Introduction (in case you missed it)
I should have known better than to sign a deal with a blood-sucking blackmailer. But what choice did I have? Alessandro, one of the most powerful vampires in all the realms, holds my deepest, darkest secret in the palm of his hand.
Within fourteen days, I must start an academy for delinquent teenage vampires, or he’ll expose me. If my skeleton ever fell out of the closet, I would be ruined. My family would disown me, my friends would abandon me, and I would be left totally alone.
I’ve never taught vampires, or delinquents, or teenagers for that matter, but I will risk everything to establish a school for the undead. On the plus side, I have a PhD in Education and am a talented witch capable of all sorts of sorcery. Getting my brooms in a row, I’ve already scribbled a few lessons on the seven undeadly sins. I am determined that within fourteen days, I will have an institution of enlightenment for the most shadowy creatures on earth.
What could go wrong?
Onyx, a drop-dead-gorgeous night stalker with an extensive knowledge of blood sorcery, has offered his assistance, but you know what they say about deals that appear too good to be true. Should I accept a sidekick with fangs or go it alone?
Meanwhile, trouble is brewing in my small Pacific Northwest town called Mystic Keep. Someone is killing witches.While I expect many bumps in the night await me, I swear no bloody mess will deter me from my goal—to get the academy for naughty vampires functioning on time.
Will I succeed, or will I be exposed? Or worse, will I be murdered?
My name is Rebel Black, and this is my story.
Fangsters, the novel, is the first book in Fangsters, an urban fantasy with bite series, set in the Mystic Keep world. A fast-paced mystery with a slow burn romance, it features powerful witches, stubborn warlocks, and sexy vampires, and can easily be read as a standalone.What happened in last week
What happened in the last chapter?
In the Chapter 1 Rebel, summoned to a seedy motel on hedge of town by an unknown person, discovered her fiancé cheating on her. She thought her life was over.
Chapter 2
Two days later, I reached Mystic Keep, a tiny coastal village tucked into the Pacific Northwest like it was hiding a secret, and of course it was. My sisters called it a haven for magic folk. I called it my emergency emotional‑support relocation point.
I kept my chin up, wearing the sort of stiff upper lip my grandmother would’ve applauded, rigid as a corpse you might say. My life had exploded, and not in a fireworks‑and‑champagne kind of way. It was a dumpster fire.
Merlina, Jane, and Cassie met me at the airport. I tried not to cry when I saw them, but my tear ducts apparently missed the memo. I’ve never been the dramatic sister. I was the good girl who wore sensible shoes, took daily vitamins, and never dated a bad boy, though to be honest, I looked at them a lot. No one expected me to quit my safe job, curse my wealthy fiancé, and abandon my well-organized life.
Yet here I was, streaking mascara and on life support.
Merlina who looked like a fairytale witch with a curtain of long black hair and an upturned nose, gave me a once‑over severe enough to curdled milk. “I could’ve told you it wouldn’t work,” she declared. “He wasn’t just a lawyer; he was a norm. What were you thinking?” She patted my hair as it I was her beloved poodle.
I bit my tongue, thinking that there was no sense in adding the good witch bites her sister to the family gossip, which spun around us like a whirlwind.
Jane, the youngest, rolled her eyes. She was a red‑haired, boho enchantress who I thought of as sunshine in human form. “Rebel wasn’t thinking,” Jane said. “Rebel was feeling.” Jane gave me a soft gaze and then added, “She loved him.”
“I thought I did,” I muttered. But the truth was getting murkier every day.
Cassie, who looked like my more photogenic twin, looped her arm through mine. “Come home with me. Sanjay’s out of town. We’ll have the manor to ourselves.”
I nodded, not risking talking yet.
“It’s settled,” Cassie announced, pulling me into a hug. The other two dove in. For a moment I was trapped in a magical sister‑huddle filled with perfume, enchantment, and emotional CPR. My eyes stung. Maybe the hidden town of Mystic Keep wouldn’t be so bad.
“I may never be rich in money,” I sniffed, “but I’m rich in sisterly love.”
Within an hour, they’d installed me into a guest room in Cassie’s clifftop manor. It looked like a 1920s movie set with a four‑poster bed outfitted with Egyptian cotton sheets, a plush Oriental rug, and a cozy reading nook with a wing chair Agatha Christie would envy. When I opened the window, salty ocean air rushed in, and I could hear the surf crashing on the rocks below.
Yes. This would do nicely. An excellent place to heal, and perhaps plot my vengeance.
The next few days blurred into a rom‑com montage: me staring dramatically out windows, me crying into my cup of tea, and me sighing on couches, while my sisters fed me chicken soup with magical herbs. By the end of the week, my heartbreak shifted into something more sinister.
Revenge
As we all know witches love revenge, though we don’t publicly admit it.
Merlina sent me a case of champagne with a note that read, “to fuel your plotting.”
Jane and Cassie repeatedly recited the second rule of the Witch’s Moral Code: Thou shalt not use magic for revenge, in the same tone people use when telling a toddler not to lick a doorknob.
I drank champagne and ignored them. I’d been a good little witch my whole life and look how that had turned out. I’d been betrayed by a man whoI’d given my heart to.
I needed revenge. Pure sweet revenge.
I brainstormed spells as if they were baby names. I figured I’d start small with a few itching hexes, mild chaos charms, and maybe a pants‑splitting spell. Then I’d go bigger. I’d make Dakota pay. If witches believed in removing family jewels, his would already be displayed in a shadow box. I wouldn’t go to that extremed but I would have my fun.
Three days later, I felt ready. I just needed to stop crying long enough to finalize my list of curses, hexes, and “accidental” magical mishaps. Once the list was perfect, I’d begin.
Tomorrow, I told myself. Tomorrow, I’ll start getting back at that no‑good, cheating, lying son of a… lawyer.
Where can I find the other chapters?
If you want to catch up, you can find all the posted Chapters here:
Serials page.
The next episode drops next Friday.
How can you buy the book?
The new version isn’t available yet. I am rewriting it in a serialized format here on Substack. I’ll publish the new edition when I finish the editing. I’m considering a new title and cover as well. Blackmailed by a Vampire. What do you think?
Sources:
All my graphics are done on www.canva.com
Final Note
Thanks for reading my story.
Please, feel free to share it. That’s how most people find me, and I appreciate it.
See you between the lines.
With gratitude,
Jo-Ann