Shards of Crimson by Various

In the future, Los Angeles has become the Crimson City, fought over by Vampires, Werewolves, Humans and Demons. The last book ended with the portal to the demon realm being closed by a Human Druid, and a peace treaty being signed between the Vampire House of Dumont and the Werewolves. This is a book of four short romance stories set in the city, each by a different author from the original shared universe.

In "Time to Howl" by Liz Maverick, Tajo Maddox and his group of Rogues are going to be hired by someone for a job near Dumont Tower. Instead, it's a setup to blame the Rogues for an attack on Princess Gianna Asprey, one of the three werewolf princesses set to marry the three Dumont Vampire brothers as part of the treaty. Tajo, witnessing the attacks, takes Gia to keep her safe, but someone still wants her dead. Tajo is attracted to Gia, and she to him, but is it right for a Werewolf Princess to forget the treaty and follow her heart? And will Tajo let her?

In "DX" by Carolyn Jewel, Helen "Hell" Marshall is sent by her mentor to track down a DX, or a Demon of Unknown Origin, a Bak-Faru demon, considered by other demons to be the worst of them all, and also the most powerful. For this, she is paired with a hunky Amerindian agent named Jaden Lightfeather. She will also be trailing a Vampire named Tuan Ng, who may have dealings with the DX. But, as Jaden eventually tells her, it is a setup by her mentor, who wants to open the Portal to the Demon world again, and he needs to sacrifice her to the demon to make it possible. Why? Because with the treaty between the Vampires and Werewolves, they will rule the city, leaving the humans in last place. Jaden, too, is a Bak-Faru Demon, and he has been enslaved by her mentor. If she becomes his mate and he protects her, he can save her from the other DX and keep the gate from opening again. But will Hell choose to believe him and abandon her mentor?

In "School Bites" by Jade Lee, Toni Freedman, a teacher at a Crimson City school, is bitten by a Student who just happens to be a Werewolf on the cusp of his first change. She is immediately doctored with SaniLyco, which is supposed to cure Lycanthropy if administered early enough, but which has nowhere near the effectiveness the company that produces and markets it says it does. Toni's Principal, John Wayne Wong, an asian she has always been attracted to, tries to drive her home, but the SaniLyco fails and she succumbs to the increased senses of her Werewolf form and seduces him while they are in his car. He takes her to his house, and tells her he can help her learn to stay human, as he is a druid. At home, she is attacked by a group of teenage vigilantes pretending to be B-Ops, the section of the Crimson City police that deal with the Supernatural, but she and a group of real werewolves drive them off. The werewolves offer to let her ride out her first change in a cage in their tunnels, but she doesn't want to. She knows her career is over, but John refuses to fire her. On Monday, she returns to work, and confesses that yes, she is a werewolf, in front of a crowd of reporters gathered in front of the school. However, to show that she is not a danger to the kids, she will be answering questions put to her in the auditorium at the first moon. But can she pull it off, or will she be destroyed by those who believe that werewolves, and all supernatural beings, are a danger to kids?

In the last story, "Dark Awakening" by Patti O'Shea, Kimi Noguchi is a Kijo, which her Japanese grandmother has always told her means "witch". Two years ago, she started training to use her innate power, and now works for a detective agency where all the women who work there are Maji. She is also attracted to a Demon named Nicodemus, whose half-sister is married to Kimi's uncle, David. When Kimi is attacked by a Bak-Faru Demon named Augustin, who wishes to rape her to drain away her magic, she has no choice but to call on Nic to protect herself. Although she is attracted to him, she once overheard him telling his sister that he was tired of her throwing herself at him and following her around, which hurt Kimi so that she tried to avoid him. Now, when he confesses attraction for her, she isn't sure that he's telling the truth, and since Augustin is a Bak-Faru that even other Bak-Faru hate and fear for his power, Nic, being a combination of less-powerful demon races Grolird and Mahsei, may not be strong enough to defeat him. But since Kimi is a Kijo and can become a demoness herself, will he end up saving her, or will she be forced to save him?

As you can see, this short story collection is weighted towards the demon and werewolf end of the scale, with two stories about each, and vampires being either not present, or in the background, secondary characters of the tales. Nevertheless, most of the tales flesh out the world of the Crimson City, with the exception of the last tale, which could really conceivably have taken place anywhere. Each tale, despite its brevity, was successful, never making me think, "Oh, come on!" or questioning the characters attraction to one another. This is a solid piece of side tales to the shared Crimson City universe, and leaves me looking forward to the next tale set in the shared universe, if there will be one.

Next up, "Secrets of the Highwayman" by Sara MacKenzie.