C. R. Daems

Jolie was three when she found she was ugly and deformed.She was five when she found she was a sub-human and an outcast. She was seven when five boys and two girls dragged her out of the orphanage and beat her unconscious, leaving her lying bleeding and broken in the street.She was content to lie there and die, tired of being hated and abused. But a frail old man with wispy white hair and a long beard wasn't content to let her die. He not only saved her, but he adopted her and passed on his unique martial art to her.She was twenty when she headed to Delphi, the center of the United Systems of Perileos (USP) and the planet of her birth-father to find her place in his society.Based on her unique upbringing, she decides to join the USP military, requesting to be assigned to the Tasmanians SFG, an elite all male unit. The military brass is reluctant to deny her request and admit their enlistment contract permits bait-and-switch assignments. Instead, they agree to let her enter the school, thinking she couldn't possibly succeed-a Chihuahua competing against Rottweilers-and plan to make an example of her when she fails.Although Jolie is small, she is not what she appears. But can her adopted father's art enable her to survive the treachery of the military brass, the grueling of the school, the prejudices of the instructors, and the testosterone of an all-male class.And if she succeeds, can she thrive in the high-octane and all male environment of the Tasmanians?

The Shadow Sister Ryana, the very Shadow of Death, is marrying her beloved and joining his gypsy clan. War took her innocence, and now she's determined to rebuild her life. But religious cults are springing up, and the gypsies come under attack. Ryana's best friend in the Sisters, Jelena, has fled to join one of the cults, and the senior Sister asks Ryana to find out why. Too late, Ryana discovers their enemies have a sweet and seductive weapon, one that has turned Jelena into her enemy. Ryana is betrayed, kidnapped, and her will stolen. She must regain it if she is to defend her clan and the Shadow Sisters. If she fails, it means the end of both her families--her new gypsy clan and the Sisters she swore to defend.

Zenaida's father was murdered and her snow leopard's cubs stolen, leaving her alone in the outback of the civilized systems-called the Rim. There smuggling, bribes, and a wild-west live-free-or-die attitude prevails and an eye-for-an-eye is the preferred method of retribution. For Zenaida, a child of the Rim, the death of her father requires retribution. But she must first learn how to survive while trying to track down her snow leopard's stolen litter and her father's killers. But unknown to her, her father's killers spared her for a reason-a secret that could mean her death if she discovers it.

To everyone's astonishment, the party girl and can't-make-up-her-mind Megan not only survived the Hill, the name for the Kazak School, but loves her job and enjoys learning about the lives of the VIPs she is assigned to protect. The most exciting part is the cat-and-mouse game with the Assassins and terrorists intent on killing her clients.Megan the Wolf - sociable, sexy, sly, and lethal - is the newest Kazak Guardian.

If the Kazak Guardians had a recruiting poster, it would have read: WANTED: A select few insane people to fight professional assassins with super-human abilities. Good medical plan provided.Surviving the training program was dangerous-even the first challenge to gain entrance to the school could get you killed. But the training was the easy part. Staying alive afterward was the hard part. Kazaks guarded individuals whose lives were deemed critical because of their position, or their views and were at high risk of assassination, attracting fanatics and the best professional assassins money could buy-Liars who could tell lies you believed, Ghosts who could become nearly invisible, Illusionists who could appear to be anyone, Glimmer's that were attractive to everyone, Runners that could outrun Olympic athletes.Lynn survives years of training and the five deadly challenges to become a Kazak Guardian and enters a world of extremists and assassins, where each assignment becomes a deadly contest between Kazak and assassin, with the prize the life of the VIP. Despite the danger, Lynn enjoys every assignment with its interesting people, new environments, challenges, and best of all the occasional opportunity to pretend to be someone other than a Kazak-a Fox in sheep's clothing.

Lynn the Fox has been a Kazak for several years and thought she had seen it all. She was, after all, a Master Kazak having killed more than five Assassins-professional killers with wizard-like talents.But life is unpredictable and the unthinkable is about to happen. Events that will not only put her in unexpected danger but also threaten the existence of the Kazak organization.

Dragon Sapir is back, and the Jax Military will never be the same.The Jax Contract Committee has released Rivka to take assignments, and her first involves her in a plot by several Systems within the Helix collection of systems to destroy the Jax. As the plot spreads, she is given assignments to combat the threat. Soon she becomes the JCC's problem solver for ill-advised and potentially ruinous contracts the JCC is forced to accept, including one by the United Freelands who is seeking revenge on her for their embarrassing defeat on Suryah.Rivka has become the agent of change, an essential evolution if the Jax is to survive.

