Look away if you want to live... My life is a giant crap pile with a cherry thrown on top. I'm an immortal woman cursed to kill people with just a glance. And now I've been kidnapped by three mouthwateringly sexy gargoyles, who I'm pretty sure want me dead. But it gets better... While I'm trying to make the best of being a prisoner, guarded by yummy eye-candy, I'm also being dragged on a dangerous mission. One that throws me right back into a world which has haunted me for far too long. And if history repeats itself, might end in some seriously twisted scenarios. Things don't look good for me.

Don't swim in my waters... I've got a bad reputation, and all because of my jackass brother. Yes, I'm known as the mother of all sea monsters. And yes, I can control powerful creatures who kill and destroy on my command. But no, I'm not actually in charge, I'm my brother's slave. So, life sucks just about as much as it possibly can. At least that's what I thought until my brother decides I'm more useful sacrificed to angry sea dragons who despise mermaids.

Everyone hates a harpy... For the record, I don't drag people to Hades. I'm not a guardian of the Underworld. And I'm not an evil monster. I'm just... a shifter who happens to control birds. Dangerous? Yes. A monster? No. Unfortunately, most people disagree with me. For some stupid reason. So, it's no surprise when monster hunters, the stoic gargoyles themselves, track me down. What is a surprise? The gargoyles are kind of sexy. But unfortunately, they haven't kidnapped me for bedroom fun. They want to use my abilities to stop a curse and save a town. Easy right?

Thousands of years ago, I made a mistake. A terrible mistake that cost me everything. My dearest husband. My beloved children. Even my humanity. My curse makes me dangerous to all those around me, so I've secluded myself where I can never hurt another person again. But the Fates have other plans for me that don't include hiding for eternity.

It's a strange thing to live again. My memories of before are nothing but shadows, like me. And yet, I've done what no Shade before me has done: I've severed my bond to the Underworld. As Cerberus told me to do.

Do monsters have midlife crises? Because I’m pretty sure I’m having one. My kind bring trouble and chaos wherever they go. I can’t change that, it’s just the way things are. So rather than continue to watch the people around me being impacted by my curse, I did the only thing I thought I could—I stepped away from the world.