Novels by Taiwo

Adrian heard it.He heard it in the ballroom. He heard it in the car. He heard it in the clinic, when they laid her on the white bed and stitched the cut in her throat. He heard it in the quiet three hours after, when the drug finally left her system, and she slept.Cassian.He sat in a chair beside her bed, elbows on his knees, staring at her sleeping face.It was a name. Only a name. It meant nothing.A man's name.Her lips said it like a prayer.His wolf was a living thing in his chest, pacing, growling. Who? it demanded. Who is he? Who is the man she calls when she's dying?"Easy," he muttered. "Easy. We don't know."Find out.Adrian rubbed his eyes.He was being a fool. He knew it. She had nearly died tonight, and his first coherent thought, after the fear, was jealousy.You've lost your mind, he told himself. You're sitting here wondering if your wife has a lover, when someone is trying to kill her.But five years of silence made a man hungry in strange ways. He wanted to know e

Elena didn't scream.She did something better.She drove her heel into the attacker's instep, twisted in his grip, and slammed her elbow into his jaw. The blade nicked her neck, a hot line of pain, but she was already moving. Her free hand caught the charm at her throat.It burned like a coal."Duck," said a voice, very calm.She dropped.A black shape tore through the dark. There was a roar. A body hit the wall, and silence followed.Light flickered back on.The ballroom was chaos. Tables overturned. Guests screaming. Guards pouring in. And in the center of it, Adrian Blackthorn, half-shifted, his hands clawed and his eyes blazing gold, stood over three unconscious men.Then he saw Elena.Her gown was torn. A thin line of blood ran down her neck, soaking into the blue silk. She stood on shaking legs with a shard of glass in her fist.He crossed the floor in two strides."You're bleeding.""It's a scratch.""It's blood.""Adrian..."He caught her face in both hands, tilted her chin, a

The Winter Accord Gala was held every year in the ballroom of the Silverlight Hotel. Every Alpha, every Council member, every pack with an ounce of power came to be seen.Elena hated it on sight."I look ridiculous," she muttered, tugging at the deep blue gown."You look," said Adrian from the doorway of her dressing room, "like someone who could end a war."She turned. He was wearing black, a perfect tailored suit with a white shirt open at the throat, no tie. His hair was still damp. He looked lethal and unfairly beautiful.She forgot what she was going to say."Thank you," she managed."I mean it.""I know.""I'll be beside you all night.""I can protect myself.""I know that, too." He crossed the room, slowly. "But I'd like to be there while you do."His hand rose, and for a moment she thought he'd touch her face. Instead he fastened a thin silver chain at her neck. At the end hung a small black crescent."What is it?""My mother's. It's a warning charm. If anyone with a weapon co

They left the Council under heavy guard.The convoy wound through the city, then out onto the mountain road, and finally into the trees. By midnight, the black SUV rolled into a stone hunting lodge hidden among the pines, one of Adrian's oldest safehouses."It's secure," Lucas had promised on the phone. "Four guards on the perimeter. Silver wire in the walls. Nobody gets in who isn't invited."It was beautiful. Warm firelight. Thick rugs. A kitchen stocked with food.It had exactly one bed."There are two guest rooms," Elena said."One has a broken pipe," said the housekeeper, apologetic. "And the other is being aired.""Noah can sleep in the small room.""The small room is a closet, miss."Elena looked at Adrian.He was very carefully not looking at her. "I'll take the couch.""The couch is too short.""I've slept on worse.""You'll wake up crippled.""Then I'll be a crippled king."She rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. We'll share."Silence.His eyes lifted to hers. Slow, dark,

The Council Chamber was an old stone hall with a black marble floor and seven carved chairs.Elena had never been so aware of her own heartbeat."Remember," Adrian murmured beside her. "You don't owe them an answer.""I know.""If they push, look at me.""I know.""And if anyone touches you...""You'll rip their arm off. I know, Adrian."His mouth twitched. "Good."They walked in together. Whispers rippled around the benches. Elena kept her chin high.The Seven sat on a raised dais, ancient, gray, severe. At the center sat an elderly woman with silver hair and eyes like polished flint. Marguerite Vane, First Elder. She watched Elena without blinking."This hearing is convened," said the gray-bearded elder, "to determine the standing of one Elena Vale, accused of treason against the Blackthorn Crown.""Accused," Adrian said coldly, "on evidence I now know to be forged.""The Alpha is not permitted to testify in his own case.""I'm not testifying. I'm correcting the record.""Then corre

Elena didn't remember falling asleep.One minute she sat on the edge of a hotel bed in a safehouse Adrian's men had hurriedly prepared. The next, the world was white.Snow.It fell thick and silent over a dark forest. She was running, barefoot, a thin coat around her shoulders. Her breath came in sobs. Her belly ached with a weight that wasn't fear.I'm pregnant, she thought, so clearly it hurt. I'm going to tell him. I'm going to tell Adrian tomorrow.She stumbled. Ahead, between the trees, headlights flashed.A voice behind her was calling."Elena!"She turned.A man ran through the snow. Dark coat, bare head, his hair wild. His face was streaked with tears. He was calling her name over and over, hoarse, desperate, terrified."Elena! Elena, please! Don't go! Whatever they told you, it's a lie!"Her heart broke in two.Adrian.She tried to run to him. She tried to scream. But her legs wouldn't move, and her mouth wouldn't open, and something cold seeped into her veins.Someone had a