Fused in Earth & Stone

When Kennedy dares to open The Rain’s doors to unsanctioned paranorms, she sets off a chain of events that will test her determination like never before. As retribution, the ruthless master vampire, Arcuro, captures Deagan, Kennedy’s eccentric friend and ally. Despite the advice from those around her, she refuses to let him die.

Kennedy must navigate the politics of the paranormal world to form new alliances, but one tiny misstep could result in disaster. With doubts chipping away at her confidence and old enemies resurfacing, Kennedy comes up with a plan to free her friend. Can she outwit the cunning master vampire? Or will her resolve to save Deagan lead her down a treacherous path, putting The Rain and everyone around her in jeopardy?

“They’re like the bloody Boy Scouts,” Sullens muttered beside me, scowling at the encampment at the bottom of the hill. His comparison wasn’t completely off base. The wolves had obviously anticipated The Rain’s locked doors. They’d knocked only once when they arrived. I’d watched from a window when they returned to their vehicles, but I hadn’t felt any sense of victory. Three months had passed since my parents had been murdered, and I’d managed to come up with excuses and justifications to keep both the vampires and the werewolves from entering The Rain.

Until yesterday, when I’d tried to postpone their arrival yet again. Octavian Lehr, the most influential alpha in North America and one of The Rain’s self-appointed gatekeepers, had made it clear he would not allow another Turnover to pass without his sanctioned werewolves entering the Null.

“This is acceptable,” Jared, the vampire standing to my left, said. He’d been advocating for the reopening of The Rain ever since I dragged him out of Arcuro’s compound, promising if I did so, he would “instigate nothing” with the wolves or vampires.

That wouldn’t help if they instigated something with him. He’d married Lehr’s daughter, and both the alpha werewolf and Jared’s master wanted him dead.

A crisp mountain wind blew across the land, shaking the treetops to the west and east. The werewolves’ tents were well secured within the Null. They looked expensive and new, and in a clearing between the largest two canvas structures, the wolves had set up a mobile kitchen. Long tables connected to stoves and plastic sinks, and instead of doing something as mundane as roasting meat over a fire, they’d hauled in a barbecue pit big enough to cook for an army.

Honestly, the setup was damn impressive.

But I couldn’t let it stand.

“They have to go,” I said.

Sullens sighed. He, too, wanted to reopen The Rain—all the staff did. They wanted a return to normalcy, to the time when we turned over the guest rooms to Lehr’s sanctioned werewolves and to Arcuro’s sanctioned vampires. They regretted that my parents were dead—some even admitted they didn’t like Lehr and Arcuro holding the power of gatekeepers—but no one cared enough to change the status quo.

Too bad. I owned The Rain now. I wouldn’t allow the status quo to return.

“You have no choice,” Jared said. “You must compromise.”

“Would you compromise?” I countered.

His profile was as stony as the Appalachians rising above the treetops. Of course he wouldn’t compromise. Vampires as old as he was were used to always getting their way.

“Ms. Rain,” Sullens said, “these wolves did not kill your parents. Lehr did not kill your parents.”
True. A coven of witches and the stray werewolves they’d recruited had killed them. Shelli, the coven’s leader, had confessed to it. Then, when all hell broke loose at Gamecraft & Witchery, Shelli had escaped.

A bitter anger made my muscles tense. Astrid and I might have broken her coven, but Shelli was shrewd and deadly, and she had years of experience as the head of the Whitmore coven. People feared her for a reason. Her continued existence was a problem.

Jared turned to me. “You have two options: allow them to stay or start a war.”

Knots twisted in my stomach. I’d been doing my damnedest to avoid war. To have any chance of winning it, I’d have to enlist the help of paranorms. There were a few who might have my back. Garion, The Rain’s bartender and the only employee who’d known me before I left home. Phedre and Thordis would fight because they were Valkyrie—that’s what they did. And despite Jared’s protests, he would get involved too. He didn’t have a choice. He was trapped in The Rain until we found a way to get rid of Arcuro.
Others might decide to side with me as well, but that didn’t mean I wanted them to. It would make them targets, and my actions had resulted in the deaths and the torture of paranorms before. I couldn’t be responsible for that again.

Jared and Sullens both watched me, waiting for my decision.

My jaw clenched as I stared down at the encampment. There had to be something else I could try, some way to avoid involving the staff and to circumvent Lehr and Arcuro. Maybe if I…

I blinked. Well, why the hell not?

“I’m going down there,” I said. I made it three steps before Jared cut off my path.