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  The Lenna Blakely Series

  Book 1

  Emily Dawn

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by Emily Dawn

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [email protected]

  First Edition August 2019

  Book design and edits by Michelle Morrow www.ChellReads.com

  ISBN (paperback)

  Dedication

  For my husband, thank you for believing in me.

  Emily Dawn

  Table of Contents

  One ...................................................................................................... 1

  Two ...................................................................................................... 7

  Three ............................................................................................... 11

  Four .................................................................................................. 19

  Five ................................................................................................... 24

  Six ..................................................................................................... 29

  Seven ................................................................................................ 38

  Eight ................................................................................................. 49

  Nine .................................................................................................. 57

  Ten .................................................................................................... 63

  Eleven .............................................................................................. 69

  Twelve ............................................................................................. 74

  Thirteen .......................................................................................... 81

  Fourteen ......................................................................................... 91

  Fifteen ............................................................................................. 97

  Sixteen ........................................................................................... 104

  Seventeen ..................................................................................... 115

  Eighteen ........................................................................................ 121

  Nineteen ....................................................................................... 125

  Twenty .......................................................................................... 130

  Twenty-One ................................................................................. 142

  Twenty-Two ................................................................................ 150

  Twenty-Three ............................................................................. 158

  Twenty-Four ............................................................................... 165

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  Twenty-Five ................................................................................. 174

  Twenty-Six ................................................................................... 179

  Twenty-Seven ............................................................................. 188

  Twenty-Eight .............................................................................. 202

  Twenty-Nine ................................................................................ 205

  Thirty ............................................................................................. 210

  Thirty-One ................................................................................... 223

  Thirty-Two ................................................................................... 235

  Thirty-Three ............................................................................... 241

  Thirty-Four .................................................................................. 247

  Thirty-Five ................................................................................... 251

  Thirty-Six ..................................................................................... 259

  Thirty-Seven ................................................................................ 269

  Thirty-Eight ................................................................................. 276

  One

  Lenna

  BANG. BANG. BANG.

  My eyes fly open with a start. I grope for my phone on the nightstand and growl. Five in the morning, ugh. BANG BANG

  BANG

  “Wakey wakey, Lenny! Time for a run before we train.

  Better throw on an extra sports bra or two.” Hunter, my roommate, yells through the door. He’s impossibly chipper in the mornings. No one should have that much energy at this Gods awful hour of the day.

  Fuck. I hate running, especially if I’m not being chased. “I’ll be out in five.”

  I fling the covers off and stumble out of my big comfortable bed. I throw on two sports bras and a tank with leggings. I splash cold water on my face and pull my thick black hair up in a ponytail. Before heading out of my room, I check my emails to see if I have any inquiries. Two pop up, one for a missing per

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  and one for a magical object but no details other than a phone number to call.

  I am a librarian by day and a finder of magical objects and sometimes people by night. My job as a librarian is also a front for protecting all the volumes of supernatural history, as well as some of the most important artifacts known to the supernatural community. Hidden away in the Metropolitan Public Library is an underground level dedicated to all the supernatural races’

  histories. Vampire, shifter, fae, demon, elemental, witch; we’re all in there.

  I am the result of a forbidden love affair between a powerful dark fae and alpha shifter. My father gave up his right as alpha of our local pack to live in secret in the fae realm with my mother.

  I walk into the kitchen of the loft style apartment I share with Hunter. He’s pulling two water bottles out of the fridge and humming to himself while dancing around. I have never met another human with that much energy. He’s a personal trainer at the gym in the center of a hip art district in town.

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  Emily Dawn

  “Do we need to run this morning? I had a long night.” I put my most pathetic face on knowing full well it won’t work. He’s a damn slave driver.

  “Yep. Last week that baby vamp almost killed you. We need to work on your stamina.” He glares at me. “Your aunts will kill me if I have to drag you to their house bleeding again and I am not trying to get hexed or bitten in half.”

  “Two things,” I hold up one finger. “First of all, vampires have super speed,” I hold up a second finger. “Second, Zora won’t hex you. She’s a hearth witch, full of light and love.”

  Hunter strides to the front door and opens it, ushering me out without saying another word. I roll my eyes and head to the stairs because we’re not taking the elevator. We hit the ground floor after descending the eight flights of gray cement stairs. We settle into a
comfortable pace side by side. We head up Main Street, which is deserted still. In a few hours, it will be full of commuters, the streetcars will run, and people will be all over on those damn electric scooters.

