In a last ditch attempt to save their race, humanity biologically engineered werewolves to fight against the invading vampires. Unlike their bloodsucking counterparts, werewolves can go walk in sunlight and while they don't have a vampire's telekinetic abilities, werewolves possess the ability to read minds and superior strength.
None of this matters to Ambrosia, however. When she wakes up in a prison with no memories except for her name, she is stunned to find out about this supernatural war going on, one that she apparently played a huge part in. Her vampire captors claim she is a werewolf who has killed dozens of vampires and sentence her to life in a vicious labor camp. Ambrosia struggles just to survive endless work, starvation, beatings and worse.
Raiden is a dhampyr, the child of a human and a vampire, who has discarded the prejudice of his pureblood comrades and managed to rise the ranks of the vampire military. Currently stationed at this prison, Raiden watches Ambrosia from afar and even begins to fall in love with her, helping Ambrosia survive her torture. Is she really the cold blooded murderer everyone says she is? Without her memory, she is a normal teenage girl trying to survive hell.
Together, they try to formulate an escape plan. However, Raiden is keeping something from Ambrosia- something that would tear both of them apart. As the war outside the prison is still raging, even if the two manage to escape, there may be no place for a werewolf and dhampyr in what is left of the war torn world.
Welcome to the prison of darkness.
Antique store owner Liz brings home a Victorian taxidermy hound from auction, unwittingly unleashing dark forces on her wife and son.
*****
Nat Loman has finally married the love of her life, Liz, and is getting used to her role as stepmother to Liz's 5-year-old son, Liam. The Loman family runs a bustling antique business so they attend a sale where a striking, black taxidermied hound is up for auction. Liz picks it up for the business, but it ends up being stored in their home, where Nat notices strange things occurring. She quickly discovers the past residents had died violently. Then she hears from a friend about the myth of "the devil's dog", a hound that perches in the shadows, tearing families apart from the inside. Soon, people around the Lomans are dying, and Liz is changing, darkening. It's up to Nat to save the woman she loves from the darkness closing in, and to save Liam from danger no matter what she has to sacrifice.
[[Winner of the 2018 Wattys "Hidden Gems" category]]
[[word count: 60,000-70,000 words]]