Six years ago, I awoke in a cage with no knowledge of who I was or where I’d come from. Six years ago, I was spared the flesh markets and instead thrown in with a group of savages, where I learned it was fight or die. Now, eight Orders of Assassins are converging on the only home I’ve ever known. All in hopes of purchasing new blade slaves for their ranks. I’m for sale, yet all I want is a life far from death and ownership. Then I meet them, the Order of Scorpions. Their allure is a threat to the freedom I crave, but I won’t fall victim to their sting, no matter how tempting it might be.

I’ve walked the streets of Phoenix Valley for twenty two years knowing exactly who I am: an orphan, a human, a nobody. Summoned by The Hex to test my humanity, I was prepared to fail, destined to be the same mundane girl. I was wrong. Pandora’s Box called to me, sensing a magic I never knew existed. With my world turned upside down and full of possibilities, I must now call Paradise Heights home. To live amongst supernaturals, attend Saints Academy, and find my place.

After graduating high school and having been accepted into one of the most prestigious paranormal universities in North America, Black Veil University, everything is finally going as planned. Or so I thought before four insanely hot men crashed their way into my life—each with a unique connection to me whether they want it or not. We are tied together. Lives are turned upside down, hearts are torn and shattered, and those deep, dark secrets that I have held hostage start to slip. But when the dark shadows of my past come knocking, I may need every little bit of help I can get.

It was supposed to be a fun getaway with my best friend - until I ran out of gas in the Middle of Nowhere, Montana. There I was, freezing to death, when three men came to my rescue and thawed the icicles around my heart. There's one little problem: They aren't human. When my own haunted past comes calling, they stand by my side and protect me. But can I overcome my own demons and accept I have mates? Or will my own fears cripple me?

There were six of us. Caged, turned into monsters, and tormented with brutal tests of our horrific emerging abilities. We had only each other to count on... until our escape attempt ended with one dead, the others recaptured, and me dragged away into a different nightmare. Now I've finally fought my way back to rescue them. Except the men I set free are hardened, beastly versions of the devoted boys I remember. They see me as a traitor and a murderer—but they refuse to let me go now that they have me back.

My name is Vinna, and I've been keeping a lot of secrets. You would too if you'd experienced some of the weird shit I have: red-eyed monsters chasing me, markings on my body appearing out of nowhere, a strange power that crackles colorfully over my skin from time to time, and don't get me started on the weapons I can conjure up almost out of nowhere.

Moving to a new town to start college, where I can try to be normal. Or at least pretend I am. I’m willing to fake it, because I’m tired of trying to get better. Tired of spilling my guts to doctors and therapists to understand why I’ve heard voices since I was a child.

All I wanted was to find answers to who I was. No one knew who had abandoned the gray-eyed baby with fiery red hair and a cry loud enough to make a man's nuts retract. I moved to Arbor Falls to find myself. Little did I know I'd be thrown into a world I didn't know existed. A world with wolves at each other's throats and enough pack politics and danger to make my head spin. Then there's the fact that I have more than one mate. Not all of them accept me because there's one gigantic problem: I'm not what they expected.

I was the girl no one looked at twice. Until they saw me. My whole life, no one has had my back. My parents are dead, my adoptive mother is a drug addict, and the mean girls on campus mock me for my scars. So when I end up desperate for money and out of options, I agree to sell the one thing I have left: my innocence. On the night I’m meant to give my body to a brutal Russian mobster, three men storm into the room like dark shadows and kill him before he can claim me. When they drag me from the blood-soaked bed, I’m certain they’re going to kill me too.

All I wanted was to keep my head above water. To survive long enough to hit my 18th birthday so I could escape the nightmare that my homelife had become. But all of that was turned upside down the moment they showed up. The best friend from my past. The surly brooder. The kindhearted nerd. The king of campus. The dark one.

My whole life has been characterized by fighting; fighting my family and fighting for my life. Trust me—the first one is completely voluntary, and a lot of fun. The second? Not so much. To say my family dynamic is weird is the understatement of the century. I held my first sword when I was only five years old, and I learned how to dispose of a body before I turned ten. I may have a penchant for pink and sparkles…but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to kick major ass as well.

One mistake cost me everything. My gorgeous triton tail was gone, and in its place were the worst things imaginable—tentacles. I’ve learned to live with being different, but now the clock is ticking down to being stuck with them forever. But when a chance presents itself to possibly go back to the way things once were, I can’t pass it up.

When my family died at the hands of a demon prince, I hung up my exorcist hat. I’d failed to protect them, and while I was willing to risk myself, the price had risen too high. Now I’m serving up hot, fresh pizzas to everyone who wants them. I was the only person left to inherit the family business, and I’m doing my best to keep it up and running in honor of my loved ones. These days, my biggest challenge is telling off a rampaging customer, and endless paperwork. That is, until he shows up again.

I was so close to getting everything I wanted - an internship with my uncle, an officer with the special-ops team. If it weren't for a stupid boy that had to go and make me angry, causing me to turn a certain part of his anatomy purple and sparkly, I wouldn't have accidentally revealed to my family what I really was. What I had been hiding.

Growing up, I had nothing but my good grades and them: the Vanguard brothers. They are the golden boys of our school, destined to be the alphas of our pack. They’re possessive, scaring away everyone else who might get close to me—until the night of their first shift. I’d been told over and over I could never be their mate, but the boy’s wolves had other ideas…. So, I’m whisked away, told to forget them—and I do, right up until they walk in through my door, telling me all the things I’d secretly dreamed of.