Templar (Dunbar)

Solaria Ainsworth was born a Templar, destined to take up the mantle of responsibility and duty as her family's Order had done for hundreds of years. Except she refuses to take her Oath of Knighthood. Barely making ends meet in Baltimore, Aria finds it difficult to obtain gainful employment with no work experience and skills in jousting and swordsmanship. Just before she's served an eviction notice, the Mistress of the local vampire family offers her a job-to research a magical symbol. It's an easy task for a woman who has spent every moment of her life either in armor or with her nose in ancient manuscripts. The money's good, and the seven day deadline should be no problem. But when her research reveals a sordid connection between the vampires and a mass murder, Aria needs to decide who is in the right and worthy of her protection. Modern Templars believe only God should judge, but Aria must do exactly that or watch the Baltimore streets run red with blood.

What do a dead cosplayer and a ritual murder have in common? Plenty. Solaria Ainsworth isn't a paladin, she's not even an ordained Templar Knight, but she can't resist poking her nose into police business when magicians are found murdered in Baltimore. When the murders spread to include those of the magical group Haul Du, she rethinks her participation in the investigation. Why should she bother to assist a group that kicked her out the moment they discovered she was a Templar, the group that forbade any of their members to have contact with her? Is the killer an angel or a demon, or both? No matter her old grudge, Aria can't ignore the bloodbath right under her nose, and she definitely can't ignore the practice of death magic that has stolen innocent lives and souls.

Skinned bodies are turning up in broom closets and garages, but when these bodies are identified, the 'victims' are found to be very much alive. Was there a mistake at the morgue? Is the murderer a serial killer with a gruesome fixation on taxidermy? Human killers aren't the responsibility of the Templars, even non-knight ones, but when a vampire is found dead and skinned north of the city, Aria suspects the killers aren't human. She'll need all of her friends - both alive and dead - to help catch these killers before they strike again.

An epidemic is overloading Baltimore hospitals, and this time the vampires are finding themselves susceptible. Those infected are unable to control their hunger, crazed and insatiable no matter how much blood they consume. The timing couldn't be worse, with a rival Balaj in town for a feast - a rival that would be happy to take advantage of the situation and wrestle control of the Baltimore territory from Dario and his family. As the Baltimore's Templar, Aria must find out who - or what - is responsible and stop them, before the entire city is at death's door, all while prepping for the Halloween ritual to rid herself of a demon's mark on both her skin and her soul.

Winter weather can spell death for the homeless, but the bodies found on Baltimore's streets aren't homeless and they didn't die from the cold. Are rogue vampires making a move into the city, emboldened by the fractured Balaj, or has Dario's family taken to feeding indiscriminately? Dario swears it's not the latter, but when it comes to light that one of the dead is a well-known Templar Knight, the Order's eyes turn to the city with a vigilance not seen since the Crusades. Aria will need to use both her sword and her magic to catch a killer before the Order blames the vampires and decides to kill them all and let God sort them out.

After three months of silence, Reynard shows up at Aria's door asking for her help in ousting a new mage who wants control of Haul Du. She sees no reason to help a man who was more than willing to toss her soul to a demon, but with the threat of an unknown enemy, looming Aria needs all the friends she can get-and that might mean aligning herself with those who are more foe than friend. But a mage war is the least of Aria's problems. The Conclave is in town investigating Dark Iron's disappearance. As a non-Knight Aria doesn't have the full protection of the Order, and if her role in Dark Iron's death is discovered, she might end up facing the consequences for her actions or making a decision she'd hoped to never make.