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Grimm’s Fairy Tales is not the collection of innocent bedtime stories Nate assumed, but is instead the keys to a veritable prison housing the most dangerous, bloodthirsty hit men of the supernatural community. And now the gates are open. This young wizard must find a way to lock them back up and hide the book forever before the supernatural community at large gets annihilated.

Prequel novella to the series. Included with the omnibus version of the series.

To do list: Cow-tip the Minotaur. Cure a reptile dysfunction.

My name is Nate Temple, and I'm secretly a wizard. I ride a foul-mouthed unicorn, I drink with Achilles, and I'm pals with the Four Horsemen. I've even cow-tipped the Minotaur. I understand the theory of following the rules... I'm just not very good at the application.

Because rules were meant to be broken.

Especially when I find out a monster just murdered my parents. Now all I can hear is the sweet, soothing song of vengeance in my ears, playing on repeat.

But when shifter dragons come to town, I'm forced to step away from hunting down the scumbag murderer. Because I know the cure for a reptile dysfunction, and the dragons aren't going to like it.

This fight soon opens up Pandora's Box, and suddenly every flavor of supernatural thug is after me. The only way out of it--

I didn't want, ask for, or start any of this. But I will finish it. It's time I show St. Louis that magic is very, very real. And that an angry wizard is truly something to see--at least once in your life.

You know, right before he puts you and everyone you've ever met in the grave...

A Wizard, an Angel, and a Horseman of the Apocalypse walk into a bar...

The ancient pact between mankind, Heaven, and Hell has been broken. And this upstart wizard's quest for vengeance may have just kicked off Armageddon. So, time for a drink... or maybe two.

Already plagued with sinister night terrors that could qualify him as a card-carrying psychopathic insomniac, Nate can barely even manage to put his pants on in the morning, let alone pick teams for the Apocalypse.

But when he's framed as a demon sympathizer, condemned by the Armies of Heaven, and hunted down by both his allies and the Four Horsemen, this wizard doesn't think it can get any worse...

Then they take away his magic. And a wizard without magic stands no chance against the forces of Heaven and Hell...

Assassination contracts don't make good wedding proposals.

Sharing a beer with Death--one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse--really put a few things into perspective for this foul-mouthed, billionaire wizard. Like finally getting the stones to propose to his girlfriend.

But the Brothers Grimm--legendary supernatural assassins--have escaped their prison, and the number one thing they want after their centuries-long incarceration is Nate Temple's head. With the entire wedding party also on their hit-list and the Temple family fortune in jeopardy, Nate realizes they can't run and they can't hide. So, time to do magic and stuff...

But with every flavor of supernatural thug teaming up to help the Grimms, Nate learns that friends have become enemies and enemies have become friends, and he's forced to cross lines that are better left uncrossed. To use some magic that he really, really shouldn't use.

When magic, claws, and teeth dance to the song of war, the only thing left to learn is who lives and who dies. And if Nate can live with the consequences.

No wonder a guy is terrified to propose...

Fairy Tales are very literal survival guides. Ignore them at your peril...

Nate Temple has gotten away with a lot in recent years: cow-tipping the Minotaur, decimating a gang of weredragons, sucker-punching Angels, and eating pancakes with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He's kidnapped one of the most powerful wizards on the planet and slaughtered the Brothers Grimm. Lady Luck has been very good to Nate Temple...

Until now.

Nate's good fortune has turned, catching the attention of a recruiter--the kind of person who offers jobs that can't be refused...

The kind of job that comes with perks like selling your soul to your new employer. That's when a wizard tastes real fear--when he learns that all the biggest, baddest monsters actually work for the same guy--and they do so against their will.

Silver Tongue... The nightmare everyone both knows, and doesn't know...

Lady Luck better have one more good toss of the dice for Nate, or this will be the last game he ever plays. Unless...he can find a way to cheat the House.

Nate's To-Do List: De-pants Ganesh. Shut down a Monster Circus. Rescue a Chimera. And host Friendsgiving for his guests - an Angel, Achilles, and Death, just to name a few... Easy-Peasy...

