Among Sinners

Death doesn’t play favorites.

Except in the case of one.

At Arabelle Magallanes’ most recent gallery opening, she is, again, face to face with the man who has long acted as her muse: Death. After finally daring to name their shared affection that has gone nearly twenty-five years unsaid, the two of them agree to begin seeing one another, with the caveat that Death will finally allow Arabelle to die if he is to fail in giving her a purpose to live for. However, while mere appearance constitutes Death as a perfect lover, his immortality forbids him from providing—let alone understanding—the things Arabelle has always sought in a partner, like a future with children and commitment.

Another factor complicating things is Death’s complimentary, divine opposite and life’s sole creator, Helena, who refuses to simply let go of her past with Death as his on-again, off-again lover. Then, in another encounter arranged by fate, Arabelle meets a mortal man named Cedric who, in contrast, can give her everything Death cannot. Now forced to choose between the comfort of her past with Death or the hope of her future with Cedric, Arabelle comes to realize that neither man can give her a purpose to build her life around.

Because she has to be the one to define it herself.

A Covenant of Blood

1987.

Miami strip.

Two factions of a holy war between the sibling gods, Apo Laki and Mayari, battle for control of the city of Impiyerno in the sweltering, summer heat; where neon signs illuminate the path towards capital and sees the money that flows through the streets make the city turn properly on its axis.

The chosen of Apo Laki, clan Sa Kalis, are the undisputed rulers of the underground, and they hold up the foundation of Impiyerno’s other criminal enterprises. Second-born, Alekandre, acts as the harbinger of his patriarch’s will as his hitman. His only purpose—since transitioning into a man—is perpetuating the wrath of Sa Kalis violence, and it’s a cycle he’s now all but trapped in, with no tangible hope for his autonomy or individuality to break free from its chains.

The chosen of Mayari, clan Sa Dugo, are the governance that wants to see the Sa Kalis in handcuffs. First-born daughter, Mayari, is the heir to her father’s legacy, and she has been groomed to inherit his kingdom since the very moment she was born. Cunning, calculating, and efficient, she has the temper to put her father’s lofty ideas into tangible creation, acting as the brain of Impiyerno’s ruling authority while her father acts as its corresponding heart and face.

Eventually, when Alekandre and Mayari meet, they each must grapple with the weight of the roles they each have been given, and if they even want them to begin with. Then, a fierce, all-consuming attraction soon blinds all five of their immediate senses, and now acts the narrator dictating the final act of heir star-crossed love affair, where their flesh will be given for flesh, and their blood will be given for blood.

A Hospital for Souls
(The Downfall of Us All, #1)

For the last eighteen years, The Dragnet Games offer salvation to each human in Sempiternal who can survive their month long reaping; guaranteed movement into the vampire ruling class by being allowed to become one. 

But, eternal life is an afterthought when Dante Alonso Hidalgo enlists in The Dragnet Games hellbent on vengeance instead.

Five years ago, his older brother, Xavier Alonso Hidalgo, became Sempiternal’s sole authority in light his victory at The Dragnet Games and the coup d’état he oversaw in the aftermath. Then forced into exile, Dante was taken-in by his uncle, Clayton Alonso, who once acted as the former head of Sempiternal’s human founded resistance, The Masquerade. After his uncle helps him master the since outlawed Blood Sacraments, which act as the only remaining tether to actually kill a vampire, Dante comes back to Sempiternal with a clear plan having since transitioned into a man: enroll in The Dragnet Games to gain access to the Sulod District that only vampires are allowed to otherwise inhabit. Then, kill his brother to rectify the current imbalance between the realms of the living and the undead, the weight of his own life be damned.

However, Dante’s luck eventually runs out after one of his allies, Chase Zhu, is kidnapped by the main obstacle of The Games, being The Hunters; a handpicked group of vampires tasked with eradicating the Dragnet Games’s Participants until there are no remaining survivors. In a last act of desperation to get Chase back, Dante and his other allies, Lisanna Wilson, Rue Alvarado, and Conner Alcina, strike up a deal with one of those same Hunters named Leila Johnson, who in exchange, asks for their help to unearth a potential, government conspiracy. Tying into a grander, ulterior motive as to why The Dragnet Games are held, Leila believes the truth not only implicates the whole of Xavier’s administration, but the entire foundation of Sempiternal society that has become dependent on Courser Chips; AI-powered SD Cards that are embedded into existing technology, giving it a human-like interface that has since launched Sempiternal into its current, digital age.

Now with the future of Sempiternal resting neatly in his hands, Dante must either cast away his selfish, one-sided aspirations of revenge for something bigger than himself, or be so consumed by it that it sees him lose himself and everyone else he cares about entirely. But, no matter which avenue Dante chooses, his destiny already involves powers so infinite they are as ancient as the land itself. And, they have already deemed him the only possible vessel that can fix all Xavier has already broken.

Lost But Never Found

Six years ago, Icarus Whitmore and Apollo Casiano had a bloody falling out that saw Apollo quit the band they had founded together, The Heist, in the midst of their world tour.

But after Icarus’s untimely death at sea, Apollo is now face to face with the ghost of what could have been after being named the sole executor of Icarus’s will and estate.

To come to terms with his grief, Apollo decides to make a documentary about The Heist with the help of its other members, Simone Wong and Khalil Graham. As the three of them dig through their memories, archival footage, and abandoned, online blogs once dedicated to the time they shared together, Apollo remembers Icarus as a confidant, a visionary, and a muse. But, as different perspectives about his former best friend come to light, Apollo is now left with more questions than actual answers.

The most concerning being, was Icarus’s death simply a tragic accident, or was it an intentional act so Icarus could have the last say on his life?

Now forced to confront a complicated, contradictory image of the man he once loved, Apollo must also come to terms with his feelings for Icarus that have gone nearly a decade unsaid. Because Icarus entrusted his legacy solely to Apollo, knowing he remains the only person who could ever say he once understood him flesh, blood, bones, and all.

A Waltz into Ruin

Antonio Ortez haunts Cleyo Frontera in gory visions where he oversees their destiny of mutual ruination.

The star-crossed lovers are then face to face after Cleyo is also hand-picked by to learn under Schaffer University’s tenured professor of Philippine mythology. Despite the insatiable, cosmic draw that links her to Antonio’s world, Cleyo cannot be with Antonio because she has already promised to uphold her parents’s expectations in the place of her sister who was murdered last year. Besides, Antonio is currently with Octavia, and Cleyo, in turn, has agreed to be with Octavia’s younger brother, Caesar. If Antonio dares to be unfaithful to Octavia again, Caesar is not afraid of using violence as means to correct all Antonio has already wrought at Octavia’s expense.

But the fate Cleyo and Antonio are destined for involves powers infinitely grander at play than they could ever begin to imagine. Because the scorned wife of a once whole Bisayan pantheon seeks atonement for sins committed eternities ago, and she will not rest until Cleyo and Antonio pay their eventual price.