Death in the Desert

Out here, nothing is what it seems….

My name is Adina Venture, and I’m a Deathwalker. But I’m no longer an assassin. In fact, my life has become about as routine as any Operator’s life can be. I work a nine-to-five(ish) job for the Order’s Chaos Intervention Initiative. I hang out with family. I play video games and watch TV. I even have something of a boyfriend. Of course, I haven’t seen Chief Inquisitor Levi Breitling since the day he hired me. But that’s understandable considering our...history.

When my baby sister asks me to help her track down a missing woman using my unique set of skills, it sounds like an interesting diversion. Finding her is easy enough, but it’s the where of it that throws me—sitting in a safe house with the elusive Chief Inquisitor himself. Turns out, she witnessed a conspiracy involving a dynasty of powerful, vice-dealing shapeshifters, and is under the Order’s protection until they can dismantle the plot.

And she and Breitling also have…history.

But that doesn’t matter. There’s villainy afoot, and though I’m not an assassin anymore, I can’t sit back and let a bunch of evil shifters hurt innocent people. Even if it means entering a world of debauchery and illusion with a man who, try as I might, I can’t stop thinking about. I’ll just have to stay focused on what’s real, so I don’t lose myself in an impossible fantasy.

No matter how much I might want to.