only get half the information needed to bring down an underground ring of vampires with big-spending backers who are hell-bent on creating a race of supernaturals with multiple strands of DNA in them. When he finds himself paired with the one woman in the world who seems immune to his self-proclaimed charms, he can’t wait to see her to safety and then bid her good riddance. He never counted on falling in love with her. And he sure in the hell never counted on her claiming to be an agent with a branch of the government no human should know about. Radar Deception Dr. Thaddeus Green survived a werepanther attack long ago, leaving him immortal and a member of the I-Ops team. He’s dedicated his life to genetics and to serving his country. After his mutated DNA led to the death of his loved one, he vowed to never let anyone close to his heart again. Try as he might, Green is unable to stop the mystical pull to the tall, leggy blonde with a sharp tongue and an even worse bite. Thinking Melanie is suffering from mating withdrawal, Green is prepared to do what he must to assure her survival, even if it means claiming her for himself, regardless of his need to protect his heart. Little does Green know that fate has been preparing him for Melanie Daly all his unnaturally long life. Strategic Vulnerability Held prisoner in a remote testing facility in the middle of the Brazilian rain forest, subjected to torture and abuse, shape-shifter and alpha male Wilson Rousseau has long since given up hope of being rescued. Days blend together until he can’t help but long for death. Saved from his isolated hell by a female’s distress call, he feels an instant connection to her. Kimberly thought she was taking a trip to South America to study indigenous plant life. She had no idea she was playing into the hands of a madman whose goal is to create a genetically altered army of super-soldiers. When she finds herself locked in a cell with Wilson, a man who would give his life to save hers, there is an instant attraction. But the dark secrets surrounding their imprisonment may change their lives forever. Can they find a way to beat the odds and be together, or will the madman win?

    R. Ward tells the story of a fiery couple . . . doomed by an undeniable passion.   Features a special preview of J. R. Ward’s upcoming Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, The Thief!   The last place Ivie expects to be approached by a devastatingly handsome male is in a crowded, smoky cigar bar rarely frequented by vampires—yet here he stands. Silas is flirtatious, gallant, and, above all, mysterious. Ivie is anything but. A nurse at the healer’s clinic and the daughter of a biker, Ivie is accustomed to speaking her mind. So she does. Since aristocrats rarely pick up females of her class, Ivie asks Silas just what kind of game he thinks he’s playing.   Despite her guarded exterior, Ivie surrenders to the fierce desire she feels for Silas. And yet, just as their courtship is heating up, he reveals that it cannot last, for he is bound to return to the Old Country. Their bond only deepens as they make the most of their precious time together. But when she learns the truth, Ivie must find a saving grace—before all is lost. . . .