“From the moment fate brought me into your emergency department, you became the best example of what a man should be. Honest, even when I couldn’t be truthful about my past. Kind, when no one else was. Giving, to a complete stranger without hesitation. Funny, when things were at their worst. You protected my heart, my soul, and my body. You understood me even when I didn’t understand myself.”

~Anastasia Volkov, Day Shift

I leaned in, keeping my voice low as the monitors beeped in the background. “I’ve got your back, pretty angel. I won’t let any more harm come to you.” It was more than a promise; it felt like a vow. Being this close to her, I couldn’t shake the feeling that fate had thrown us together for some higher purpose. Here I was, a beast, and there she was, a beauty—our lives slammed together by some twist of destiny.

~Conan Thorin, Day Shift

There was so much I still didn’t know about her, but one thing had become terrifyingly clear.

If Isabella chose a life without me in it, I was thoroughly fucked.

Eyes never lie, and hers told me she’d just bet her life on my word. Maybe it was courage. Maybe desperation. Maybe fate had finally decided to put someone worth protecting in my path. Whatever had brought a beautiful woman to her knees between mine with my freedom in her hand, I knew one thing with absolute certainty: I would die before I let her regret choosing me.

Whatever restraint he’d been holding onto fractured, and those eyes of the unholy turned murderous, setting my blood on fire with equal parts fear and hunger.

~Scarlett Hayes, Eyes of the Unholy

My gaze caught on her bare feet, then rose to her face—delicate features, a soft mouth, and pale blue eyes framed by dark, wavy hair that fell nearly to her waist. She was fucking gorgeous, the kind of unexpected beauty that had no business in a cartel compound hidden in the Salvadoran mountains.

How could there be a God?

I wanted to believe. I needed to believe. But when the holy were the abusers, when the righteous sold their children, when the system protected predators—what kind of God allowed that?

The devil outside that door had never lied to me.

He was the type of man I should fear, should hate—but I couldn’t.

He never pretended to be anything he wasn’t.

~Scarlett Hayes, Eyes of the Unholy

“Stormy, you’re playing with fire.”

Crawling closer to him, I brushed my lips along his ear. “Good thing I’m not afraid of getting burned.”

~Noelle Nichols, Christmas Cancellation

“You walked into Xyst, throwing legal daggers at men who know how to throw them back. Trust me, our aim is better, and now we have more targets.”

Safe was no longer enough.

I wanted her happy.