Linden F. Larkspur

I know how monsters look when stripped to bone and wire. What I don't know is why Count Zsigmond Csáky—gorgeous, aristocratic, and thoroughly undead—thinks someone in the imperial ministry has replaced the grand chancellor with a carrion mimic. Zsigmond needs my anatomical expertise to spot the imposter before the continental coronation; I need his supernatural speed to keep from being silenced by steam-cutter assassins. Trapped together in lavish ballrooms and reeking preservation vaults, our paranoid banter turns into a scorching, dangerous attraction. But in a court where every smile hides sharpened fangs and fake skin, falling for a vampire who suspects his own shadow might be the most lethal mistake I ever make.

Klaasje Blaauw has never met a creature she couldn't soothe. Her psychic empathy and calm pulse have made her the most requested companion-beast handler on the continental sky-gondola lines. But her skills are tested when she is summoned to first class to handle an emergency: Lord Joris van der Meer, the mainland's most illustrious sun-falcon shifter envoy, is having a catastrophic bout of air sickness.

Terrified of turbulence and shedding fiery golden feathers all over the silk furniture, Joris is one air pocket away from setting the transport ablaze. Klaasje steps into his suite with dried mango slices and unflappable patience. As the gondola glides across sunlit mountain peaks, Joris finds solace in Klaasje’s gentle touch—and reasons to stay grounded by her side.