The Beast Master has come to town, and he's kidnapping shifter kids for his show.

But the Queens of Fae also want a little deep-fried wizard for the holidays.

Oh, and Nate is losing that last finger-hold on his sanity: hallucinating, and talking to creatures that no one else can see. The demon inside of him is getting stronger, fighting for dominance, and only one of them can survive.

But when Nate's extorted to rescue a lethal Chimera child from the Beast Master's Circus, Nate's only option is to partner with his inner demon, risking his very soul. But his friends begin to doubt and fear this new, darker Nate, taking matters into their own hands -- even when that means standing against him.

With allies turned enemies, the Fae breathing down his neck, and a dangerous child's life on the line, Nate must call upon, bully, and coerce new storybook legends and gods to save his traitorous friends from becoming the Beast Master's next victims...

Discover what -- if anything -- Nate is willing to sacrifice to save the friends who betrayed him...

Power is patient, power is kind...

No, wait. That's not right. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely... Just ask Nate's ex-fiancée.

It's almost this wizard's birthday, so, he can cry if he wants to. That is, if he lives to see it...

Because a lot of people want him dead: his fiancée, his long-lost ancestor, the good wizards, the dark wizards, and... Look, it's easier to list who doesn't want to kill him.

To prevent a Shifter vs. Wizard War, Nate steps in to draw a line in the sand, picking a fight with the deadliest magic slingers on the planet... and then he tries to rob them.

And with Achilles angry at Nate for crashing his Fight Night, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse breathing down his neck, Gods hiding behind mortal skins, and an accidental shifter infection with a cheerful Swedish male dancer, Nate has his hands full.

But when his enemies decide to wake a God, the only way for Nate to level the playing field is to open an early birthday present from the Mad Hatter... And that's when he finds out that nothing is ever simple, and that no one was ever who he thought they were all these years.

To become a Godkiller you have to awaken the monster inside you...

Almost a year has passed since Nate's ex-fiancée woke up a Greek god intent on world domination and war. The problem? He doesn't know which god. And the promised war hasn't started yet.

With the Four Horsemen refusing to help, and an army of monsters living on his lawn, Nate resorts to the one thing he's best at--pissing off demigods and Greek Heroes in hopes of jump-starting the war.

But then he receives an ominous invitation that he literally cannot refuse. A dark, deadly place where nightmares roam free demands an audience. The Land of the Fae.

He must forget every story he's heard about the Fae. They're nothing like he imagined, nothing like he's been told... Because to kill a god, he needs to learn how to become a monster.

Two old dudes want to kill me. Oh, and one of them is my ancestor...

And after centuries of practice, they're pretty good at the whole murder thing. But at least they want to kill each other just as badly.

Now, I've taken down a Greek Goddess, worn a Horseman's Mask, and I ride a homicidal unicorn who hates rainbows with a passion. Some might say sending two senior citizens to a permanent retirement home should be a breeze.

It ain't.

Because that's not my biggest concern. One of my friends is in danger, or possibly dying, and I need to get her back before her fiancé kills me. But finding her introduces me to new worlds of pain. The biggest of these being my own past--which has been a blatant lie--and a parting gift from my parents--which might have just been the coin toss for the Apocalypse Olympics.

I'm beginning to realize that none of the old Gods, Legends, or Monsters have been idle the last few centuries. They've been waiting, picking sides, and scheming schemes.

Of course, maybe one of those two old dudes will punch my ticket and save me the headache. A wizard can Hope, right? Because either way, I'm about to have a very bad series of days...

Nate Temple has an appointment in Hell. One he can't reschedule...

After recent events, Nate took some much-deserved time off for a little rest and relaxation. But when he finally returns home to attend what should have been a celebration of love, he finds insidious fear infecting the streets of St. Louis.

Paranoia. Chaos. Anarchy. It seems every supernatural family in town is sick and tired of Nate and wants to put him in his place. The worst part... all his friends seem to agree.

With everyone else fighting to prevent war between the families, Nate takes two of his scariest friends on a walk down that famous path paved with good intentions -- to those eternal pits of despair -- so he can finally demand some real answers from his parents.

