"This was supposed to be an easy scoop, but with magic, nothing’s never easy.
It’s not every day that a whistleblower shows up and drops a satchel full of damning documents in my lap. Photographs, audits, and reports, all showing willful wrongdoing by a major magical manufacturer; everything a journalist could ever want for a front page story.
Then the whistleblower wound up dead, and my easy work week was shattered.
Despite official reports, I knew he didn’t die in a workplace safety accident. What was less obvious, at least until I started digging, was how much fallout his death would leave behind. My whistleblower wasn’t just mixed up with mundane workplace safety audits, and if I can’t find who killed him, his death will only be the start.
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The following work contains depictions of violence, mortal peril, death, police violence, psychological distress, and mentions of self harm and terminal illness. Reader discretion is advised."
"Bladesmith, mechanic, hive queen, godslayer. Maggie Cartwright has a résumé few can match, but nothing could have prepared the elf for her latest role: master to a reckless and overeager apprentice.
Their first foray into monster slaying is meant to be a cake walk, a chance to hammer out her student’s overconfidence and teach some discipline, but danger rears its head when they discover they’re not the only predators hunting in the mountains, and their competition has wings.
Faced with an apocalyptic prophecy and an enemy whose strength defies reason, they’ll need trust if they want to survive. With only three days before the world’s slated to end, it’s do or die in a battle against fate itself.
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The following work contains depictions of verbal abuse, violence and mortal peril, death, mild gore, and peril to teenagers in a school setting. Reader discretion is advised."
"My name is Levi and I swear I didn’t kill her.
Sure, I was the only person found at the scene of the crime, and maybe her blood was literally on my hands, but I can explain all that. I’m a journalist writing for Kansas City’s magical community—it’s not that I’m nosey; digging around in other people’s business is my job. So when I suspected that a woman had been cursed, it’s only natural that I went to learn more.
I couldn’t have known she’d be dead before I arrived. Seriously, I write headlines about bridge trolls and solstice events, not murder.
The Wizard’s Council thinks I did it, and I’m going to have a hard time convincing them otherwise. Who are they going to believe, an autistic journalist with a smart mouth and a rap sheet, or the mountain of evidence I left behind when I fled the scene of the crime?
I have to solve the murder. The killer is still out there, ready to strike again so long as they aren’t caught. To crack the case with the Council on my tail, I’ll have to move fast, stay low, and find a way to cover my tracks.
If I can’t, the real killer will go free, and I’ll take the fall. I’ve been to the Council’s prison once and if I go back I know I’ll never make it out alive."
"Maggie Cartwright never expected to find herself as a mercenary, never mind one facing an apocalyptic threat the world hasn’t seen in living memory. A solitary auto mechanic and a smith by trade, she’s more comfortable making blades than using them. Slaying monsters professionally is a difficult, hazardous job that’s as likely to end with fangs in your throat as a solid paycheck, even for professionals working in a team.
But in the land of the fae, fate doesn’t care what she’s comfortable with, and for Maggie, the danger of razor claws and ancient magic pales next to the danger posed by her own people’s politics. Monsters can kill. Manipulation by the fae can do far more damage.
Maggie’s talents as a master smith make her valuable, and her former master’s legacy makes her a target. With a city on the line and hellish monstrosities digging their way up from the deep, Maggie can’t refuse the call to fight, and the battle cannot be won without allies. With the right friends, she could save hundreds of thousands of lives and get paid doing it. But if she can’t learn who to trust, she won’t be the only one who ends up dead.
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The following work contains depictions of verbal abuse, violence and mortal peril, death, mild gore, and peril to teenagers in a school setting. Reader discretion is advised."
"Even when I’m not chasing kidnappers, I don’t keep normal hours. I’m a journalist; late nights, burnt coffee, and energy potions come with the territory. When I get lost in a story or deep in pre-publication crunch time, I can’t quit just because the sun’s been down for eight hours.
So when my best friend called me well after midnight to say she was being followed, I was already halfway out the door before the call could be hexed.
I wasn’t fast enough. By the time I arrived she was gone; vanished from within an impenetrable magical ward.
Now I’m running out of time to discover who took her and why. There’s no time for sleep: The clock is ticking, my leads are thin, and the few confidants I’ve got aren’t playing straight with me. The monsters and thugs scurrying around the city won’t make clue gathering any easier.
At the start, I was afraid that if I didn’t find her fast, she’d wind up dead. Now I know that if I don’t get her back in time, her death will just be the start."
