★ 2014 USA Best Books Award Finalist ★ Hidden deep beneath the city of San Diego is the mysterious town of Ţărână. Nothing here is as it seems. Because everything they tell her is a lie. Debilitated by scoliosis as a child, Marissa Bonaventure seems the unlikeliest woman in the world to carry a rare, powerful gene. But it is exactly for her unique genetics that she's snatched from her bed one dark night, a coveted prize in a battle between demons. Her world rapidly unravels in unspeakable terror...until a shadowed, black-haired stranger rescues her. Spirited off to the safety of a subterranean town, Marissa agrees to stay there and work her dream job for one year. But secrets hide around every corner, none more confusing than those shrouding her hunky hero. Special operative Dev Nichita has found her at last - his true mate. But the lies he's been forced to tell her put their fledgling relationship at risk when it finally comes out that he's a vampire. More than that, Dev is a Pure-bred male, steeped from birth in his family's arrogance and pride, so when Marissa pulls away from him, he can't handle her rejection. Bitterly, he drives her further away...until a devastating tragedy calls him back to her. Now he has the chance to right his wrongs. But just when he's on the verge of triumph, a treacherous move by his spiteful mother banishes Marissa from his life forever...unless he's willing to kill an innocent. Content guidelines: contains profanity, violence, and adult situations.