He definitely never thought his actions could make Hell any worse than it already was...

ABANDON ALL HOPE, THE FIFTH HORSEMAN SHALL RIDE...

Nate Temple is on the hunt to right a wrong. Mordred -- King Arthur's son -- has escaped from Hell. And it's all Nate's fault.

Pro-Tip: Don't let escapees rob the dreaded Nine Souls on their way out of Hell's Gates. It makes the escapee just an itsy-bitsy bit stronger.

But what are the Nine Souls? And what does St. Louis think about having a self-proclaimed King in the twenty-first century?

And that's not the only thing he has to worry about. He's having flashbacks about his childhood in Fae, and it's crippling him with migraines that knock him unconscious any time he tries to press them.

And Anubis is hunting him, because Nate recently accepted his job offer as the Guide to Hell, and it's not a work-from-home type of job.

Nate's going to need to beg, borrow, and steal every scrap of power he can find to stand a snowball's chance in hell against Mordred and what the notorious traitor has in store for St. Louis.

Because Mordred has been planning this moment his entire afterlife, from that dark empty cell in Hell, and will stop at nothing to get his father's old heirlooms back. A certain Round Table and a sword. Only then can his master plan truly begin...

The world needs a Fifth Horseman. Whether they want it or not... Whether they can survive it or not...

NATE TEMPLE HAS HOLES IN HIS SOUL, BOTH IMAGINED AND REAL...

And the only way to patch his soul back together is to go back to where it all began. To where he began. To where a Manling was born...

To a dangerous boy named Wylde.

Because to have any hope at standing against Mordred--to save Camelot and St. Louis alike--he must learn what it means to be a Catalyst.

A little boy must know his legend--his origin. And he must learn the painful truth that his entire life has been meticulously planned and laid out like the steps to a choreographed dance. And that Mordred is just another dance card in a long line of future suitors at the Temple Ball.

If Nate can survive the dance, that is...

Let's discover what dangers a little boy can get into when his imagination is more real than reality itself...

When the powers of life and death can be heard in the absent humming of a little boy playing in the woods with his cat...

Because behind every Song is a Mask waiting to be born.

Or destroyed...

Nate Temple must die.

Mordred--the bastard son of King Arthur--has returned, and he will stop at nothing to utterly destroy everything his father ever created--burning the Arthurian Legend from the history books for good.

He's already defeated Nate Temple once, corrupting the fabled Knights of the Round Table into darker, nigh-invincible, merciless, killing machines--Knightmares.

And once Camelot is nothing more than a pile of fiery rubble, Mordred plans to conquer St. Louis--after slaughtering Nate and everyone he's ever cared about, of course.

But a vengeful god is also hunting Nate, and starts attacking his friends to draw him out. When one of Nate's best friends is gravely wounded, Nate is forced to make an impossible choice--save his city from Mordred or save his friend from a blood-crazed god.

Both foes carry enough daddy issues to grant a first-year psychologist a second-year retirement. But Nate's not that stable either, and if he can't get a grip on his own demons, his victory might very well be worse than anything either of his enemies ever could have imagined.

The only option left is to shatter all the rules, opening himself up to deadly powers better left untouched and forgotten--and even that is a fool's gambit, a whisper of a hope.

Then again, if we don't have hope, we've already lost.

So, it's time for Nate Temple to roll the dice.

Because in this game, even Hope can die...

The Godkiller will rise.

Despite his recent victories, Nate Temple's problems are only just beginning. Although it had been necessary, killing the most infamous of the Norse gods has consequences, and no one knows petty vengeance like the Aesir. Especially with Odin's legendary spear mysteriously missing.

But Nate has more important things to worry about than a pantheon of angry gods.

Because the God of Mischief has been freed from his imprisonment, and so has his monstrosity of a son--a creature prophesied to play a major role in Ragnarok. With Loki's masterful abilities at illusion and deception, any of Nate's acquaintances could be Loki in disguise, so he's forced to play things close to the chest, retreating away from those he trusts the most.

