But her newest job takes the cake. Guarding a prince from terrorists and religious fundamentalists is hard enough, but it seems like the entire supernatural world is after this guy too. When she is betrayed by those she is employed to help, and everything goes horribly wrong, Celia wakes to find herself transformed.Neither human nor vampire, Celia has become an abomination-something that should not exist-and now both human and supernatural alike want her dead. With the help of a few loyal friends-a sexy mage, a powerful werewolf, and a psychic cop-Celia does her best to stay alive. On the run from her enemies, Celia must try to discover who is behind her transformation . . . before it's too late.

    I've been around for longer than you could know - and most people don't want to know me, being half-demon, and all - but right now I've got a big f'in problem. A woman just came into my office, and I gotta say, from the photo she slipped me, someone's got a serious issue with the supernatural. Life expectancy is looking kinda low if I don't figure out who's kidnapping magical creatures, selling their blood and trying to reveal magic's existence to the mortal world. Last time that happened it didn't end well. I'm not optimistic about this time, either. Joke's on me, anyway, for setting up a magical salvage and retrieval business. 50% of an item's magical essence and a per diem can't cover the damages this job is gonna inflict. Money and magic aren't of much use to a dead man. And If I didn't have a code (yes, I'm a demon with a code), then I would jet out of Texas faster than a vamp at a sorority party (you don't want to know). But I agreed to the gig, she paid the cash, so I gotta see it through. Did I mention the super-powerful wiccan - who I used to have, ahem, relations with - just returned from a long hiatus in a place worse than hell? And she's still obsessed with finding a certain god's spear that I may or may not have. Seriously. This situation is code red. I'm almost willing to accept help from wizards. On second thought, no wizards. I hate you guys. I'd rather die. So um, if I don't make it through the next three days, anyone want a talking dog that's read too much for his own good? Because the way things are going, Argos is gonna need a new home after the spells stop flying...* *His only request is that you suck less than Odysseus. Apparently the epic poems got that all wrong, and that guy was a major asshole. Or my dog might just be bitter. Tends to rub off when you live with a demon.

    She just needs to convince him they belong together, and being snowbound in a secluded cabin will make this a Christmas neither will forget. It's "Home for the Holidays" in Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series. Cat and Bones may long to wrap presents and set up a tree, but this Christmas, an evil vampire and long-buried family secrets will threaten to take a bite out of their holiday cheer.

    But waking up gaunt, hangry, and undead makes for a very bad day. Mallory's killer better hide, because she's just discovered blood, meat, and dairy don't agree with her, and a future with no cheese is grim indeed. She's out to find her killer... and maybe a vegan cheese that doesn't melt her nose hairs.

    . . In Angela Knights' Blood and Roses, a vampire warrior and his seductive captor join forces to stop a traitor from unleashing an army of demonic predators on their kingdom.New in Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling series is Whisper of Sin, in which a woman in lethal danger finds an unlikely protector—and lover—in a volatile member of the DarkRiver pack.Virginia Kantra continues the haunting tales of the Children of the Sea in Shifting Sea, the story of a wounded soldier rescued by a strange and enigmatic young woman.Meljean Brook launches a bold new steampunk series with Here There Be Monsters, as a desperate woman strikes provocative- and terrifying- bargain to gain overseas passage.

    The difference is, Kat kills her own kind in order to protect human Purebloods. She’s good at what she does. Good enough to earn the nickname Lady Death—and the enmity of every bloodthirsty being around. But now a vampire Count is intent on merging his House with a werewolf cult to create a force of terrifying power.Kat can’t allow that to happen. Even if it means taking on a den of weres and a vampire more ruthless than any she’s encountered before. She has the weapons, the skill, and a few allies. But that may not be enough to eliminate the Count before her own dark nature rises to the surface—and costs her whatever is left of her humanity…

    18+ only***I'd always been different. I saw objects in the night where others saw emptiness. Large, human shaped shadows, fierce yet beautiful, melting into the darkness. I collected secrets like other women collected bells; afraid to fully trust lest my oddities be exposed.Until I saw him. He'd been gliding down the street, unshakable confidence in every step. It wasn't just that he was breathtakingly handsome with perfect features. Something about him drew me. Sucked my focus to him and then tugged at my body. As his eyes met mine, I was entrapped.No one had noticed him. He'd been right there, just beyond the light, but only I had perceived.I had to know if he was real. Or maybe I really was crazy. And even when my secret box was blasted wide open, dangers hurled at me like throwing knives, I couldn't stop until I unraveled his true identity.I just had to know.

    Twice-Touched by the Blue Sense--which gives her the ability to feel the emotions of others, and read impressions left behind on objects--Marnie also has a doctorate in preternatural biology and a working knowledge of the dark arts. She is considered without peer in the psychic community. Then her first big FBI case ended with a bullet in one shoulder and a chip on the other, a queasy heart and a serial killer in the wind, leaving her a public flop and a private wreck. When the FBI’s preternatural crimes unit tracks her down at a remote mountain lodge for her insight on a local case, her quiet retirement is promptly besieged by a stab-happy starlet, a rampaging ghoul, and a vampire-hunting jackass in tight Wranglers. Marnie figures the only real mystery is which one will kill her first. Too mean to die young, backed up by friends in cold places, and running with a mouth as demure as a cannon’s blast, Marnie Baranuik is about to discover that there’s no such thing as quitting time when you’re Touched.

