The Fire Within — Dana Marie Bell

Book two of the Nephilim

When private detective Elizabeth Rand witnesses a murder in the snow, she's in for the case of her life. Mysterious creatures are killing people, and soon she's hired to look into one of the deaths. That means working with one of the city's sexiest detectives, Dante Zucco.

As a Nephilim -- the offspring of a human and an angel -- Dante's been hunting the demons known as Shemyaza for years, and Beth's case stinks of one. But while he can see the Shem's miasma, she can't, and she refuses to believe she's in over her head. As infuriating as she is, he can't stay away -- if she died, she'd take a piece of his heart with her.

Dante's too loud, too brash, too everything…but Beth can't resist him. And that might be a deadly problem. Dante's got a sense the Shem are out for his blood, literally, and that means anyone he cares about is in danger. If the Shem realize they can kill Beth to hurt him, it'll take all the inner fire he's got to keep her safe.

79,000 words