{"product_id":"otherworld-chills-isbn-9780452298361","title":"Otherworld Chills","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the author of \u003ci\u003eHemlock Island\u003c\/i\u003e--the final anthology from the #1\u003ci\u003e New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling Otherworld series\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eEmbrace the obscure. New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Kelley Armstrong once again opens the gates to the Otherworld. This collection of rare and never-before-published novellas and short stories brings the clever wit, dark twists, and intense suspense Otherworld readers have come to expect. Favorite characters return, secrets are revealed, and several important storylines reach their conclusions. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e PRAISE FOR KELLEY ARMSTRONG\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Sexy, smart, and action-packed!”\u003cbr\u003e—Richelle Mead, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of the Vampire Academy series\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Never a slow moment.”\u003cbr\u003e—Charlaine Harris, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series\u003cb\u003ePraise for the Otherworld series\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“[This] might just be the welcome diversion you need.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A witty, suspenseful, and well-paced tale…[\u003ci\u003eBitten\u003c\/i\u003e] will both thrill and absorb you.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eHouston Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A taut, sensual thriller that grips from the first page. Elena Michaels is at once sublime and sympathetic, a modern heroine who shows that real women bite back.\"\u003cb\u003e—Karin Slaughter, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[A] fast-paced story.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eOrlando Sentinel\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Kelley Armstrong has long been a favorite of mine.\"—\u003cb\u003eCharlaine Harris, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series  \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eKELLEY ARMSTRONG\u003c\/b\u003e is the #1\u003ci\u003e New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of the Otherworld series, as well as the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling young adult trilogy Darkest Powers, the Darkness Rising trilogy, and the Nadia Stafford series. She lives in rural Ontario, Canada with her husband and three children.***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected copy proof***\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCopyright © 2016 Kelley Armstrong\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eNICK\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Nick Sorrentino’s alarm went off at 5 a.m., he bolted upright, certain it was his phone ringing, some emergency unfolding. Five years ago, he would have figured it’d be Elena or Clay with a Pack problem. These days, his first thought was “the boys.” Reese or Noah was in trouble and needed his help. Or they’d been out drinking and needed a lift. Even with were- wolves, the second was more likely, particularly if the werewolves in question were twenty-two and nineteen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut it wasn’t a phone call—it was the alarm. Why the hell would he set it for 5 a.m.? It must have been one of the boys, playing a sadistic . . .\u003cbr\u003eAs he reached to shut the phone off, he realized it wasn’t on the nightstand. Well, yes, it was, but there was an obstacle in between him and it. A woman.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe groaned, fumbled for his phone, and handed it to him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRight. That was why he’d set the alarm. He needed to get home in time to take Noah to school because Noah had been forbidden to use his car, which was, Nick had to admit, turning out to be more of a punishment for him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt least he’d had the presence of mind to set the alarm. That alone was an accomplishment, given that he hadn’t decided he wasn’t heading home until he’d been in the back of a cab, with Jacinda undoing his zipper. Maybe it was a sign that he’d really had one too many women go down on him in the back of a taxi if he could still pause to think, Huh, I should set my alarm. That, or he was getting old.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Are you going to turn that off?” It was a woman’s voice . . . but didn’t sound like Jacinda. Nick turned his head to see her friend, Heidi, curled up on his other side. Right. Huh. Well, maybe he wasn’t that old yet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe shut off the alarm. Then he checked his e-mail, making sure he didn’t have an angry message from Frank Russell. Russell was the client he’d taken out last night on a double date with Jacinda and Heidi. Nick looked from one woman to the other. Not the way a double date was supposed to work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe did have an e-mail from Russell, but it only thanked him for the evening out and asked for Heidi’s phone number. Russell had apparently left with Heidi, but he said that she’d had an emergency and taken off. Which must have been when she’d hopped into the cab with Nick and Jacinda, just before it pulled away from the curb. At least Russell hadn’t figured that out.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNick climbed over Jacinda and started pulling on his trousers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHeidi rolled from bed and stumbled into the bathroom.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Where are you rushing off to?” Jacinda asked as she watched him dress. “You never start work before nine, which means we have plenty of time for another round. Or two.”\u003cbr\u003eShe tugged back the covers, showing him what was on offer. It was, he had to admit, a very nice offer. Tempting, though? Well, that was the problem. Ten years ago he would have already been back in that bed. Now, though, he felt only an answering twitch in his groin and a spark of regret.\u003cbr\u003e“I’d love to,” he said. “But I need to take Noah to school, and it’s an hour drive home.”