Javad has one rule. No fighting pits.

It doesn’t matter that the savage battles have been a tradition among demons for eons. As the manager of the Viper’s Nest in Vegas, his word is law. Period. Then he hears rumors that some fool has dared to create a fighting pit in the middle of the desert. He goes in search of the hidden location, only to realize too late it’s a trap by his former master Vynom. The powerful vampire is determined to force Javad to fight once again. This time to the death.

Terra is a rare fey creature known as a Seraf. Long ago she’d been captured by Vynom and forced to heal the fighters he used in his pits. Javad had rescued her, and she’d given him a medallion. If he ever needed her, all he had to do was to speak her name and the magic would lead her to him. When she hears his call she doesn’t hesitate to rush to his rescue. Even when it means returning to the dark violence that still haunts her dreams.

Can they escape the nightmare that nearly destroyed them in the past? And if they survive, are they willing to sacrifice the duties that have pulled them apart to battle for a future together?

Excerpt: Sacrifice of Darkness

Levet claimed to be a gargoyle, but he was less than three feet tall with gray, leathery skin, stunted horns, and large, fairy-like wings that shimmered in brilliant blues with crimson and gold. Javad suspected the creature had been sent from the netherworld specifically to torment any demon unfortunate enough to cross his path.

Mile after mile, the gargoyle had led him across the hard-packed earth, his mouth never shutting. He claimed to be a knight in shining armor who saved the world regularly. He spoke of his close and personal connections to the King of Vampires as well as the new Queen of the   Merfolk, who he described in tedious detail.

Then there were the endless questions.

Did Javad personally choose who could enter the club? Did Javad cheat at cards? Did Javad know Elvis…

“Are you deliberately leading us in circles?” Javad snapped at last as they rounded a Joshua tree that he was certain they’d passed an hour before. Did they all look exactly the same?
Levet glanced over his shoulder, his brow furrowed. “Why would I lead us in circles?” he asked with a slight French accent.

Javad scowled. “Because you’re an aggravating pest.”

The creature stuck out his tongue before returning his attention to the low line of hills just ahead of them.

“We are close,” he said.

Javad glanced around with a strange prickle of unease. He’d been in Vegas long enough to spend time in the desert. But his visits were usually spent tracking down a customer who owed him money or feeding on one of the sand sprites who lurked among the scrub brush near the edge of the city. He hadn’t wandered through the vast emptiness, completely exposed.

It was unnerving.

“That’s what you said twenty minutes ago,” he reminded the gargoyle.

The fairy wings fluttered with what Javad assumed was irritation. “I cannot concentrate if you are forever napping at me.”

Napping? Javad frowned before giving a resigned shake of his head. “Nagging?”

“Oui. Yak, yak, yak.”

The ground shook as Javad struggled to contain his temper. It should have been easy. He’d devoted centuries to gaining complete mastery over his emotions. It was the one thing he could control. But something about the stunted creature set his fangs on edge.

“You—”

“This way,” Levet rudely interrupted, waddling toward a large rock formation that rose from the desert floor like a skyscraper.

“I’m going to have a long conversation with Viper when I get back to Vegas,” he growled, reluctantly following the creature. It wasn’t like he had much choice. He couldn’t find the pits without Levet.

“When you talk to him, would you remind the leech that it was not my fault that his silly car ran off the road and into a pole? I could not know a cat would wander into the street as I was turning the corner.” He clicked his tongue. “He has been a poopy-head for weeks.”

Javad muttered a startled curse. Levet had taken one of Viper’s beloved cars on a joyride?   Christ. Grown orcs wouldn’t be that brave.

“You have more courage than brains,” he muttered. “Of course, that’s not saying much.”

Levet ignored him as he halted next to the rock formation. “There is an illusion here.”

Javad moved to stand next to the gargoyle. He couldn’t see anything but rocks. He would need a beacon specifically tuned to vampires to lead him through the illusion. Or a three-foot gargoyle, who was giving him a headache.

“Is it the pits?”

Levet wrinkled his nose. “It smells like pits. Why are they always so stinky?”

Javad could tell the gargoyle that the smell came from a toxic brew of fear and hate and desperation. Instead, he squared his shoulders, anticipation surging through him.

At last. Reaching up, he touched the medallion hung around his neck.

Vynom was about to die. Justice would be served, not only for himself, but also for all the innocents who’d suffered because of the male’s insatiable greed.

“Let’s go.”

“Wait.” Levet abruptly reached out to grab Javad’s arm.

Javad shook off the tiny hand, growling in frustration. “What’s wrong?”

Levet sniffed the air. Then, without warning, he scrambled backwards. “It is a trap.”