Kalthum_Taheer_2525

In a world shattered by the eternal war between vampires and werewolves, Lira Voss a sharp-witted, jaded bartender with no memory of her past discovers she is anything but ordinary. A werewolf attack leaves her unscathed. A vampire’s bite fails to mark her skin. Now, both species want her for one reason: her blood holds the power to cure lycanthropy or strip vampires of their immortality.

Kidnapped by Selene Dracul, the ruthless vampire queen who rules the nocturnal cities, Lira learns the truth Selene wants to weaponize her blood to erase the werewolf clans. But the werewolf king, Kael Thorn, sees her as a threat that must be eliminated. As Lira’s fragmented memories resurface visions of a silver-eyed woman and a childhood spent in hiding—she uncovers an even darker truth: she is Selene’s daughter, hidden away to prevent a prophecy that foretold she would destroy the vampire throne.

Hunted from both sides, Lira allies with Ryen, Kael’s disillusioned beta wolf and a former scientist, who believes her blood could save his kind from their savage transformations. But as their uneasy partnership deepens into something forbidden, Lira’s experiments awaken latent vampiric traits, transforming her into a hybrid neither species understands.

When Selene launches a catastrophic assault on Kael’s stronghold, Lira must make an impossible choice. To end the war, she must infiltrate Selene’s court and drink from the Hollow Fang—a cursed chalice that could amplify her power or erase her humanity entirely. But in the final battle, Lira unearths the greatest betrayal of all: the prophecy was a lie, fabricated by her long-dead vampire father, who manipulated both species to orchestrate her birth as a weapon.

Now, with the fate of two warring races in her hands, Lira must decide—become the queen her mother demands, the savior the werewolves need, or something neither side is prepared for.

The Hollow Fang

The neon sign above The Rusty Chalice buzzed, its fractured glow staining the bar's fogged windows red. Lira Voss wiped down the counter, fingers tracing the knife scar in the oak. The air hung thick with the sour tang of spilled beer and charred pretzels.

"Another round, Marnie?" she called to the hunched woman at the far end of the bar.

Marnie's gnarled fingers tightened around her empty glass. "Skip the ice this time. Tastes like gutter water when it melts."

Lira smirked, pouring a double shot of whiskey. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Jax slid onto the stool beside Marnie, his trench coat reeking of damp newsprint. He slapped a crumpled tabloid onto the counter Eclipsion After Dark.

BLOOD MOON RISING: VAMPIRES STALK THE FRINGE?

A grainy photo beneath it showed claw marks raked across brick.

"Nightwatch found another body in the Howling Quarter," he said, tapping the image. "Throat torn clean out. Wolf work, they're calling it."

Lira rolled her eyes. "Or a pissed-off raccoon."

Jax leaned in, breath sour with falafel. "The Veil's crawling with blood traders. Half the kids here got bite marks they won't talk about. You think that's a coincidence?"

She flicked the tabloid back at him. "I think you need a girlfriend."

But her gaze lingered on the photo. The claw marks were too precise, too deliberate. Her stomach twisted. She'd seen marks like that before.

Marnie slammed her glass down. "Another."

Lira poured without a word, fingers brushing the locket around her neck a tarnished silver thing Jax had dug up from the ruins of her childhood home. Its engraved V gleamed under the bar lights.

"You ever gonna tell me what that stands for?" Jax asked.

He snorted. "Your mom was a junkie. Foster system chews up kids like you and spits 'em out."

Lira's smile didn't reach her eyes. "And yet here I am. Thriving."

The nightmare came again that night.

Smoke clogged her lungs as she stumbled through a collapsing castle, small hands slick with ash. A silver-eyed woman in black armor gripped her shoulders. "You must never tell them what you are." Flames devoured the tapestries. "Run, Lira. Don't look back."

Shadows writhed behind them—creatures with too many teeth, eyes glowing like dying stars. The woman shoved her into a hidden passage. "Find me when the blood moon rises."

Lira woke drenched in sweat, the locket's edges digging into her palm.

"What?" she snapped, yanking it open.

He held up a grease-stained paper bag. "Breakfast. You look like hell."

"And you're awake." He shouldered past her, dropping onto the couch. "Saw your light flickering. Thought you might need company."

She glared but took the bag. Falafel, cold and soggy.

"And you're a terrible liar." He nodded at her white-knuckled grip on the locket. "Nightmares again?"

"They're getting worse, aren't they?"

By dawn, the Fringe stirred. Lira trudged to work, boots crunching over broken glass.

A group of kids darted past. One had a fresh bandage on his neck.

She pushed into The Rusty Chalice. Grady, her boss, stood behind the bar.

He grabbed her arm. "Sixth time this month. You're done."

Outside, rain hissed against the pavement. Lira lit a stolen cigarette, hands steady.

Jax materialized beneath a streetlamp. "Heard the Howling Quarter's hiring."

"Suit yourself." He tossed her another falafel bag. "But you can't outrun forever, Lira."

She watched him vanish into the crowd, the locket cold against her skin.

Chapter 1:Shadows of Eclipsion