
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: 1/24/2026#54 The Hand and the City
Last Updated: 1/24/2026#53 The Roof and the Ring
Last Updated: 1/24/2026#52 The City Writes in Light
Last Updated: 1/24/2026#51 Fire Teaches the Room
Last Updated: 1/24/2026#50 Gilt and Gravity
Last Updated: 1/24/2026#49 When the Frame Falls
Last Updated: 1/24/2026#48 Frame or Fire
Last Updated: 1/24/2026#47 The Knife
Last Updated: 1/24/2026#46 The Knife Behind the Applause
Last Updated: 1/24/2026
You Might Like 😍
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
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms
From first crush to wedding vows, George Capulet and I had been inseparable. But in our seventh year of marriage, he began an affair with his secretary.
On my birthday, he took her on vacation. On our anniversary, he brought her to our home and made love to her in our bed...
Heartbroken, I tricked him into signing divorce papers.
George remained unconcerned, convinced I would never leave him.
His deceptions continued until the day the divorce was finalized. I threw the papers in his face: "George Capulet, from this moment on, get out of my life!"
Only then did panic flood his eyes as he begged me to stay.
When his calls bombarded my phone later that night, it wasn't me who answered, but my new boyfriend Julian.
"Don't you know," Julian chuckled into the receiver, "that a proper ex-boyfriend should be as quiet as the dead?"
George seethed through gritted teeth: "Put her on the phone!"
"I'm afraid that's impossible."
Julian dropped a gentle kiss on my sleeping form nestled against him. "She's exhausted. She just fell asleep."
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.
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.
From Substitute To Queen
Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.
Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.
In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?
From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!
Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate
What? No—wait… oh Moon Goddess, no.
Please tell me you're joking, Lex.
But she's not. I can feel her excitement bubbling under my skin, while all I feel is dread.
We turn the corner, and the scent hits me like a punch to the chest—cinnamon and something impossibly warm. My eyes scan the room until they land on him. Tall. Commanding. Beautiful.
And then, just as quickly… he sees me.
His expression twists.
"Fuck no."
He turns—and runs.
My mate sees me and runs.
Bonnie has spent her entire life being broken down and abused by the people closest to her including her very own twin sister. Alongside her best friend Lilly who also lives a life of hell, they plan to run away while attending the biggest ball of the year while it's being hosted by another pack, only things don't quite go to plan leaving both girls feeling lost and unsure about their futures.
Alpha Nicholas is 28, mateless, and has no plans to change that. It's his turn to host the annual Blue Moon Ball this year and the last thing he expects is to find his mate. What he expects even less is for his mate to be 10 years younger than him and how his body reacts to her. While he tries to refuse to acknowledge that he has met his mate his world is turned upside down after guards catch two she-wolves running through his lands.
Once they are brought to him he finds himself once again facing his mate and discovers that she's hiding secrets that will make him want to kill more than one person.
Can he overcome his feelings towards having a mate and one that is so much younger than him? Will his mate want him after already feeling the sting of his unofficial rejection? Can they both work on letting go of the past and moving forward together or will fate have different plans and keep them apart?
Surrendering to Destiny
Graham MacTavish wasn't prepared to find his mate in the small town of Sterling that borders the Blackmoore Packlands. He certainly didn't expect her to be a rogue, half-breed who smelled of Alpha blood. With her multi-colored eyes, there was no stopping him from falling hard the moment their mate bond snapped into place. He would do anything to claim her, protect her and cherish her no matter the cost.
From vengeful ex-lovers, pack politics, species prejudice, hidden plots, magic, kidnapping, poisoning, rogue attacks, and a mountain of secrets including Catherine's true parentage there is no shortage of things trying to tear the two apart.
Despite the hardships, a burning desire and willingness to trust will help forge a strong bond between the two... but no bond is unbreakable. When the secrets kept close to heart are slowly revealed, will the two be able to weather the storm? Or will the gift bestowed upon Catherine by the moon goddess be too insurmountable to overcome?
The Human Among Wolves
My stomach twisted, but he wasn’t finished.
"You're just a pathetic little human," Zayn said, his words deliberate, each one hitting like a slap. "Spreading your legs for the first guy who bothers to notice you."
Heat rushed to my face, burning with humiliation. My chest ached — not from his words alone, but from the sick realization that I had trusted him. That I had let myself believe he was different.
I was so, so stupid.
——————————————————
When eigteen-year-old Aurora Wells moves to a sleepy town with her parents, the last thing she expects is to be enrolled in a secret academy for werewolves.
Moonbound Academy is no ordinary school. It's here young Lycans, Betas and Alphas train in shifting, elemental magic, and ancient pack laws. But Aurora? She's just...human. a mistake. The new receptionist forgot to check her species - and now she's surrounded by predators who sense she doesn't belong.
Determined to stay under the radar, Aurora plans to survive the year unnoticed. But when she catches the attention of Zayn, a brooding and infuriatingly powerful Lycan prince, her life gets a lot more complicated. Zayn already has a mate. He already has enemies. And he definitely doesn't want anything to do with a clueless human.
But secrets run deeper than bloodlines at Moonbound. as Aurora unravels the truth about the academy - and herself - she begins to question everything she thought she knew.
Including the reason she was brought here at all.
Enemies will rise. Loyalties will shift. And the girl with no place in their world...might be the key to saving it.
The mafia princess return
Invisible To Her Bully
Shattered Girl
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Was that too much?” I could see the worry in his eyes as I took a deep breath.
“I just didn’t want you to see all my scars,” I whispered, feeling ashamed of my marked body.
Emmy Nichols is used to surviving. She survived her abusive father for years until he beat her so severely, she ended up in the hospital, and her father was finally arrested. Now, Emmy is thrown into a life she never expected. Now she has a mother
who doesn't want her, a politically motivated stepfather with ties to the Irish mob, four older stepbrothers, and their best friend who swear to love and protect her. Then, one night, everything shatters, and Emmy feels her only option is to run.
When her stepbrothers and their best friend finally find her, will they pick up the pieces and convince Emmy that they will keep her safe and their love will hold them together?
I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis
Technically, Rhys Granger was my fiancé now—billionaire, devastatingly hot, and a walking Wall Street wet dream. My parents shoved me into the engagement after Catherine disappeared, and honestly? I didn’t mind. I’d crushed on Rhys for years. This was my chance, right? My turn to be the chosen one?
Wrong.
One night, he slapped me. Over a mug. A stupid, chipped, ugly mug my sister gave him years ago. That’s when it hit me—he didn’t love me. He didn’t even see me. I was just a warm-bodied placeholder for the woman he actually wanted. And apparently, I wasn’t even worth as much as a glorified coffee cup.
So I slapped him right back, dumped his ass, and prepared for disaster—my parents losing their minds, Rhys throwing a billionaire tantrum, his terrifying family plotting my untimely demise.
Obviously, I needed alcohol. A lot of alcohol.
Enter him.
Tall, dangerous, unfairly hot. The kind of man who makes you want to sin just by existing. I’d met him only once before, and that night, he just happened to be at the same bar as my drunk, self-pitying self. So I did the only logical thing: I dragged him into a hotel room and ripped off his clothes.
It was reckless. It was stupid. It was completely ill-advised.
But it was also: Best. Sex. Of. My. Life.
And, as it turned out, the best decision I’d ever made.
Because my one-night stand isn’t just some random guy. He’s richer than Rhys, more powerful than my entire family, and definitely more dangerous than I should be playing with.
And now, he’s not letting me go.












