She’s got nothing to lose.

Petra Zaskodna knows the search for justice is a deadly game she’s bound to lose. As a covenless witch who manipulated her way into power, she’s used to living with a target on her back. Her position only grows more precarious with her mentor’s mysterious death. Desperate to uncover the truth, shell stoop to bargain with a man more dangerous than the enemies lurking in the dark: Shade.

He’s got everything to gain.

Silas Cuttcombe craves the taste of power. A demon with an unusual ability to wield magic, he’s spent decades spreading his reputation into every blighted corner of the continent and amassing incomprehensible wealth under the pseudonym Shade. He’s content with his life in the shadows, wreaking havoc when it suits him… until a pretty priestess comes begging for help and offering herself as payment. Exploiting their devil’s bargain at every opportunity, he finds a delicious sort of irony in bending the little golden goddess to his will.

Even gods fear what darkness devours.

It’s a sensual dance between predator and prey until the day danger catches up to Petra. Silas doesn’t care about the innocent lives hanging by a thread, nor the justice his witch seeks. She is his to play with, to protect, to break and put back together, piece by piece. Her enemies will learn there’s nothing more dangerous than a demon’s devotion — or his wrath.

She needs an escape.

Carmine never wanted to be a blood bride. Despite what the instructors tell her fellow brides, she knows that being sold off to the highest vampiric bidder will at best be fatally boring and, at worst, actually fatal. When her bride price is paid, she's prepared to do whatever it takes to save herself from becoming a vampire's mate.

He wants a change.

Atticus Caldwell is restless. He doesn't regret leaving the vampiric crime syndicates behind, but as the years crawl by, he's forced to admit that something's missing. Seeking to break up the mundanity of his life, he takes on a safe, straightforward job. Unfortunately, there's very little that's straightforward about being tricked into transporting a rebellious blood bride to her groom, and there's certainly nothing safe about the troublesome woman herself.

They'll both get more than they bargained for.

Carmine is by turns disarmingly sweet and a vicious little hellcat ready to do anything to change her fate. Atticus would've helped her on principle, but with every new stunt she pulls, he's forced to admit he isn't doing it just out of the goodness of his heart. He doesn't want a blood bride, but he'd do just about anything to have her. Too bad she's determined not to become a vampire's mate — and he's not the only vampire desperate for a taste.

Sanguine is a complete standalone novella in The New Protectorate Universe and can be read without the context of the other books in the series. A full series list as well as a character directory and content warnings can be found on the authors website.