

Introduction
The Skull Artist’s crimes were beyond anything the city had seen: victims were killed, their skulls removed, and crime scenes turned into sickening “exhibits” abstract expressions made of flesh, bone, and blood. Greaves claimed it was all part of “revealing what lies beneath.” Lana caught him, barely, and the case was buried.
But now, just when she’s told her promotion is on the table, another body turns up displayed exactly like Greaves’ original work. Except Greaves is still locked in maximum security.
The case threatens to unravel everything she’s fought for. And as the press explodes and her department hesitates, Lana is told she can have her promotion… if she solves this new case.
Chapter 1
Chapter One
They say you only get one shot at proving yourself. But what they don’t say is—sometimes, that shot is soaked in blood, wrapped in regret, and aimed straight at your head.
I’d been sitting in this damn office for forty-seven minutes. Not that I was counting, but trust me, I was. The clock on the wall ticked like it was mocking me, each second dragging a sigh out of my chest. This was supposed to be the moment. My moment. Promotion board meeting, round three. My coffee was cold, and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Not from fear. I don’t get scared easily—not anymore. It’s just... anticipation. Rage. Hope, maybe. I don’t know. Maybe all three.
Captain Ronning was late. Again. And it didn’t help that every time I came here, I sat in the same damn seat, staring at the same crooked photo of him shaking hands with the mayor like he’d just solved world hunger. All he did was survive bureaucracy, which, honestly, might be a harder job than what I do.
I shifted in my chair and stared down at my boots. Black. Polished. Military issue. I never served, but my brother did. Before he ended up face down in a ditch because the government forgot to care about the soldiers they break. He always told me, “Keep your boots clean, and the dirt won’t stick.” It stuck anyway.
The door creaked open. Finally. Ronning walked in like he wasn’t fifty goddamn minutes late, dropped a file on his desk, and sighed.
Never a good sign.
I straightened. He didn’t sit down. Another bad sign.
“Cross,” he said, his voice low, gravel in his throat like he chewed cigars for breakfast. “This isn’t the conversation I wanted to have today.”
I almost laughed. Welcome to my entire career, sir.
“Then let’s make it quick,” I replied, deadpan. “Yes or no?”
He looked up, eyes squinting, like my bluntness was a surprise. It shouldn’t be. I don’t sugar-coat. I don’t kiss asses. I solve cases.
“You’re not getting the lieutenant badge,” he said.
Just like that. Knife to the chest. Twist. Pull.
I didn’t flinch.
“Why?” I asked, even though I already knew.
“Politics,” he said, shrugging. “And the board doesn’t like your... attitude.”
“My attitude?”
He waved his hand like it was supposed to dismiss the insult. “You don’t play well with others. You bend rules.”
I leaned forward. “I bend them because the rules are broken. You want me to follow protocol while a girl bleeds out in an alley and we wait six hours for a warrant?”
“Lana—”
“I’ve closed more cases in the last twelve months than half this department combined,” I snapped. “But sure, let’s talk about my tone.”
He sighed. A real one, this time. Almost like he felt sorry for me. Almost.
“There’s another reason,” he said. “And it’s not coming from me.”
He slid the folder across the desk. My name wasn’t on the cover. Just a case number. One I knew better than my own reflection.
SK-087: The Skull Artist.
I froze. That case was supposed to be dead. Buried. Just like the ten victims we never fully identified.
“No,” I said before he could continue. “He’s locked up. Case closed.”
Ronning shook his head. “We got a body this morning. Same signature. Meat art. Blood writing. This time it spelled ‘hello.’”
My stomach twisted. Not fear. Not again. Not now. I thought I was past this.
“You think it’s a copycat,” I said, but my voice cracked on the last word. I hated that.
“We’re not sure,” he said. “But the commissioner thinks if anyone can close this, it’s the person who caught him the first time.”
I stood up, fists clenched. “I didn’t catch him. I just got lucky.”
“You survived him,” he replied. “That’s more than most.”
I turned toward the window, breathing through my nose. Outside, the city looked gray and tired. Just like me.
“This isn’t just a case,” I said. “This is a trap. For me.”
He didn’t argue. That was the worst part. He knew I was right.
“You solve this,” he said quietly, “and the badge is yours.”
I laughed. A bitter, hollow sound.
“Right. So, let me risk my mind, my life, and everything I’ve rebuilt... for a promotion.”
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. The answer was obvious.
I took the folder, walked out, and didn’t look back.
Back at my apartment, I dropped the folder on the kitchen counter and stared at it like it might bite. The apartment was quiet, too quiet. I used to live with someone. A man. Good guy. Couldn’t handle my demons. Left a note on the fridge that said, “I love you, but I can’t love all the parts you keep buried.”
I didn’t blame him.
I opened the folder. First crime scene photo: a young woman, early twenties, posed like she was dancing. Arms lifted, back arched, but her skull—gone. Skin peeled in long, artistic strips, arranged in spirals around the body. Blood used to paint the floor like brush strokes.
Same as before. Exactly.
The Skull Artist had a thing for turning flesh into art. Said he was revealing the truth underneath. That’s why he removed the skulls. To him, the skull was the purest form of human beauty. He called it the “sacred core.”
I’d interviewed him three times during the original case. Each time, I walked out feeling like I needed to bleach my soul.
His real name was Vincent Greaves. Former art professor. Lectured on pain and beauty. Wrote poetry that made no sense unless you were broken inside.
I reached into my desk and pulled out the recorder I hadn’t touched in years. The last tape I made after Greaves was arrested. I’d never played it back. I’d been scared of what I might hear.
I pressed play.
His voice poured out, soft and cold.
