Get the dark and thrilling stories behind the biggest, baddest characters in S.W. Vaughn's bestselling House Phoenix series. "A Dangerous Gift": When three-time tournament champion fighter Marcus Slade decides to bow out of the game and hire his own stable of bloodthirsty brawlers, his employer offers him a parting gift he can't refuse—one that may prove more harmful than helpful in his new venture. "Role Reversal": After Sol manages to destroy his football career—and that of his twin brother, Apollo, in the process—in a vicious bar fight, he's sentenced to anger management with a very unusual doctor... who, instead of healing him, is unraveling the last of his sanity. "House Call": Having lost his license to practice medicine, Seth "Doc" Stephens is approached by a now-former patient with a big problem in the form of a nasty criminal boss. But when Doc confronts the man, he realized he might have stepped into something he can never escape. "Badder Than Hell": Aidan, the new lieutenant of House Prometheus, is out with the gang to break in a new recruit—preferably with a bruising bar brawl. Unfortunately, their target for the evening has some really big friends waiting in the wings. Bonus full-length novella! "The Boy Who Never Was": Young Sunil has never had it easy. His parents despise him, his brother frequently thrashes him, and everyone in his village does their best to pretend he doesn't exist. But Sunil prefers being shunned, and left to his own devices—until one day, a Japanese hunter arrives in the village and negotiates to purchase him as a servant. Sunil is brought to Japan and placed in the sole charge of the hunter's son, the cruel and sadistic Tomi Harada. Despite gaining a single friend—a servant boy who seems happy to ignore Sunil's darker qualities—he is forced to cope with unending brutality, until he can learn to extract respect from his heartless master. By any means necessary.

One rule: don't lose. When Gabriel Morgan's sister disappears somewhere in New York's underground, he'll do anything to save her. But finding her is only the beginning, because Marcus Slade won't let her go for less than ten million dollars - earned through Gabriel's blood. Slade, one of five ruthless leaders of an organization identified only by a symbol, runs hookers and street fighters, and never gives up what's his. Including Gabriel's sister. To win her freedom, Gabriel is forced to undergo a brutal training program with Slade's top fighters in order to become one of them. He is branded, broken, given a new image, and a new name. In the ring, Gabriel is known as Angel...and he does not lose. Because the price for losing is his sister's life.

One man. Two worlds. No options. Shiro Kuroda is a man torn between two worlds - born and raised in traditional Japan, he's now a fighter and assassin embroiled in New York's underground street fighting scene. After he accidentally kills an opponent in the ring, breaking the one rule of the organization, his employer's retribution is he must assassinate a deadly rival to the Harada clan, or take his own life in shame if he fails. However, the people he has trusted over the years are not who they seem to be. A secret from Shiro’s past assures that no matter what the outcome of his mission, he will lose - whether he must commit ritual suicide, or watch those closest to him die.

No matter who loses, the bad guy wins Drug lord and self-professed saint Diego Mendez is a man of his word. He's watched two of his lieutenants die, thanks to Angel and House Phoenix. Unfortunately, he's promised a certain crooked cop that he won't seek revenge unless Phoenix hits him first. When Angel makes a run on his turf, Mendez decides it's enough of a loophole to act. He kidnaps Angel's lieutenant, Jenner, intent on breaking him-and killing him. But Jenner is just as nasty and mean as Mendez, and breaking him is no easy task. His secret past has conditioned him for survival at any price. And Mendez has a secret of his own-his son is dying, and he's been reduced to watching helplessly while it happens. One of them will triumph, one will fall. But in this game, no matter what happens...the bad guy wins. Contains violence, nasty language, and torture.

The hunted must become the hunter. For the past fifteen years, Randall Tyler has lived as Dell Ramone—glamorous transvestite, international smuggler, and leader of House Dionysus, the Queens branch of an organization for underground street fighting. Dell’s constant companion and bodyguard is Ania, whom she rescued from a vicious human slave trader in the process of putting him away for life—or so she thought. Now the slaver, Loyal Sims, is out of prison and hungry for Dell’s blood. As Loyal tortures and slaughters his way through Dell’s loved ones, she is forced to become Randall once again, and take refuge with Angel—the organization’s newest House leader, and the only one Loyal doesn’t know. But soon, even Randall isn’t safe any more. With Loyal and the NYPD scouring the city for Dell in any form, male or female, Randall is forced to turn the tables and hunt the hunter—because this time, if he doesn’t bring Loyal down first, everyone he cares for will die. Warning: Contains violence, torture, and human slavery.