Showing results by narrator "Diana Croft" in All Categories

Malessar's Curse is broken, the wards around Caenthell destroyed. The Warlock himself lies, exhausted and gravely wounded, in the rubble of his own house. And while the dire spirits trapped behind the wards for centuries are unleashed into the world once more, Cassia is confined to a cell deep in Galliarca's grand palace. Yet Caenthell calls to her, and Cassia must answer. As Heir to the North, the throne and the power behind it belong to her. But the twisted hunger of Caenthell's spirits appalls her. and Cassia vows to do everything she can to defeat them.

The Spy Series Short Stories Collection introduces the listener to the characters of The Shadowing London Series. These short stories introduce you to the children of the characters from The Spy Series. But unlike their parents, they face challenges much closer to home.

Lady Emily Black is used to getting her way. As the daughter of the Duke of Lofton, she’s grown accustomed to privilege and comfort. So when an ordinary shopping trip turns deadly, Emily is forced to adjust to the truth of what it means to be the descendant of a family of spies.

Haunted by a tragic mistake in her past that endangered her family and nearly cost the life of the only man she could ever love, Emily now lives a life of exile that just so happens to include sword play and stealth on the dark streets of London in an attempt to stop innocent people from coming to harm at the hands of seedy criminals. Caring not for her own safety, Emily embarks on a life of justice at all costs, if only to rid her mind of the ghostly image of her lost love.

When another crop infestation at the family’s estate in Bedford collides with a promotion from the War Office, Alec is torn between his duty to his heritage and his duty to the crown. Matters become more complicated when his nephew, Samuel, demands of him a seemingly outrageous and impossible favor that relies on Alec’s seat in the House of Lords.

Miss Jane Black enjoys a comfortable position in society. As the daughter of a respected genteel farmer and former agent for the War Office, Jane has had the pleasure of planning a future filled with domesticity and quiet reflection. But when her dying grandfather swears her to a dangerous promise, Jane’s expectations are shattered.

Nathan and Alec Black weren’t always spies for the War Office. But when a simple mission goes dangerously wrong, they must prove themselves and show they have what it takes to be an operative.

Imagine modern Britain without magick. No fae enclaves. No flying chairs. No magick wands. Giddy gods, no unicorns. Who wants to live in that world? Me neither. But with magick on the decline, that's the world we're ending up with. Meet the Society for Magickal Heritage. Our boss is a disembodied voice. Our headquarters is a sentient house. You could say we've a vested interest in keeping magick alive. Can a ragtag bunch of magicians, necromancers and fae prevail against inevitable ruin and decline? Hell yes. Try and stop us.

Avery and her coven are looking forward to celebrating Samhain, and the townsfolk are preparing to honour their ancestors with the Walk of the Spirits. But then Ben disappears from Old Haven Church, leaving no clue as to where he has gone. Panic-stricken, the witches and their friends widen their search, but when they can’t find him, they have to accept that he’s somewhere else—somewhere their spells can’t reach. When part of the town vanishes, they realise that their lives and the town’s future are in danger. Their ancestors reach out, desperate to help them—if they can.

The lost treasure of the Knights Templar is within reach. When Shadow and Gabe are employed to follow new clues to the fabled lost Templar treasure, they think they’re the only ones looking for it. Until they’re almost killed. Unfortunately, their opponents are devious and underhand, which means Shadow and Gabe need to be, too.

It took her 20 years to build up her business. He works for the competition. What is she willing to risk to get a second chance at love? Jack left Sue when she was 18 and no one else has even come close to taking his place in her heart. Twenty years and plenty of hard work later, Sue is too busy running the local bakery and fighting off competition from the new bistro in the village to have time for romance. Jack finally returns to the village he grew up in. Seeing Sue rekindles feelings he thought were long buried.

Shadow, a deadly fey warrior with little patience for mortals, ends up stranded in White Haven after her ride with the Wild Hunt ends in disaster. Gabe is one of seven Nephilim, newly arrived from the spirit world where they have been trapped for millennia. He has a violent history that haunts him, and a father he wants answers from—if he ever finds him. They all have skills that mere mortals don’t—superior strength, agility, speed, and dubious morals that give them flexibility in their work.

Rumour’s got a lot to say for itself, and the message is clear: the regulator’s ready. You know. The magickal regulator. The bright and shiny thing with which we, Team Improbable, propose to restore magick to a fading Britain. Somebody’s got to test it, and that somebody is us. Which means wading into the depths of a long-dead realm that nobody’s entered in centuries. And I may have had some practice at that, but this time it’s different. This time, somebody’s still home. And they really aren’t happy about trespassers. Looks like disaster’s on the agenda. Again.

White Haven is full of visitors making the most of the summer holidays, but when two die in inexplicable circumstances, and unearthly screams resound across the moors, fear descends on the town. The excitement surrounding the upcoming Lughnasadh festival turns to dread as more deaths follow. The witches and Newton scramble to discover the cause, but unfortunately, they have more than just the recent deaths to deal with.

Fresh from an involuntary crash course in the Stranger Arts, I've a new mystery on my plate: the inexplicable reappearance of a particularly fantastic magickal species. Which is great, don't get me wrong. Rescuing magickal beasts is what we do around here. But the Dappledok Pup hasn't been seen since the seventeen hundreds; so how did we find one, alive and kicking, over two hundred years later? And this beast has a talent for sniffing out treasure, no less. Happenstance? Maybe not.

It’s winter at the Werth residence, and someone has turned up dead. Not that this is unusual. There’s Great-Aunt Honoria on the premises, after all. Only this corpse is freshly dead, and nobody knows how the lady came to be leaking blood all over Lady Werth's best parlour. The disastrous Miss Gussie confesses herself delighted, for nothing enlivens a dull week in February like a mysterious murder. And the culprit really ought to be discovered, for the circumstances suggest Lord Bedgberry might have had something to do with it…

Charlotte Clarke wants nothing more than to experience a London Season. But when she finds out she has to wait another year due to her sister's recent pregnancy, she is crushed. All is not lost as a letter arrives soon after summoning Charlotte to Danbury Hall to meet her new guardian, John Wilkins. With little choice but to go, she determines to contrive a way to convince her new guardian to take her to London in her sister's stead.

The Crossroads Circus has a reputation for bringing myths to life, but it also seems that where the circus goes, death follows. When the circus sets up on the castle grounds, Newton asks Avery and the witches to investigate. This proves trickier than they expected when an unexpected encounter finds Avery bound to a power she can’t control. Strange magic is making the myths a little too real.

As Shadow and Gabe become more involved with The Orphic Guild, they find out that the occult world is full of intrigue and far more complicated than they realised. Especially when it seems that someone wants the same thing that they do—The Trinity of the Seeker. Cause for concern? Absolutely not. If anything, Shadow is more committed than ever, and relishes pitting her wits against an unpredictable enemy. And Gabe? When they find instructions that could enable him to speak to his father, he and the Nephilim are more than ready to fight.

Since her father's sudden death, all Evie wants is comfort and security for her family, especially from dragon cagers. The two-tongued serpents are said to take the shape of a man, woo their ill-fated victims, and then devour them whole. But no one ever told Evie she could be kindred to the creatures. When Evie is framed and exiled, a cager called Lachlann discovers her roaming in the barren dragon country. Now, while being hunted by the same slayers seeking his magic-imbued heart, Evie must put her trust in Lachlann and seek out his clan for help.