In the war between good and evil, sometimes the biggest battles take place inside the soul…and the heart.
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Larissa Ione, comes CIPHER, a passionate and spellbinding novella from the Demonica Underworld Series, brought to you by 1,001 Dark Nights! Be sure you grab your copy today!
About CIPHER:
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Larissa Ione comes a new story in her Demonica Underworld series…
It’s been seven months since Cipher, an Unfallen angel who straddled a razor thin line between good and evil, woke up in hell with a new set of wings, a wicked pair of fangs, and a handler who’s as beautiful as she is dangerous. As a laid-back cyber-specialist who once assisted guardian angels, he’d been in a prime position to earn back his halo. But now, as a True Fallen forced to use his talents for malevolence, he must fight not only his captors and his sexy handler, but the growing corruption inside him…before the friends searching for him become his enemies and he becomes his own worst nightmare.
Lyre is a fallen angel with a heart full of hate. When she’s assigned to ensure that Cipher carries out their boss’s orders, she sees an opportunity to take revenge on those who wronged her. All she has to do is appeal to Cipher’s burgeoning dark side. But the devastatingly handsome fellow True Fallen has other ideas — sexy ideas that threaten to derail all Lyre’s plans and put them in the path of an approaching hell storm.
Danger and desire explode, even as Cipher and Lyre unravel a sinister plot that will fracture the underworld and send shockwaves into Heaven itself…
**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you’ll enjoy each one as much as we do. **
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“Ione has made a major name for herself with her amazing Demonica series.”
~ Romantic Times Book Reviews
Lyre watched Cipher try to get his powers and wings under control for just over twenty-four human hours.
It hadn’t gone well. His wings seemed to have minds of their own and his fallen angel gifts were powerful but unpredictable, like natural disasters spawned by a child’s imagination.
Finally, after he exploded a tree with a superheated stream of blue light and nearly fried himself with the blowback, she called down to him.
“You hungry?” she yelled. “Because I could eat.”
He let out a frustrated shout accompanied by a stomp of his foot, and a crack appeared in the ground under the sole of his boot. A deafening boom and a slow rumble started up, and within seconds the crack lengthened and began to widen as the walls collapsed and chunks of earth tumbled into the fissure.
That couldn’t be good.
“Run!” she shouted
He sprinted toward her, away from the growing gap. And then, suddenly, he spun around and ran toward it.
“Cipher! No!” What the hell was he doing?
She extended her wings, ready to go after him as he leaped across the fissure. He wasn’t going to make it to the other side of the sheer cliff face. Not if his wings wouldn’t work—
His great wings flapped, lifting him easily skyward. He banked and soared in a glorious, elegant arc. A shout of pure joy rang out as he flew toward her, reminding her of the excitement she’d felt the first time she’d tried out her fallen angel wings. Hers had taken a year to grow, but it had taken only minutes to get them working. Cipher had to be thrilled to finally have his under control.
Folding her own black leather wings against her shoulders, she watched him come in for a landing, but as he did, one wing went rogue, freezing in a closed position. He clipped a tree and went into an unrecoverable spin before hitting the ground and tumbling to a stop next to her.
She coughed at the resulting cloud of dust. “That was graceful.”
He eyed her from where he lay sprawled in the dirt. “Tell me you got that on video.”
She didn’t want to be charmed, but she laughed anyway. Humor was something she missed since entering Sheoul. No one had a sense of humor here. And those who did seemed to have found it puddled on the floor of a torture chamber.
“No such luck,” she said.
“S’okay. But I’ll bet it would have gone viral.” Wincing, he shoved to his feet and tried to push his left wing into the retraction position. “I don’t get it. I can’t control these things. It’s like they’re fighting me. They don’t feel right.”
They didn’t look right, either. Marred by what seemed to be scars and ragged edges, they weren’t like any newbie wings she’d ever seen.
“Hmm. Maybe they were damaged by the restraints.” She moved around behind him, silently admiring his broad, muscular back. It would look even better with scratch marks from her fingernails after a long, sweaty round of sex.
Michel’s Review
It’s hard to believe the Demonica Underworld Series is still going strong after eleven years and 21 Books & Novellas. Readers have taken the adventure to the underworld and witnessed the battles between the ruling demonic hierarchy as well as the near end of the world. The Four Horsemen have made their presence known and the Apocalypse almost came to pass. Some of Heaven’s warrior angels and fallen angels are desperately trying to hold the world as we know it together while keeping Satan and his minions at bay. The only positive thing happening within both worlds is the fact that Satan has been imprisoned for over 1000 years in an inter-dimensional prison. There are only three angels who hold the secret key to release him from his prison. Azogoth, the grim reaper, who is in charge of Sheoul-gra is one of those angels. Releasing Satan would be the end of humanity along with the end of the world.
There is a dark sinister plot within the realms of hell and Sheoul-gra to release Satan. Two of Satan’s faithful followers, also fallen angels, are carrying out a plan to bring Azagoth to his knees and force him to surrender the key. They have kidnapped one of his fallen angels to gain access to secret information in order to force Azogoth to surrender to their will.
Cypher is a brilliant fallen angel who works in Sheoul-gra for Azagoth. His job is maintaining records and data within all the realms. Cipher not only writes the computer codes but he can also hack any secret codes available in all realms. Bael and his brother Madoc believe they have the perfect incentive to force Cypher to break Azagoth’s secret files. They have recruited fallen angel Lyre to seduce and break Cypher.
Lyre is a fallen angel for a reason. She wants revenge against certain residents in heaven. Her only hope is working for the evil fallen angels in Sheoul to get what she wants. What she didn’t count on was the goodness radiating off of Cypher. No matter how severe the torture is, he never breaks. She’s starting to rethink her stance and regrets her actions after she fell. The longer she is around Cypher the more she wants to help him. Time is running out. They need to get to Sheoul-gra and warn Azagoth. They need to stop the evil at all costs even if it damns their own souls for eternity.
Love is the only thing that makes makes hell bearable. Love is the only thing that will give them the strength to escape.
Escaping is only a reprieve… the war is coming. Evil may try to defeat Azagoth but they don’t call him the grim reaper for nothing. No one messes with Azagoth or those under his care!
Larissa Ione has kept the Demonica Underworld fresh and exciting. Every time I think this series is close to an end she throws in a whole new twist that makes the Demonica world expand. This complex series has dynamic characters that are intense, charismatic, sexy, humorous, and downright scary. I can’t wait for Reaper to unleash on October 15, 2019. Everything we thought we knew about Azagoth is just a blip on our radar. He is coming to claim our hearts and souls. I am not running… he can take me down his fiery path.
******
About Larissa Ione:
Larissa Ione is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. An Air Force veteran, she traded in a career as a meteorologist to pursue her passion of writing. She now spends her days in pajamas with her computer, strong coffee, and supernatural worlds. She believes in celebrating everything, and would never be caught without a bottle of Champagne chilling in the fridge…just in case. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her U.S. Coast Guard husband, her teenage son, a rescue cat named Vegas, and her very own hellhound, a King Shepherd named Hexe.
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