All rights reserved. Copyright © 2025 by LA Magill. All distribution rights reserved for the exclusive use of Wicked Women LLC.
This sample scene was released in early 2025 as the official teaser for Fangs and Fur.
Shock stilled Dili’s fingers. The cat pushed its head against her unmoving hand, asking for more affection, but all she could do was stare, dumbstruck, into the vivid green eyes of her definitely dead cat.
Toad blinked, and mewled at her, using that cute, higher-pitched sound he reserved for polite and proper guests. Clearly, the faithful familiar had no concerns whatsoever about the intruder.
She stroked his head twice more, as fury replaced her shock.
She stood from where she crouched over her black cat. She reached sideways and grabbed whatever she could get her hands on. Clenching the iron handle of the pan, she slowly pivoted to face the towering gaunt figure standing just inside her door.
The mountain breeze tugging at them through the open door pulled long white-gold hair from the hood of the intruder’s cloak. It fluttered over skin so completely perfect, so impossibly pale.
The vampire grinned, not bothering to conceal his two long canines.
“Good evening, I—”
Dili hurled the cast iron pan at his face from close range before he could utter his name.
The vampire, though starved, snatched the pan from mid-air with blindingly fast reflexes. It looked small in his grip, even though his fingers, hand, and wrist looked extra bony.
“Rather unnecessary, don’t you think?” he asked, sounding bored.
“You. Turned. My. Cat!” she screamed back at him.
The intruder chuckled, a deep sound that sent shivers down Dili’s spine. He dropped the pan, and it clattered to the floor. He advanced just one step, lightning quick and whisper silent, and before she could do anything about it, he closed the space between them.
Too close.
She backed up a step and bumped into the edge of the kitchen counter. She couldn’t help it.
The vampire gave her no quarter, following so close it made her skin crawl. The cold oozing off his skin chilled the air. His breath could have frosted her cheeks.
Sparkling eyes appraised her. She didn’t want to meet those eyes, but she couldn’t turn her head and offer her neck. Not to a vampire.
Dili did her best to hold eye contact without focusing on the details. The less she knew about the vampire, the less he could slide inside her mind. She wouldn’t acknowledge what color those eyes were—just bright. She didn’t try to identify what scent lingered on his skin—just fragrance.
But she couldn’t help staring at his lips—palest pink, though they looked so dark against such skin—and the two incredibly sharp and very white teeth between them.
Dili gulped, and the vampire leaned down, pressing even closer. He could probably hear her heart racing.
“Your familiar sought me out and asked me to turn him,” the vampire said. “Which made me wonder… what do you want?”
Magic imbued his deep voice that time. As the words filled her ears, phantom feelings licked across her skin, imaginary tastes teased her tongue, and false pheromones tempted her reason.
Dominus venator.
She may not have had her magic, but she had everything she needed to counter a common cast already in her pockets.
The vampire hummed his curiosity as the spell washed over her with no affect, a sound that was strangely more appealing to her than the spell he’d cast. It sounded low and sultry, so deep as if… he was purring.
Over her.
“Well, well, well—a real witch.” He bit the edge of his bottom lip with the tip of his fang. “Are you single?”
Dili sneered up at the vampire’s hungry face. “Get out of my house, or I’ll exorcize you.”
The vampire bent down so his face was level with hers, and only an inch apart.
“You will try,” the vampire whispered.