A blood-soaked love story of rage, revenge, and belonging, Taylor Grothe’s adult debut is a sapphic horror/romance that’s as grotesque as it is beautiful.
Preston University wasn’t Marcella’s first choice of employment, but there’s only so many deaths that can be chalked up to mysterious circumstances before people get suspicious, and her 300 years on Earth have taught her how to pack up and move quickly. She’s resolved to keep her head down and enjoy a couple semesters at Preston—and keep her feedings few and far between. That is, until a professor is found murdered on campus, and it’s not her doing.
When Lacie was hired as an assistant professor at Preston a year ago, she knew not everyone makes tenure. But when her only friend disappears without a word, she begins to suspect that her other missing coworkers didn’t just quit. Unfortunately, there’s only one person she can trust enough to ask for help—the beautiful, aloof, and tantalizingly secretive latecomer, Marcella.
Lacie and Marcella team up to make a chilling discovery: there’s something festering under the marble floors of Preston University, and it’s hungry. Marcella might be a monster, but the deeper into the mystery they dig, the more she’s attracted to Lacie’s immovable bravery and quiet intelligence. And the closer they grow, the more Lacie is drawn to Marcella’s vicious nature.
The weight of spilled blood and stolen opportunity might be too heavy to carry alone, so it’s a good thing they have each other. Marcella just has to get her fill, first.