During the full moon the vampires gather to renew their bonds. It takes three, and those in groups have total power over those who are alone. Luc, alone since he was created, takes the full moon as a rare freedom. Hunting for blood that will satiate him for the month ahead, Luc finds instead a rival. Anders, a demon just as alone, with the same plan. They choose the same prey: a handsome young man resistant to their supernatural charms. Neither a vampire’s glamour nor demon’s passion working, it becomes clear their only chance of success lies in the unthinkable: working together. As Luc tastes blood and Anders devours soul, they gain a chance at something neither expected. Freedom. Originally appearing in Bold Strokes Books’s anthology Blood Sacraments, “Three” introduces the characters from ’Nathan Burgoine’s novel Triad Blood.

The law of three is unbroken: three vampires form a coterie, three demons make a pack, and three wizards are a coven. That is how it has always been, and how it was always to be. But Luc, Anders, and Curtis—vampire, demon, and wizard—have cheated tradition. Their bond is not coterie, pack, or coven, but something else. Thrust into the supernatural politics ruling Ottawa from behind the shadows, they face Renard, a powerful vampire who harbors deadly secrets of his own and wishes to end their threat. The enemy they know conjures fire and death at every turn. The enemies they don’t know are worse. Blood, soul, and magic gave them freedom. Now they need to survive it.

The law of three is everything: three vampires for a coterie, three demons for a pack, and three wizards for a coven. Those alone or in pairs are vulnerable to the rest. Luc, Anders, and Curtis—vampire, demon, and wizard—sidestepped tradition by binding themselves together. When something starts brutally killing demons in Ottawa, the three find themselves once again moving among the powers who rule the city from the shadows—this time working with them to try to stop the killings before chaos and blood rule the streets. Hunting a killer who seems to leave no trace behind, the triad are forced to work with allies they don’t dare trust, powers they barely understand, and for the good of those they already know to be corrupt. They have the power of blood, soul, and magic. But they have to survive to keep it.