\u003cbr\u003e“The kid has his license, Nick. He even has a car.” “He lost his privileges. He drove after having a beer.” “A beer? One?”\u003cbr\u003eNick pulled on his shirt. “That’s the rule.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Since when do you follow rules?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince always, he could say. Maybe not the ones most of society lived by—grow up, get a job, marry, have kids—but he obeyed the laws of his kind, of his Pack. Imposing them on Noah was as important as sticking to them himself, no matter how inconvenient.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“If I set out a punishment, I need to follow through with it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJacinda shook her head. “I’m not sure I like this new Nick. The old, irresponsible one was a whole lot more fun.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Could have sworn you had fun last night. Or maybe that was just Heidi.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe gave him a smile for that. “Okay. But still, taking in those cousins? And going to work every day? That’s not the Nick I knew.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I haven’t been that Nick in years, Jace.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I know, but it’s getting worse. How long has it been since you called me? I’m beginning to think I might need to bring a friend more often, just to keep you interested.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe bent to kiss her. “You know better than that. Adding Heidi to the mix was your idea. I’m just flexible and accommodating.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You are indeed.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe caught his hand and pulled him closer. Her other hand went to his waistband, but he peeled her fingers off.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Don’t tempt me, Jace. I really do need to leave.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe gave her a last quick kiss and started for the door. “Were you even planning to come back?” she asked. He glanced over his shoulder at her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Last night,” she said. “Before I jumped you in the cab, were you even planning to come back to my place?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“If you wanted me to,” he said, which was the truth, even if it didn’t quite answer the question. “Get some more sleep. I’ll call you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Soon?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe hesitated. He could lie and say yes. Most guys would. But that was never how he’d done things.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I’ll call when I can,” he said, and slipped out the door.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs Nick drove home, he left a voice mail with his admin assistant to say he might be late. He worked for his father at the family business, which just happened to be a multinational corporation. Nick’s corner of it was small, by choice. There was no way in hell he could run a business like that—he had neither the aptitude nor the interest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNick’s niche was graphic design and client services. He had an eye for what worked and an unerring instinct for knowing what people wanted. It wasn’t a cutthroat ability to pander and manipulate, but a genuine desire to please.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen he disconnected, his phone pinged with a text message for an entirely different sort of business. Pack business.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNine months ago, Elena had become Pack Alpha. At almost the same time, they had discovered that a long-dead member was actually very much alive. Between shifting Pack dynamics, regular Pack business, and raising six-year-old twins, Elena and Clay had little time to search for Malcolm. Nick had offered to do it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMalcolm Danvers. Estranged father of Jeremy Danvers, the former Alpha. Nick remembered Malcolm well. And not fondly. No one remembered Malcolm fondly. They weren’t searching for him to welcome him back. They needed to find and kill him. Preferably before Jeremy found out he hadn’t already been dead for twenty years, as they had thought.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWerewolves are, by nature, violent sons of bitches, as Clay would say. Clay had been bitten at the age of five, rescued and brought up by Jeremy. The first time Nick met him, Clay knocked him flying. His way of saying hello . . . and establishing dominance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNick didn’t have much use for dominance. He was happier obeying orders than giving them. Except now that his best friends led the Pack, he’d realized it was time for him to step up and do more. Hence offering to handle the hunt for Malcolm.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA hunt like this wasn’t Nick’s area of expertise. While he was a fine fighter, he didn’t feel the usual drive to hunt, to protect territory, to fight for his place. Elena teased he satisfied that urge in his romantic pursuits, yet the truth was that he didn’t really pursue there, either. Like hunting, he enjoyed it and he’d rarely turn down an opportunity, but it wasn’t a driving force in his life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMalcolm was different. He’d always pursued fights and women with equal vigor. And with the same ferocity. Women were prizes to be conquered and then discarded. Or worse. Nick’s grandfather, Dominic, had believed Malcolm killed Jeremy’s mother. Not that the old Alpha had turned him out of the Pack for it. Malcolm was too good a fighter to lose over a dead woman. Another Pack, another time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow, Malcolm was back and very much alive. And finding him was Nick’s job.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plume","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302041833701,"sku":"NP9780452298361","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780452298361.jpg?v=1767734299","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/otherworld-chills-isbn-9780452298361","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}