    Not even when I am alone. I see the unquiet dead, the souls that wander through the French Quarter. They can’t move on, and I can’t stop seeing them. I wear malachite for protection, and I control what I let in. It’s the only way to stay sane. Everything changes the day Cassian Winslow joins my ghost walking tour and knocks my world off its axis with green eyes the color of the stone around my neck. An unspeakable evil is loose in New Orleans, taking young women and leaving a bloodbath in his wake. More shadows lurking for me. More unhappy dead. There might be a way to stop it. Open myself up to Cassian. If I do, it could spell his death. But if I don’t, it’s mine.

    When an old man comes seeking vengeance for his murdered granddaughter, what looks like a simple job quickly spirals out of control. Soon Daniel stands in the crossfire between a murderous porn director; a corrupt cop with a quick trigger finger; and his own former employer, a racket boss who isn't entirely human. Then there's Caitlin: brilliant, beautiful, and the lethal right hand of a demon prince. A man named Faust should know what happens when you rub shoulders with demons. Still Daniel can't resist being drawn to Caitlin's flame as they race to unlock the secret of the Etruscan Box, a relic that people all over town are dying -- and killing -- to get their hands on. As the bodies drop and the double-crosses pile up, Daniel will need every shred of his wits, courage and sheer ruthlessness just to survive. Daniel Faust knew he was standing with one foot over the brink of hell. He's about to find out just how far he can fall.

    She did not believe in vampires, until she turns into one. Should she follow her vampire cousin's lead and walk away from everything she knows, or join Shadow Falls, a camp for special teens?This short story from C.C. Hunter gives readers a look into Della's history.

    And the price had better be right, since she needs to finance her own personal mission to rescue several young psychics recently sold on the paranormal black market. Enter Sara’s most mysterious client and occasional lover, the wickedly sexy Magician, with a job that could yield the ultimate payday. All she’ll have to do is get behind Vatican walls… and steal the Devil himself. But play with the Devil and you’re bound to get burned. Pressure mounts for Sara to join the Magician’s ancient and mysterious Arcana Council, as militant forces unleashed by even darker powers seek to destroy all magic — including the young psychics Sara is desperate to keep safe. The Council may be their only hope... but it could also expose Sara’s own dark past. From the twisting catacombs of Rome to the neon streets of Vegas, Sara confronts ancient enemies, powerful demigods, a roiling magical underworld about to explode… and immortal passions that might require the ultimate sacrifice. But oh, what a way to go. No matter how the cards play out, things are about to get Wilde.

    Over the course of eight books she’s fought evil vampires, were-creatures, and some serious black magic. She’s done it all with a sharp wit and the help of a memorable cast of werewolf hunters, psychics, and if-notgood- then-neutral vampires by her side. Kitty’s Greatest Hits not only gives readers some of Kitty’s further adventures, it offers longtime fans a window into the origins of some of their favorite characters. In “Conquistador de la Noche,” we learn the origin story of Denver’s Master vampire, Rick; with “Wild Ride,” we find out how Kitty’s friend T.J. became a werewolf; and in “Life is the Teacher,” we revisit Emma, the human-turned-unwilling-vampire who serves the aloof vampire Master of Washington, D.C. This entertaining collection includes two brand-new works: “You’re On the Air,” about one of Kitty’s callers after he hangs up the phone; and the eagerly awaited “Long Time Waiting,” the novella that finally reveals just what happened to Cormac in prison, something every Kitty fan wants to know.Contents:Il Est NeA Princess of SpainConquistador de la NocheThe Book of DanielThe Temptation of Robin Green Looking After FamilyGod's CreaturesWild RideWinnowing the HerdKitty and the Mosh Pit of the Damned Kitty's Zombie New YearLife is the TeacherYou're on the AirLong Time Waiting

    It is a place of contradictions—the bright lights mask the peeling paint; a carnie in greasy overalls slinks away from the direction of the Barker’s seductive call. It is a place of illusion—is that woman’s beard real? How can she live locked in that watery box?And while many are tricked by sleight of hand, there are hints of something truly magical going on. One must remain alert and learn quickly the unwritten rules of this dark show. To beat the carnival, one had better have either a whole lot of luck or a whole lot of guns—or maybe some magic of one’s own.Featuring stories grotesque and comical, outrageous and action-packed, Carniepunk is the first anthology to channel the energy and attitude of urban fantasy into the bizarre world of creaking machinery, twisted myths, and vivid new magic.RACHEL CAINE’s vampires aren’t child’s play, as a naïve teen discovers when her heart leads her far, far astray in “The Cold Girl.” With “Parlor Tricks,” JENNIFER ESTEP pits Gin Blanco, the Elemental Assassin, against the Wheel of Death and some dangerously creepy clowns. SEANAN McGUIRE narrates a poignant, ethereal tale of a mysterious carnival that returns to a dangerous town after twenty years in “Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea.” KEVIN HEARNE’s Iron Druid and his wisecracking Irish wolfhound discover in “The Demon Barker of Wheat Street” that the impossibly wholesome sounding Kansas Wheat Festival is actually not a healthy place to hang out. With an eerie, unpredictable twist, ROB THURMAN reveals the fate of a psychopath stalking two young carnies in “Painted Love.”

    Newly-turned vampire, Alyssa got a lot more than she bargained for when Lysander saved her from a pair of rapist on the college campus of UNLV. Immortality is not as pretty as all the books and movies had portrayed it, and Alyssa's having a hard time with the change."Becoming a vampire is easy. Living with the condition, that's the hard part."With danger looming on the horizon and the vampire hunters closing in, Alyssa will have to find the strength to accept this terrifying new reality. There's no turning back now. It's either, Carpe Noctem (seize the night), or final death.