The Dragon Kings (Piper)

A silent woman ashamed of her criminal background becomes a Cage warrior to seek redemption. An unrepentant fortune hunter will do anything to escape his mounting debts. Although rivals on the streets of Hong Kong, they find common ground when seeking their clan's stolen idol, but for vastly different reasons. Neither one suspects that love will begin when he becomes the first man in five years to hear her speak.

Eight years ago, Audrey MacLaren chose to marry her human lover. That decision marked her as an exile from the Dragon Kings, an ancient race of demons who were once worshiped as earthly gods. In the centuries since, as conception became increasingly difficult, their numbers have dwindled. Yet Audrey and her husband managed the impossible. Their son is the first natural-born Dragon King in a generation - which made him irresistible to the sadistic scientist whose technology makes demon procreation possible. In the year since her husband died failing to prevent their kidnapping, Audrey and her little boy have endured hideous experiments.

As a young man, sarcastic and violent Tallis Pendray believed the Dragon Kings’ survival depended on a prophecy delivered in dreams by a woman named “the Sun.” His role has been to complete inexplicable, even reprehensible tasks. First, by murdering a priest, he united his fragmented clan in their hatred of him. Dubbed “the Heretic,” Tallis fled his family’s Highland estate. Now disillusioned, he seeks revenge on the woman he holds responsible for two decades of exile.