He's forged from heaven. She's promised to hell. Professor Maximus Kane can no longer deny his passion for his stunning yet mysterious student, Kara Valari. But surrendering to their desires carries more consequences than just violating the Alameda University conduct codes. Kara has defied her destiny. Higher directives have been violated. Now there's hell to pay. It's a crisis for which there seems no solution, until the explosive secrets of Maximus's bloodline are exposed. Despite all his doubts and fears, Maximus has no choice but to accept help from his enigmatic father, which means coming to terms with his heritage and embracing a bizarre new world of gods and demons. Because somewhere in that world—in the strange and sordid secrets surrounding his past—is the key to protecting Kara's future. Nothing has ever meant more to him than saving the treasure of her life and the fire of her heart. While earth's lower realms seek...

An ancient grudge. A forbidden love. The only thing worse than being a demon is being a Valari. As an undergraduate at Los Angeles's Alameda University, Kara Valari can sometimes succeed at forgetting she's both. Lost between the pages of the classics and tucked into the shadows of lecture halls, she can dodge the paparazzi's lenses as well as her family's publicized dramas—not to mention their private expectations. She has one more year to feed her true passions. Then she'll be expected to fulfill a much darker destiny. Cursed with inexplicable strength and god-like stature, literature professor Maximus Kane knows all about darkness. Every day he's reminded of the missteps of his childhood and the devastating consequences they've had on those dearest to him. To atone, Maximus spends his nights alone and his days submerged in the quiet life of academia. His existence has become a study in control, and he's become a master at it—until...