But with gangs of expert assassins relentlessly hunting Nate for the largest contract fee ever known, the police and FBI starting to take a closer look at Nate Temple and his alleged crimes, his best friend's kids born with bizarre abilities, and his new Horsemen desperately needing their leader to begin training them for the Omega War...

Now is a terrible time to be alone.

And an even worse time for his people to be without their leader.

Especially when Nate knows his old enemies were actually just the henchmen and that the real masters are still lurking in the shadows--likely even posing as his allies.

The blades of betrayal strike swifter than the first kiss of new love, and the fate of the world is riding on one man's shoulders...

The Catalyst walks the world.

And no one seems to know exactly what that really means. Except that it's going to change the future of existence for everyone.

For better or for worse.

Because Nate Temple has changed the rules--the most hated, feared, and respected beings in human history are no longer safe in St. Louis.

Even gods can die...

The gods never should have opened Pandora's Box...

Nate Temple has been abducted by Zeus and is thrown into the middle of an Olympian family feud that could very well kick off the Omega War all by itself.

There is one weapon that Zeus believes will turn the tide. Pandora's Box. But his neglect left it on earth for far too long, and Pandora has found a new master to serve. Nate Temple.

Because Zeus put one thing inside the Box that he never should have... Hope.

And Hope is a dangerous thing to leave unattended...

Nate will need every ally and every tool at his disposal to have a chance at surviving. The only problem is that none of those allies have any idea where he is, but they're scouring the world to find him. Before it's too late.

The only way out of this insanity is for Nate to face old demons, unite old friends, and outmaneuver plans that have spanned decades. The Dread Four must Ride to save their Brother, the Horseman of Hope, or everything will burn.

Even if they win, everything might just burn all the same. But will it burn with Hope... or Despair?

Boys want attention. Men want respect. Legends just don't care...

Nate Temple is finally taking some time off to appreciate the finer things in life...like his new Valkyrie, Kára. But their weeks of romance come to a swift end and lethal end when assassins invade the sanctity of Chateau Falco.

Not only that, but Nate finds himself neck-deep in politics when he is framed for murdering one of the most notorious Academy Justices to ever walk the Earth, and the legendary suits of magical armor belonging to Camelot are suddenly up for grabs.

New faces--both good and bad--step into the game, and Nate soon finds himself at the center of a vortex of chaos leading to war in Camelot with the Fae Queens, on Earth with the Academy wizards, and potentially in Asgard with the Norse pantheon.

The more chaotic things get, the more certain Nate becomes that the Masters are finally starting to make their moves out in the open, no longer content to hide in the shadows. They want to force Nate to act...

And they might not live to regret his decision to agree.

Because only a savage beast of a man could believe that personally kicking off the wars--all at the same time--is the safest course of action. Will he reconsider the wisdom of that decision when it finally brings him face-to-face with one of the Masters--the very person behind all the chaos in the first place?

Especially when he learns that this chaos is only the opening move in their grand game of death, and that his foe has been practicing for many, many years for this precise moment. The chance to defeat Nate Temple, once and for all.

Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt. --Sun Tzu

Rage, rage against the dying of the light

In the stygian darkness beneath his ancestral mausoleum, Nate sets out to explore the shadowed history of his infamous Temple ancestors.

And to brutally destroy a poisonous weed threatening to strangle his family tree.

Aiden Maxon, Nate's half-brother, is on the warpath, committed and capable of killing everything and everyone Nate loves and holds dear. But...

Are they truly brothers? Was that a lie?

In the obsidian Temple of Reverie, Nate will face a choice: vengeance or virtue, power or principle, history or future, hate or love...

Despair or Hope.

The caverns of Hell will scream, the Rivers of the Dead will boil, and the Dark Horse will hike up a mountain of skulls to lead the Dread Four into battle. The crimson storms will rage as he hunts down his foe across the pages of history.

Let us hope that not all will be abandoned in Nate Temple's conquest for vengeance...

Let us hope that the last flicker of light in the Horseman's eyes does not die and plunge the world into the abyss before the true battle begins. The drums of the Omega War will sound like the beating heart of an awoken giant, and it will be impossible for anyone to ignore.