Ann Gimpel is a USA Today bestselling author. A lifelong aficionado of the unusual, she began writing speculative fiction a few years ago. Since then her short fiction has appeared in many webzines and anthologies. Her longer books run the gamut from urban fantasy to paranormal romance. Once upon a time, she nurtured clients. Now she nurtures dark, gritty fantasy stories that push hard against reality. When she's not writing, she's in the backcountry getting down and dirty with her camera. She's published over 100 books to date, with several more planned for 2025 and beyond.

Deceived by Ann Gimpel

A runaway spell is the most dangerous weapon of all.

Vampires aren't supposed to feel anything beyond hunger and bloodlust, but Viktor still feels a whole lot. He hates what he's become, but there's no escape. Not from the dying city smothering him, or from his maker, an arrogant tyrant who demands absolute loyalty.

Ketha's a shifter and a seer, for all the good it does her. Not enough magic is left to power much of anything. In a rare victory, an image forms in her glass, and she understands how magic broke the world—and how to fix it. The only antidote is an alliance with vampires, but she can't convince anyone to cooperate.

Desperate and trapped, she turns what's left of her magic on the Vampire assigned to lock her away. He's different, not quite as callous or aloof as his kin. It's a gamble, but she's out of options. Maybe magic can't bail them out, but love might be able to salvage what's left.

CURATOR'S NOTE

In this dystopian urban fantasy, magic has ravaged the world and left it in ruins. Evil runs rampant, and vampires and shifters are trapped in a city surrounded by a magical barrier. Natural enemies, they must work together or slowly starve in their magical prison. A captivating romance with action and intrigue. – Dean F. Wilson

 

REVIEWS

  • "I loved this book once I started reading. I couldn't put it down til I got so sleepy I couldn't keep my eyes open. And,couldn't wait to pick it up the next day. I can't wait to read the next book. I recommend this book to all readers especially those that like paranormal and Apocalypse books."

    – Reader review

  • "I am a huge huge fan of this author's work having read quite a few of her different series of books and I was so surprised by how different this book is from her other series, surprised and blown away by how amazing it was and how much I adored this book!!!!"

    – Reader review

  • "Very consuming tale of an upside down world. Ketha is a very strong and determined seer, her gift is powerful but her grim existence is draining. Their dire situation is described so well and is so detailed that I didn't have to wonder what they did to survive. It is so realistic that I was pondering if I would be able to do that to survive. :0 Viktor is different, I've never read tell of a vampire that didn't love being a vampire, lol but if your heart ain't in then you fake it. His situation is dangerous, his instant connection to a shifter is puzzling but these two form a bond and are destined. It was very interesting reading how they dealt with their predicament and their urgent desire to make things better before its too late."

    – Reader review
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

"Get out here." Raphael didn't raise his voice. No need. Vampires had exceptional hearing.

Viktor Gaelen hustled into the room where his sire sat at a scarred rolltop desk, checking things off on a list. Fuming at being reduced to little better than a servant, Viktor growled, "What?" Before he got any more words out, a knock boomed from the far end of the suite of rooms.

Viktor sprinted for the door to avoid the temptation to tell Raphael he could find himself another butler. Those conversations never ended well.

Two dark-haired Vampires sauntered inside, their mouths dotted with dried blood. One angled a foot and kicked the door shut. Both stood at attention. Beyond the dried-blood smell, the sour tang of fear oozed from them.

They'd apparently been summoned. No one showed up voluntarily looking as guilty and cowed as this pair.

Viktor nodded their way and headed back toward the bedroom where he'd been calculating one more plan to move himself and a ship he had in dry dock through the barrier holding Ushuaia prisoner. Pages of math equations covered a table where he worked, but he wasn't concerned about Raphael deciphering them. If the old Vampire had gone to school, it was before the birth of modern calculus in the 1600s.

"Where do you think you're going?" Raphael asked in the deadly quiet tone Viktor associated with danger.

"Back there." Viktor jerked his chin at the door leading to the apartment's inner rooms.

"No. You're not."

Viktor didn't reply. Telling his sire to fuck off wasn't on the menu. Those conversations never went well, either.

Raphael stalked to the two Vampires standing near the door, an iron saber trailing from one hand.

Viktor blinked and looked again, wondering if he was hallucinating, but the sword was still there. The blade lived in one of the inner rooms. Raphael must have moved it in anticipation of whatever was about to unfold.

"Where have you two been?" Raphael asked, the words silky smooth but threaded with the same compulsion Vamps used to lure their victims.

"Here and there," one of the Vampires answered.

"Could you narrow it down?" Raphael took a steep nearer his minions.

Viktor balled his hands into fists. He knew what was coming, saw it in the eagerness spilling from his sire. He shouldn't watch, but unless he shut his eyes—a gesture sure to draw Raphael's attention—he didn't have a choice. In addition to being a bloodthirsty pig, Raphael liked an audience.

The other Vampires weren't stupid. In a lightning-fast move, one twisted and made a grab for the doorknob. Before he could turn it, Raphael hefted the blade, swinging it laterally. Its sharp edge cleaved through flesh, bone, and sinew with a sharp cracking sound, and the Vamp's head rolled from his shoulders. Blood sprayed from severed vessels, painting a macabre pattern on the walls and floor.

Viktor breathed shallowly to lessen the stench of blood, shit, and urine, but his stomach still twisted painfully. Bile burned the back of his throat.

The other Vampire fell to his knees, hands clasped in supplication and eyes so wide white showed all around the irises.

"Where have you been?" Raphael repeated in a bland, conversational tone.

"Feeding from your prisoners. I'm sorry, sire. We were so hungry. It won't happen again. You have my word."

Viktor blanched. Christ. Talk about a capital crime. Why had the Vamps even shown up here? They'd have been better off running for the hills. At least until they hit the barrier.

"Your word isn't worth much." Raphael sounded almost cheerful as he swung the blade a second time.

Viktor stood, rooted in place. Would he be next? Raphael was arbitrary and capricious, and he loved killing.

"Fucking coward. Get moving." Raphael prodded Viktor with the business end of the blade. "Don't let all that blood go to waste. I made them. I can't feed from them, but you can."

Viktor shambled forward, blood hunger doing battle with nausea as he latched onto a geysering carotid. The queasiness would fade. It always did as soon as blood hit his stomach.

"Better." Raphael's voice cut through the haze that settled around Viktor's mind as he fed. "When you're done, clean up the mess." He dropped the sword next to Viktor and returned to his desk as if nothing had happened.