Book excerpt: The holidays should be fun, not deadly. When Maddox lures Isabella out of the house on Christmas Eve with the promise of a job, she doesn't realize it will be at a Christmas party, and that the festivities are in the Shadow Bazaar. A place she told herself she would never visit again. She finds herself in the middle of a group of Kindred on the cusp of their most sacred and savage time of year. It's not a place for mortals. In fact, it's downright dangerous. But a special kind of power waits for her within the sliver of portal known as Scourge. She just needs to claim it before the things in the bazaar descends into chaos. If only she can do that without losing Maddox in the process…