Three decades after the events of REAPER, the world is a different place. The secret is out. The existence of demons, vampires, shapeshifters, and angels has been revealed, and humans are struggling to adapt. Out of the chaos, The Aegis has risen to global power on the promise of containing or exterminating all underworlders, even if that means ushering in the End of Days.
Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Larissa Ione’s Legacy of Temptation, which is the first installment in the Demonica Birthright series and releases on February 6th 2024.
Eva Tennant, like everyone at The Aegis, hates demons. But she loves her job as Deputy Spokesperson for the global demon-slaying organization, and she’s excited to be in the running for Chief Spokesperson. All she has to do is not screw up the two-week exchange program with The Aegis’s rival agency, the Demon Activity Response Team. But things go horribly wrong when a murder turns her into a fugitive from justice and puts a demonic target on her back.
Logan, son of the Horseman of the Apocalypse known as Death, has dedicated his life to fighting demons alongside his colleagues at DART. He loves fighting, females, and his pet hellhound, Cujo. What he doesn’t love is The Aegis, whose leadership attempted to slaughter him at birth. Understandably, he balks when he’s ordered to protect an Aegis Guardian responsible for the deaths of his friends. Really, he’d rather feed her to Cujo.
But when an old enemy rises from the ashes, Eva and Logan find themselves giving into temptation even as they sacrifice the things…and people…they love the most.
Eva didn’t usually allow herself to feel smug. But as she squeezed her thighs into Logan’s ribs and looked down into his surprised eyes, she reveled in the smugness.
Reveled.
He’d needed to be taken down a peg. By her estimation, she’d taken him down several.
“When did you get your stang from your tote bag?”
She basked in more self-satisfaction. She’d slipped the weapon from the bag before putting it down, and while he disarmed, she’d slid the blade into the sheath sewn into the fabric at the hip of her skirt.
“Does it matter?”
“I guess not,” he said, his gaze raking her body, assessing it, making her sweat. That wasn’t the look of someone who’d just gotten their ass handed to them. That was the look of a man with a woman straddling him…on a mattress. In a bedroom.
Not on a mat. In a gymnasium.
“Now,” he continued, his voice like warm caramel, “what is your next move?”
She deftly twirled the stang between her fingers and pressed the gold blade deeper into his skin, careful not to break it. Would be a shame to mar that perfectly tan canvas made for the kiss of a woman’s lips.
“If you were a demon, I’d slit your throat.”
“Would you?” Suddenly, his hand clamped around her wrist and wrenched the blade away from his neck. Pain shot up her arm as he flipped her and sent the stang clattering across the mat. In a heartbeat, she was flat on her back, and he was holding her down with the strength of his powerful legs and his considerable weight.
“Oh, come on,” she snapped up at him, humiliated by his effortless takedown. “If you were an enemy, you’d be dead, and you wouldn’t have had the chance to pin me like this.”
His face was inches from hers, heat rolling off him in waves that scorched her. If she lifted her head just a little, their lips would touch. She had a feeling he was a great kisser.
And she really, really shouldn’t be having thoughts like this.
“Maybe.” He rolled off her and sat on the mat, one arm casually laid across his bent knee. He wasn’t even breathing hard. Meanwhile, she was panting like she’d run a marathon. “But I’ll admit, that move was impressive.”
Of course, it was. She had a background in gymnastics and was freakishly flexible. Sitting up, she tugged her clothing back into place. “Thank y—”
“But it’s flawed.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“If you fail to kill your target, you can’t use that move again.”
“Of course, I can use it again.” Heat seared her cheeks at the realization that Keeley and Benji had apparently grown bored of the weapons and were watching from the edge of the mat. Hopefully, they’d seen her epic takedown and not just the humiliating aftermath.
Copyright 2024 Larissa Ione / All Rights Reserved
