Forged by Fire
Blood and Magic — Book Six
Danielle Annett
Contents
Also by Danielle Annett
Praise for the Blood & Magic Series
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
20. Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Also by Danielle Annett
About the Author
Missing James?
Forged by Fire
Blood & Magic: Six
Copyright © 2019 Danielle Annett
All rights reserved, including the rights to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the author.
This book is a work of fiction; all characters, names, places, incidents, and events are the product of the authors imagination and either fictitious or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Cover Design: Coffee and Characters
Editor: Megan Records
Proofreader: Amy Halter
Formatting: Coffee and Characters
Also by Danielle Annett
Blood & Magic
Cursed by Fire
Kissed by Fire
Burned by Fire
Branded by Fire
Consumed by Fire
Forged by Fire
Praise for the Blood & Magic Series
Cursed by Fire
“Oh my GOODNESS! I completely devoured this book in one sitting it was THAT GOOD!”
—Cocktails and Books Blog
“I thought Cursed by Fire was an awesome read and a great introduction to the series. I can’t fault it in any way and thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to more.”
—Book Passion for Life
“I personally am a Kate Daniels fan, and I loved this series.”
—Amazon Reviewer
Kissed by Fire
“I love how Danielle Annett writes. Her books are so intriguing, action packed, and unique.”
—The Book Quarry
“This twist in Kissed by Fire was exactly what I, as a reader, needed, even though I didn’t know I needed it until it happened.”
—Sapphyria’s Book Blog
“This is even better than the first one. I hope there are many more.”
—Amazon Reviewer
Burned by Fire
“I couldn’t believe how it ended either, now I’m super excited to read the next one!”
—Shooting Stars Reviews
“I have to say, Danielle Annett sucked me into a world of magnificent beings and creatures.”
—Amazon Reviewer
“Ugh, these endings are killing me! I love this series. The dynamics between Naveed and [redacted] are hot, hot, hot. It just keeps getting better.”
—Amazon Reviewer
Branded by Fire
“I have loved this series from the first book Cursed by Fire and all the characters as well. But I think that Branded by Fire is by far my favorite.”
—The Avid Reader
“Danielle Annett’s BRANDED BY FIRE is scorching hot.”
—Amazon Reviewer
“Branded by Fire is the best one yet (and the other 3 books in the series rock!)”
—Sapphyria’s Book Blog
Consumed by Fire
“I love this series! If you like urban fantasy with a strong female lead then you'll love it too!”
—Amazon Reviewer
“When an author can leave you hanging and wanting more; then that is a brilliant author”
—The Avid Reader
I am so incredibly thankful to my family. Thank you for letting me reach for the stars and for giving me the time to finish this damn book.
1
If you had trouble of the magic variety, you had two options. One, you could call the Human and Paranormal Enforcement Division, also known as the HPED. The first problem with this was that in order to call the HPED, you needed to be human.
They didn’t work for paranormals, no matter how low on the food chain you might be.
And if you were human, but the job wasn’t entirely human-related, as soon as they got a whiff of supernatural, they were out.
Sure, if someone broke into your house, they were happy to assist. But if that someone was a vampire ex-boyfriend with boundary issues, you were on your own.
The second problem you’d face when calling the HPED was that your issue needed to be small enough that they felt comfortable handling it.
The HPED prided themselves in being competent. They would never outright say a job was out of their league.
They would, however, tell you their case log was a mile long, and unfortunately, they wouldn’t be able to assist in a timely manner. Too bad. So sad.
If you were lucky, they referred you to a mercenary like me. If you were unlucky, they just hung up.
The HPED didn’t deal with murder or brutal assaults. They didn’t take jobs that actively put their lives in danger.
To be honest, I couldn’t blame them. They weren’t paid enough and unfortunately for them, tax dollars were a thing of the past.
Members of the HPED were paid by the job, and upon completion. If it looked like an investigation would take several weeks—let alone months— they were going to issue a hard pass when they could find a simple fender bender that they could wrap up in an afternoon.
Option two was calling a mercenary like me in the first place. It’s like that children’s cartoon saying: “No job’s too big. No mercenary’s too small.” I’m pretty sure it had something to do with pups, but this version worked for me so I rolled with it.
I wasn’t the only mercenary in town, but I was one of the best. And I took on all the jobs. Didn’t matter what the risk was. Didn’t matter how long it would take.
And, since I was a nice merc, I didn’t charge an arm and a leg if I knew the client couldn’t afford it.
There was a time when I would have, but all that changed when a boy was murdered in my city. It was like a switch went off inside of me. Couple that with my boss-slash-surrogate-father being murdered and me inheriting his business, and we’ll just say my priorities changed.
It could also have had something to do with being mate-bound to Declan Valkenaar—Alpha to the Pacific Northwest Pack—but I tried not to give him credit when I didn’t have to. It would just go to his head.
So with all that said, why the hell was I covered in sweat in an abandoned warehouse when I could
