Emersyn Sharpe doesn’t belong in our world. In fact, the very last place she should be is with us. But someone is hurting her. We’ve all seen it. We tried to ignore the warning signs. We tried to trust the people around her. We tried to believe in her world. Too late. When she nearly died in front of us, we had to act. We took her. She doesn’t belong in our world, but I’ll be damned if someone lays a finger on her under my watch. I’ll kill them first.

Born into Hollywood royalty, I’ve been making the hot sheet and generating internet buzz since before I could even walk. Doesn’t matter that my parents divorced prior to my second birthday, I can’t escape the shadows—or scandals—of my movie star mother and my rock star father.

At any given time, there could be as many as 50 serial killers active. I’m looking for one. He’s been killing successfully for more than three decades. I suspect even longer. A year ago, the unsub’s methods changed. Instead of one or two bodies a year, five have been dropped. Either the unsub has a partner or he’s about to become a spree killer. It’s only a matter of time before someone puts the coin into the right slot and the kill song begins. Finding the unsub is my obsession. It was my father’s. He died without solving the mystery. I won’t.

When it comes down to acclaim in the yearbook, my class rank would probably earn me my only entry, but probably very little else. I don’t wear cosmetics, do my hair, or really give a damn about my appearance in general. I don’t need to be cool, and I’ve managed my high school career navigating all the different groups from the nerds to the jocks to the theatre kids and the band geeks.

I'm the princess to a dirty throne of motorcycles and madness, daughter of the president of the Death by Daybreak Motorcycle Club. My father's four closest officers—men dressed in blood and death and sin—they're my honor guard, cloaked in leather vests and tattoos. Only, there's nothing honorable about them at all. They're all wrong for me. Every motorcycle club has its old ladies. These guys...they share one. They share me .

I thought I’d hit rock bottom when I turned 16. The day I broke my first love's heart, ending things before I could ruin his career as a rock star. But damn, was I wrong. Things got progressively worse from that moment on, until now. Eight years later, when I find myself homeless, jobless, covered in blood, and running from a ghost of my past.

I work in the darkness that is Black Creek. If there’s a secret to uncover, a package to deliver, or a story to be told, I’m your girl. I'll do whatever it takes to provide for my little brother. Once upon a time, the Feral Beasts ruled Black Creek with an iron fist, but they’re long gone now. The Antonelli family stepped in, only caring about their family and their money. I’ve heard the whispers: the Reaper Rejects are growing and they want control of Black Creek. But this town isn’t big enough for both of them.

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.

I rejected my fated mate, and didn’t regret it for a second. Until now. Shipped off to Ravenscroft University, a graduate school for the supernatural elite, I have a lot to live up to. As heir to America’s most powerful pack, I was locked away. Not to be protected, but because I was born broken. A disappointment. A wolf who couldn’t shift. This is supposed to be my fresh start, but my past won’t leave me alone. Not when he’s here.

When Dad died, he made me the leader of the Italian Mafia. That position was unheard of for a woman—until me. Ryder, Dex, Gage, and Holden are my team, my closest friends. Then Leo waltzes into my life, turning it upside down, along with everyone in it. One lie. One secret. That's all it took to bring it all burning down around me. Jealousy and hidden desires from the four guys I thought only saw me as their friend and boss stoke the flames even higher.

Bred in a world of gang wars, violence, and secrets, they rule the bloody town of Thorn Valley and all the people in it...too bad for me, I’ve never been good at kissing ass or keeping quiet. Even if their savage spirits awaken something inside of me I thought was long dead, I can’t break. I won’t. They think they scare me, that I’ll run and hide, but the joke’s on them. The Crows aren’t the first monsters I’ve faced, and they won’t be the last. There are worse evils out there waiting to take their stab at Ava Jade Mason. I say, let them try.

Shh, I have a secret. The sinfully gorgeous members of the Student Council—Church, Ranger, Spencer, Micah and Tobias—can't ever find out. I already get picked on because my father's the headmaster. I don't need them to know I’m the only girl, too; I’d rather dress like a boy. Adamson All-Boys Academy now has its only female student, but I'm not about to be their guinea pig. Not when there's a secret at this school nobody is talking about. Not when the last female student here ended up dead.

They say bad things happen in threes. The first was when I lost my parents. The second came when I had to leave behind everything I knew to move across the world to live with my only remaining relative. But what was life for, if not for living? So I kept moving. Then the third thing happened, just as I was about to begin my junior year at the prestigious Blackstone University. I caught the eye of not one, not two, but three of the most infamous guys on campus. The three guys from the wrong side of the tracks.

Being in the Guild is our life…or death. Not everyone is created equal, and not everyone is truly cut out for the work we do. It’s not pretty, it’s not glamorous, and it’s sure as shit not moral or good. The weight of the sins we carry can become too much for some, and they crack. When they do, they become a threat. No one quits the Guild. Not really. Either they cut a deal to make themselves useful in another capacity, or they get eliminated. But who, you might ask, can kill a killer? Who scares the boogeyman into running and hiding? Men like me.

Welcome to Emerson Grove. With our fantastic university, suburban lifestyle, and the city nearby, you’re never going to want to leave. I almost believe their slogan, until my ride drives off, leaving me on the doorstep of a pretty house to reveal a blast from the past. Leaving one lion’s den, I’ve fallen straight into another. I didn’t agree to this part. I didn't agree to…them.