The Hidden City Supernatural Sleuth

Everyone thinks I’m sweet and innocent…but I’m the one who ate the big bad wolf. I’ve been searching for a place that feels like home my whole life, and I think I’ve found it. I’m in the big city, on a mission to save vulnerable supernatural kids—just like I used to be—in my new job as an Otherworld Child Protection Caseworker.

Nothing ruins your day more than a bloated, stinking corpse on your doorstep. My natural optimism has taken a serious beating lately. I’ve been working my butt off, drafting a series of outreach programs to help the poor, lost supe kids of the Hidden City before they fall through the cracks in our society and end up in our Otherworld Child Protective system. There’s one thing I desperately need, and that’s funding. But there’s no money to be had. Nobody wants to invest in these kids; it’s enough to break your heart.

I’ve been on lockdown in the Hidden City for weeks now. Everyone thinks I’m hiding from the Alpha because I disobeyed his orders one too many times. And, well… I have. He’s coming for me; I know that. But he’s also coming for Myf, my mysterious agoraphobic pantry-dwelling Welsh friend, and I can’t let him take her. She’s hiding a dangerous secret—one I need her to share with me so I can protect her.

My worst fear has come to pass. A vicious, sadistic witch has seen the darkness inside me, and he wants it for himself. Christopher Jupiter—the man responsible for the Great Suffocation, the reason why thousands and thousands of my people are dead—he saw the evils. And he wants them.

A strange creature attacked Romeo last night. A huge beast unlike anything anyone has ever seen in Philly before—an alien monster with natural armor, organic high-tech weaponry, and poison dripping from its limbs. My intuition is screaming at me. It's telling me the monster is not here for Romeo. It's here for me.

I never thought I'd find myself back here. At least, I hoped I'd never have to leave the mortal realm ever again. But Romeo is missing, and I have to find him. I know who took him, and I know why. And I know how hard this fight is going to be. I survived this wild-magic place once before, and I'll do it again. But this time, I'm not a scared little girl. This time, I know exactly what I'm doing. Let the games begin.

I don't want to hurt her...but she definitely wants to hurt me. Betrayal doesn’t sting. It hurts worse than that; it feels like a rake over coals, a disembowling, a slow, agonizing stretch on the torture rack. Myf is hurt, and she’s found someone to blame. She’s focused all her pain on one target. Me.

It's done. Christopher Jupiter is coming for me. It’s only a matter of time before he catches me, and I know exactly what he’s going to do. He’s going to open me up, let the Evils escape, and then, the whole world will be destroyed. And right now, I can’t think of a way to stop him. None of us can. The pressure is unbearable. Romeo is tormented, teetering right on the edge of madness. But even I didn't realize how far he was willing to go to protect me.