>>Rated NC-17 for explicit depictions of sexuality, graphic nudity, heavy and constant drug usage, aberrant torture and gore, bloody violence, strong and pervasive language, sexual violence, some mention of it towards children, a rape scene, and child abuse.<<
Nine lives, among them a bloodthirsty vampire, an insane doctor, and a man with the head of a dragon, are suddenly and irreversibly entwined when one by one they are taken to a place called The City. Here, they discover things about one another that drastically threaten their sanity and their lives. As the city begins to grow it becomes sentient, and soon they are pitted against each other in a hellish battle to the death. Will they come together to fight the ultimate source of evil, or will the madness in the air drag them below?
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]]