  The downtown corridor of the city is now the safest place to live. Twenty years ago they forced Supes to reveal themselves after a hostile takeover of our government by a corrupt 3

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  politician. We voted him out but he wouldn’t leave the white house, enacted martial law, and started ruling like an autocrat.

  We had lived in anonymity throughout human society, but when World War III began to loom on the horizon, we joined the resistance and helped to keep the peace.

  The coastal cities took the brunt of the fighting and damage, but most Midwest and southern cities stayed intact. We can attribute that to the power of the Supes in those areas, they had more land to draw power from, ley lines of magical energy following the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

  The government moved the human capital from Washington DC to Denver and created the Supernatural Assembly in St. Louis where the ley lines converge. It’s honestly probably not a great idea to have the center of super society sitting on one of the most powerful sites in the world, but leaders always want more power.

  Hunter taps my shoulder, and I know that’s my cue to put more speed on. We’ve already hit two miles and have six blocks to his gym. He wants me to sprint until we arrive. I’m winded by the time I get to the door, and he’s already there opening the door with a damn smirk on his face. I walk over the free weights 4

  Emily Dawn

  and grab various dumbbells while he pulls out the bosu ball and battle ropes.

  “Start with 25 burpees, push-ups, tricep push-ups, and a two-minute plank.” He looks like a model with his dirty blond hair thrown up in a messy man bun, his trim but defined body leaning against the mirror behind him as he watches my form.

  “Okay, three minutes on the battles and three minutes doing squats on the bosu. Then do two more rounds of everything.”

  He gives me the cheeky grin I’ve been on the receiving end of since we met our first week of college. I met him at a freshman meet and greet, and we became fast friends. He came out to me two days into our friendship, and I held his hand through losing his family over it.

  Forty-five minutes later I flop to floor, covered in sweat but my muscles are singing happily. My shifter nature lives for these intense workouts and especially loves when Hunter spars with me. My wolf huffs contentedly. Since I’m a half shifter, half fae I can’t shift into my wolf form, but I feel her living inside me. I have other shifter attributes, heightened senses, and strength.

  Because of my fae heritage, I can open portals, cast some minor spells, and glamour myself. It’s why my parents sent me to live with my father’s sister and her wife. No one can know my secret 5

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  because it would be a death sentence from the Assembly. My parents live off the grid in the fae realms. I’ve had limited contact with them for their protection and mine.

  “You said you had a long night last night?” Hunter looks at me through the mirror as he tidies the room.

  “Yeah, I’m researching an amulet stolen from the archives before the war.” I don’t offer more details, and he doesn’t ask.

  We both know what I do is dangerous, too dangerous for human involvement. The less he knows, the better. “I’m setting a meeting with some potential clients tonight after work in the Supe District tonight. I probably won’t be home until late,” I say as I walk toward the door. I pull my phone out and request an Uber because there’s no way in the seven hells I’m running home.

  6

  Emily Dawn

  Two

  Lenna

  After I’ve showered and dressed, I use my fae magic to dry and style my hair. It’s long and thick and that is easier to do than use a blow dryer I tell myself. It’s almost black, but there are subtle hints of deep purple and midnight blue running through it. I like to wear up in a bun for work, so it doesn’t hang in my way. I add some foundation to cover the slight bruising I still have from my encounter with the baby vamp and swipe some mascara on my lashes. I stand at the island while my tea steeps and consider my breakfast options, a pre-made smoothie from Hunter or Lucky Charms. I deliberate for two seconds and grab the Lucky Charms. Life’s short, eat the sugary cereal I tell myself.

  I pull my emails up and call the number left on the mysterious missing magical object. It goes straight to voice mail.

  I leave them a message telling them to meet me at Ruby’s, a bar in the Supe district where we don’t have to worry about humans. I skip the missing person case for now.

  7

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  The library stands in the center of downtown. It’s one of the few original buildings to survive the war completely intact in this neighborhood. On all sides of it, there are newly renovated or built buildings. There’s a UV shield covering the intersection and sidewalks on all four corners of the building to protect the day walking vampires. They are vampires old enough not to need to sleep and avoid sunlight during the day, but the sun drains their energy. Day walking was a revelation that sent shock waves through the human community. It almost caused a rift in the delicate peace between Humans for Inclusion and the Supernatural Assembly. It was instrumental in working with both governing bodies to bring everyone together. There’s still tension between groups, but most humans have become comfortable with our presence in their lives.

