Meet Kalla

I met her first in A Hunt Bound in Blood, the vampire who speaks of tearing out throats and the joy of mindless sex in the same breath. Threats and teasing sharing a sentence.

In the next scene, she's staring longingly at the fae musician serenading the crowd, telling Glory he's hers, but at a cost. One neither of them regret.

I knew then that I had to write her story.

It was supposed to be a short novella, but Kalla and Jael fought me every step of the way. Glory was supposed to be the master of secrets, but these two hid their motivations and hidden desires. Jael even hid his name from me for weeks.

At first, Kalla was younger, sort of naive. Then she was older, one of the best scouts in her community. Then she was younger again, but not *as* young, good at what she did but missing something.

There it was. An experienced scout who's set out to become the best and discovered along the way that it still wasn't enough. That feeling when you aim for a single goal and realize that goal is everything you have because the rest of your life is empty.

As soon as I had that, I had Kalla. Loyal to her family, but searching for something that's hers, a tricky desire when you live in a hidden vampire commune. Her inner battle, family vs self, was a bittersweet development to write, especially set against Jael's mirror battle of love vs duty.

Then there are the lines of prejudice between vampires and fae. All kinds of overcoming, every step of the way.

But these two did it. They got there, and most certainly not in the short novella I'd intended.

I'm so happy I was able to give them the story they deserved.

A Dream Shrouded in Fury is now available on Amazon/free in KindleUnlimited