“Detective Cross. You think you’ve stopped the story. But stories don’t end with the writer in chains. They end when the message is complete. And mine... is far from over.”
I shut it off.
He wasn’t wrong.
Tomorrow, I’ll go to the prison. I’ll look him in the eyes again.
But tonight, I’m going to pour myself a drink, sit in the dark, and remember what it felt like to be whole—before I ever heard the name Skull Artist.
And maybe, just maybe, I’ll start preparing for war.
Because if this really is the sequel...
I refuse to be the victim this time.
Last Chapters
#55 No as a Weapon
Last Updated: 9/8/2025#54 The Hand and the City
Last Updated: 9/8/2025#53 The Roof and the Ring
Last Updated: 9/8/2025#52 The City Writes in Light
Last Updated: 9/8/2025#51 Fire Teaches the Room
Last Updated: 9/8/2025#50 Gilt and Gravity
Last Updated: 9/8/2025#49 When the Frame Falls
Last Updated: 9/8/2025#48 Frame or Fire
Last Updated: 9/8/2025#47 The Knife
Last Updated: 9/8/2025#46 The Knife Behind the Applause
Last Updated: 9/8/2025
You Might Like 😍
A pack of their own
To protect what’s mine
The Prison Project
Can love tame the untouchable? Or will it only fuel the fire and cause chaos amongst the inmates?
Fresh out of high school and suffocating in her dead-end hometown, Margot longs for her escape. Her reckless best friend, Cara, thinks she's found the perfect way out for them both - The Prisoner Project - a controversial program offering a life-changing sum of money in exchange for time spent with maximum-security inmates.
Without hesitation, Cara rushes to sign them up.
Their reward? A one-way ticket into the depths of a prison ruled by gang leaders, mob bosses, and men the guards wouldn't even dare to cross...
At the centre of it all, meets Coban Santorelli - a man colder than ice, darker than midnight, and as deadly as the fire that fuels his inner rage. He knows that the project may very well be his only ticket to freedom - his only ticket to revenge on the one who managed to lock him up and so he must prove that he can learn to love…
Will Margot be the lucky one chosen to help reform him?
Will Coban be capable of bringing something to the table other than just sex?
What starts off as denial may very well grow in to obsession which could then fester in to becoming true love…
A temperamental romance novel.
The mafia princess return
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother
"What is wrong with me?
Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?
It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.
He’s my boyfirend’s brother.
This is Tyler’s family.
I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.
**
As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.
Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.
When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.
I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.
**
I hate girls like her.
Entitled.
Delicate.
And still—
Still.
The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.
Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.
I shouldn’t care.
I don’t care.
It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.
It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.
I’m not here to rescue anyone.
Especially not her.
Especially not someone like her.
She’s not my problem.
And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.
But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
Fangs, Fate & Other Bad Decisions
After finding out her boyfriend cheated, the last thing she expected was to stumble across a wounded man in an alley. And definitely not one with fangs. But thanks to a mix of cocktails, shame, and her questionable life choices, she takes him home. Turns out, he’s not just any vampire—he’s a king. And according to him, she’s his fated mate.
Now, she’s stuck with an overprotective, brooding bloodsucker who keeps rescuing her, a growing list of enemies who want her dead, and an undeniable attraction that’s making it very hard to remember why falling for a vampire is a terrible idea.
Because if she’s not careful, she won’t just lose her heart—she’ll lose her humanity.
The Badass Mafia Princess and Family
Mr. Ryan
He came closer with a dark and hungry expression,
so close,
his hands reached for my face, and he pressed his body against mine.
His mouth took mine eagerly, a little rudely.
His tongue left me breathless.
“If you don't go with me, I'll fuck you right here.” He whispered.
Katherine kept her virginity for years even after she turned 18. But one day, she met an extremely sexual man Nathan Ryan in the club. He had the most seductive blue eyes she has ever seen, a well-defined chin, almost golden blonde hair, full lips, perfectly drawn, and the most amazing smile, with perfect teeth and those damn dimples. Incredibly sexy.
She and he had a beautiful and hot one-night stand...
Katherine thought she might not meet the man again.
But fate has another plan
Katherine is about to take on the job of assistant to a billionaire who owns one of the biggest companies in the country and is known to be a conquering, authoritative and completely irresistible man. He is Nathan Ryan!
Will Kate be able to resist the charms of this attractive, powerful and seductive man?
Read to know a relationship torn between anger and the uncontrollable desire for pleasure.
Warning: R18+, Only for mature readers.
His Mission
Emily is suddenly thrown from one world of danger and uncertainty into another. The two teens ride the rollercoaster of love, unbelievable betrayal and heartache.
Omega Bound
Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life.
Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
“Burn those who burned me!”
Burn those who burned me is an anthology book circulated on truth; justice; and REVENGE!
Story #1 The Ballad of Rabena Price.
Story #2 The rebirth of Clara Granger
Story #3 The violin of Graceland Teague
Story #4 The list for Josie Taylor
Story #5 COMING SOON!
I Am His Wolfless Luna
Ethan also kept emitting deep roars in my ear, 'Damn... I'm going to cum... !!!' His impact became more intense and our bodies kept making slapping sounds.
"Please!! Ethan!!"
As the strongest female warrior in my pack, I was betrayed by those I trusted most, my sister and my best friend. I was drugged, raped, and banished from my family and my pack. I lost my wolf, my honor, and became an outcast—carrying a child I never asked for.
Six years of hard-won survival turned me into a professional fighter, fueled by rage and grief. A summons arrives from the formidable Alpha heir, Ethan, asking me to return as a wolfless combat instructor for the very pack that once banished me.
I thought I could ignore their whispers and stares, but when I see Ethan's emerald-green eyes—the same as my son’s—my world tilts.