  My desk is in the center of the main floor of the library. It looks over a sitting area with tables, comfortable chairs, and couches. There’s a bank of computers along the wall to the left of the sitting area. Behind me are rows upon rows of books. We now also house the local university’s library collection because they weren’t able to rebuild after a human terrorist group bomb leveled half their campus.

  8

  Emily Dawn

  The day goes by as usual. A good mix of humans and supes coming through to check out books or do research. A few of the regulars come in for internet access every morning; I suspect they’re homeless, I leave a bowl of fruit and granola bars on my desk for anyone to take. After the war, many humans had lost their homes, families, jobs, or some combination of the three.

  Homelessness is the biggest threat to human society, and I’ve always had a soft spot for humans, being raised in their realm.

  Anything I can do to help them survive, I’ll do. My baby vamp encounter was because of me intervening in stopping an illegal feeding on a homeless teenager. Baby vamps are notoriously hard to control, and their blood lust is out of control for the first few weeks.

  I look at the clock and see it’s time to close up. I go through the library locking all the doors and setting the wards on the basement section. I consider running home to change out of my work clothes, but I know Ruby and the regulars at her bar. I shouldn’t have any trouble, plus I have my spelled silver and iron daggers and wooden stakes strapped to my thighs under my skirt. I have to rely on weapons when fighting because my access to magic can’t become common knowledge. I use magic on my aunts’ property and in my own spaces, but that’s it. Most 9

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  Supes can recognize what others are, and luckily my wolf is dominant enough to hide my fae heritage.

  I pause as I walk into the parking garage across from the library where I parked. My inner wolf bristles as she senses someone watching. I look around slowly and take a deep breath through my nose, sniffing for anything suspicious. All I smell is gasoline, human sweat, and garbage. I don’t pick up my pace, and my high heels echo loudly, no one gives chase or comes, and I don’t think twice about it.

  10

  Three

  Lenna

  I pull into the parking lot across from Ruby’s and recheck my phone to make sure I didn’t receive a cancelation for this meeting. I don’t want to go in unless I know I’ll be seeing the mystery client. This bar is a hangout for my ex, and I’m
not in the mood to see him unless it’s for a good reason. I walk up to Stan, the bouncer, who lets me breeze right in. He’s a big, scary-looking demon with small horns protruding from his head but he’s always had my back. I’m not sure what type of demon he is, but he’s strong as hell and takes no shit from anyone except Ruby, who happens to be his girlfriend.

  I walk up to the bar and flag her down. “Shorthanded tonight?” I ask.

  “Yeah. It’s impossible to find good help anymore.” She shakes her head, her red curls bouncing. “The usual?” She asks me as she’s already pouring me two fingers of bourbon over one giant cube of ice. She slides it across the bar and heads down to

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  take care of two vampires who can’t keep their hands off each other.

  I nurse my drink at the bar and scroll through the news on my phone until I see the door open. A vampire walks in. He’s so tall he barely makes it through the door without his head hitting it. His eyes take in the people around the bar, a predatory glance until his gaze lands on me. He has short blond hair, light blue eyes, and fills out his perfectly tailored suit in the most delicious way. His lips turn up slightly in a gentle smile that barely reaches his eyes. I hope he’s not the mystery client, he’s too gorgeous, and vampires are the biggest threat to me.

  I’m so enthralled that I miss the next man that walks in. He’s taller than me but a few inches shorter than the vamp and slimly built. I immediately sense he’s a shifter, but my wolf isn’t threatened, she recognizes a submissive beast in him. His red hair is disheveled, as though he just ran his hands through it and his green eyes are alert. He’s wearing jeans and a Star Wars graphic t-shirt. It’s oddly adorable. Surely those two can’t be together.

  Before I can puzzle that one out; I’m hit with a wave of hot desire as an incubus strolls in hot on their heels. All the women 12

  Emily Dawn

  in bar snap their heads in his direction before he realizes it and pulls his magic back in. He gives an arrogant smirk and winks at Ruby, who just overfilled a shot glass. He’s wearing jeans and a tight gray v-neck shirt. I see several tattoos snaking out of the collar of his shirt. He has short black hair and hazel eyes that just locked on me, sending another wave of heat through my body.