Rippers Heart

"A family meant to protect her. A father who broke her. A hunger that will never end."

In the winter of 1002 AD, Astrid Mikaelson was the "Shield-Maiden Twin"-a witch whose magic was sworn to protect her kin. But when the death of her brother Henrik drives her father, Mikael, to madness, the "Witch-Twins" are forced to drink a wine spiked with blood and betrayal. Murdered by her own father and reborn in a whirlwind of gore, Astrid becomes the First Ripper, a creature of refined Viking combat and unquenchable bloodlust.

Astrid's soul became a battlefield for over ten centuries. But a thousand years of immortality have brought her more than just power; they have brought a shattering cycle of love and heartbreak. For Astrid, to love is to protect, and to fail in that protection is to lose her soul. Each time her heart has been broken by a lover's betrayal or a friend's death, the Hunger within her stops being a choice and becomes an all-consuming fire. It is a Ripper's curse: her grief is the fuel that turns the Shield-Maiden into a butcher.

Now,in the neon shadows of New Orleans, Astrid is a Mikaelson , a warrior Vampire walking the line between the living and the Ancestral Well. Her journey is one of reclamation: hunting the spirits of her past to regain the Viking magic stolen from her, while fighting a battle against the hunger that threatens to consume her every night. She must learn if a heart that has been broken for a millennium can ever truly heal-or if she is destined to be the Shield for everyone but herself.

"Always and Forever"