The Manor: A Butch/Femme Dark Urban Fantasy Shifter novella

Ashton In the dark of one dimly moonlit night, a pair of piercing emerald green eyes peers out through the thick foliage that surrounds Vaughan Manor, intensely observing the pretty human female who had stepped out onto the wide stone stairs to look at the moon. The sleek black jaguar shifter turns and silently vanishes, but not before wondering why she is feeling such an unusual pull to a human, of all things. Because human women, no matter how pretty, are best avoided in a place like Jaguar Grove. Lillibet When Lillibet Vaughan inherits Vaughan Manor unexpectedly from an unknown family member, she is startled to learn the mysterious mansion has long been considered a supernatural portal by the members of the tiny town of Jaguar Grove-and she is now its Guardian. Scoffing at the silly superstition, the human Lillibet nevertheless moves the one hundred twenty miles from her home in Tampa to Jaguar Grove, welcoming the chance to escape her suffocating ex-girlfriend and thankful her career as a romance writer makes it possible for her to live anywhere. ɚωɚωɚωɚ When Lillibet meets Ashton Panthera, she is at a loss to explain the strange, inexplicable attraction she has to the masculine of center Native American arborist. Ashton, however, realizes that Lillibet is in fact more than human: She is a hereditary witch of considerable power, with access to ancient knowledge, spells, and lore. Bound at birth by her long-dead mother for her own protection, Lillibet holds a formidable power and knowledge within herself that has been blocked from her for her entire life. And Lillibet is Ashton's mate. Zagan Salazar, the Black Warlock of The Tombs in The Underneath, has been biding his time for centuries, waiting for an opportunity to destroy the Vaughan witches and free the demons trapped in The Tombs. Just as he thinks he wins-that the Vaughan witches are finally no more-Lillibet's binding is shattered by her jaguar shifter mate, her transcendent power flaring for every magickal creature from miles around to see. In a killing rage, Zagan vows that the last surviving Vaughan witch will not impede his plans to control the supernatural world. When it becomes clear that Zagan is a dangerous threat to Lillibet, Ashton and the town of Jaguar Grove vow the warlock will not get his hands on Ashton's witch mate and her magick for his own evil use. But Zagan is determined to enslave Lillibet and hold her prisoner in The Underneath, siphoning her powers for himself until every magical creature in existence-including Ashton Panthera-is a slave to him and his villainy. Or until they are wiped from existence forever.