Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents

In a modern city governed by ancient bloodlines, an uneasy peace holds between vampires and nekos—two species bound by centuries of rivalry, betrayal, and war. Though the violence has quieted, resentment festers beneath the surface, and whispers of rebellion begin to circulate among the vampire clans who believe their power was unjustly stripped away. Maverick Delacroix, the disciplined heir to one of the most influential vampire families, has been raised to value control above all else. Loyalty to his lineage is not a choice but a duty etched into his very existence. Across the divide stands Odessa Kingsleigh, a sharp-witted neko diplomat trained to protect her people at any cost. Burdened by history and responsibility, she knows that trusting a vampire—especially a Delacroix—could unravel everything she has worked to preserve. When rising tensions force secret negotiations between the two factions, Maverick and Odessa are drawn into reluctant cooperation. What begins as a strategic alliance quickly deepens into something far more dangerous. As they navigate political intrigue, veiled threats, and the weight of ancestral hatred, their connection grows—challenging everything they have been taught to believe about enemies, loyalty, and destiny. But love in a divided city is never private. As extremist forces on both sides push for war and long-buried prophecies resurface, Maverick and Odessa find themselves at the center of a conflict that could destroy the fragile balance holding their world together. Choosing each other means defying their families, their cultures, and the expectations carved into their blood. With rebellion looming and trust in short supply, they must decide whether history will repeat itself in bloodshed—or whether their forbidden bond can forge a future neither species dared to imagine.

Elvira Corleone was the precious daughter of the Corleone family, a breathtaking beauty well-known in their inner circle. Whoever dared provoke her either ended up submitting to her or as a body at the bottom of Bayton Harbor. One day, her best friend, Lilian Allen, made a daring bet. "Vira, make my brother fall for you, and I'll give you the power of judgment over Bayton Harbor's underground scene." Elvira grinned, bold and confident. She pressed the cigar out in the ashtray. "Lilian, you know I've never failed to get what I want." Yet, plans never worked out the way one would expect.

Their are many races, all of which are unique in every way, though they all have one rule. No one is to cross-breed, the Deus will not stand for ANY half-breed to survive. But when one Dues falls in love with an elf and becomes pregnant, the rules seem too harsh. She does not want to give up her baby. Tuviel runs fast and far, going to the only place where both her and her baby will be safe. Years later, Astria is curious and wants to know her father, she knows she was a forbidden baby, that she is an abomination, half elf half Deus. But why must everyone hate her? She couldn’t control the circumstances of her birth. When everything falls apart and they must leave, who will help the Deus who broke the sacred law and a half-breed who barley knows who she is? Not suitable for under 18 years.

My family was supposed to be the richest of the land, yet I had to refund even a cheap delivery. Why? In my previous life, my housekeeper's daughter got her hands on a trading system. Every cent of money I spent would be hers. She started trying to guilt-trip me into donating to all the impoverished students in her school. It was charity anyway, so I signed a check worth 300 grand. The moment I did, that money became part of her savings, and the amount on my check was zero. Everyone called me names, called me a charlatan. Even the boy toy I spent good money on broke up with me. That girl used my money to donate to charities and became the kind and beautiful heiress. She told everyone I was the housekeeper's daughter instead. Furious, I grabbed my black card and started shopping like crazy. I wanted to prove I was the real heiress, but the balance in my account was cleared immediately. That girl then spent 1.2 million right away, like it was one dollar. She scoffed at me. "Don't try to act like you're rich when you're a broke loser. Your mother doesn't make enough as a housekeeper." The Internet decided to hunt me down. I could not handle the stress, and my mind broke. For some reason, my body withered away at a blistering rate. Before my father could save me, I drew my last breath. When I opened my eyes again, I returned to that fateful day. The day the housekeeper's daughter made me donate to the school.

After two years abroad in seclusion as I recovered, I received a selfie from my daughter, Lila Ashford. She was sitting on a bike, dressed in a work uniform. "Mom, you’ll be home soon, right? I miss you so much." My heart softened as I thought about how my girl had grown up. She understood that she needed to start from the bottom and work her way up. I was about to praise her when I noticed her skin seemed tanner, and her fitted shirt was the same one I’d bought her three years ago. It was frayed and worn thin, yet she still hadn’t thrown it away. As a child of the wealthiest family, Lila shouldn’t have to live like this, not even for "life experience". I zoomed in on the picture again. Her shoes were falling apart, the front gaping wide open. The more I looked, the more uneasy I became. The next second, I stumbled across Serena Ashford, my adopted daughter’s posts on social media. She was showing off male models, luxury cars, and on her wrist, the global limited-edition diamond bracelet I had given Lila. What shocked me most was the car that appeared in nearly every photo, the very one I had gifted Lila for her college graduation. How the hell had it ended up with her instead?!

When you're on the brink of death, does humanity still exist? Clementia must learn to trust people again after surviving a blocked elevator into a zombie apocalypse or risk losing everything in this horrific world. Every day for Clementia over the last two years has been a haze. She keeps her head down, hangs out with the folks she despises the most, and only leaves the house to work at her required internship. But everything changes the day the workplace elevator breaks down, trapping her as the screaming begins. When the doors eventually open, revealing a dystopian world ravaged by bleeding fangs and sickness, Clementia is thrust into a horrifying race for her life, stuck between strangers she's not sure she can trust and man-eating creatures hungry for her flesh. With that, she realized that the whole city was filled by those monsters. And she is now forced to flee for her life, and she must learn not only how to live in this new and frightening environment, but also how to fight her own inner demons before they lose her something more valuable than her life. But then she met Justine, the one who would help her live in this chaotic life, and together they will fight in a world where a virus has spread, turning the majority of the people into flesh-eating monsters, as they both connote safety and unity.