Four-year-old Anna should have died from a deadly virus along with her parents. Alone and desperate, she wants to die and join them in heaven. So, when the little red-headed angel appears she begs, cajoles, and demands he take her to heaven. He could have but didn't.The little red head she mistook for an angel didn't have wings, or a halo, or legs or arms. The little red head belonged to a poisonous krait-it should have been hibernating since it was winter and snowing, its bite should have killed her but didn't, and it had no reason to stay with her but it did.She survives. The medical community is excited because there is currently no known cure for the virus, but the krait is not the answer. Anna and her krait have a symbiotic relationship that provides remission but not a cure. If she is ever separated from her Red Angel, the virus will become active, and she will die within days.Because of the krait's presence, Anna struggles through multiple foster homes during her early years, ostracized by children and adults alike and plagued by thieves willing to kill her to snatch the unique and extremely valuable krait. Over the years, Anna comes to believe that the krait she calls Red not only keeps her alive but may contribute to her outstanding performance in school, her ability to solve puzzles, and to sense people's strong emotions.Recognizing her talent, the Naval Intelligence Agency, NIA, hires her and assigns her to an elite team tasked with tracking down interstellar smugglers. The smuggling cartel is quick to retaliate. Now in addition to murderous thieves, Anna, along with the NIA team, has assassins and the smuggler's war cruisers stalking them. It may take the mysterious Red Angel to save her-again.

All her life, Liada believed the First Ones were dangerous and to be feared. That was what the Priests had taught her. They lied.Liada learns the truth after befriending Tali, an injured and helpless creature who is a First One. Unfortunately, the Priests will stop at nothing to keep their secrets, including eliminating Liada. Her only chance is to flee into a neighboring empire while hunted by the Priests' winged Quag--killers of the First Ones.Help comes in the form of a mysterious ally. But can she trust him or could he be more dangerous than all of her enemies combined?

The combined forces of the SAS, UFN, and JPU with help from the Riss have defeated the galaxy-traveling aliens. In the process, a friendly alliance has evolved between the SAS, UFN, and the Riss nations, and the SAS has agreed Freeland belongs to the Riss nation and is not in SAS space.As a result, the Riss now have their own navy, mutual support agreements with the SAS and the UFN, a planet, and are free to explore the stars. Consequently, Nadya feels it's time that a new Leader be appointed-a Riss-to set the future for the Riss nation. But the SAS and the UFN's navies encountered heavy losses defeating the Aliens and the JPU, with its larger and better equipped navy, sees a opportunity to conquer the SAS and UFN and to destroy the Riss, which they hate.Fear is about to grip the empires and leave the Riss alone to defend themselves.

Nadya, hosting an intelligent parasite, is now an experienced naval officer with two battles against the Raider's cruiser packs. But she continues to be seen as an alien, generating disgust, fear, raw hate, and attempts on her life. To add to her problems, the Raiders have identified her as contributing directly to their bad luck and have designated her a dybbuk-demon-and have set a price on her dead or alive. With the Raiders a potential threat to the SAS, life has become a little too interesting.

Ryana, a worthless girl-child, is sold to a mysterious woman who takes her to the home of the Shadow Sisters who are prized for their abilities as spies and assassins. She survives years of training in spite of being unconventional: adopting poisonous bats as familiars--something no one else would dare to do; choosing the blow dart as her weapon of choice--a weapon the Sisters don't teach; and relying on intuition rather than logic.As she completes her training, the Shadow Sisters are under attack. The senior Sister selects Ryana to find out who is killing Sisters and why--because her intuitive approach has proved effective, even though her youth and inexperience makes it unlikely she will survive.As she travels through the kingdom as a member of a gypsy clan, she finds the only way she can protect the Sisters and hope to discover the underlying plot is through ever more violence and killing. As she proceeds through the provinces, her secret enemies come to call her the Sister of Death and become desperate to find and kill her. But in her desperate fight to protect the Sisterhood and the kingdom, Ryana fears that she has destroyed herself and the only life she ever wanted.

The Raider clans have been defeated and their planet under the supervision of the Riss, with Captain Reese the station commander. But while Reese see the Clans as on probation, many in the SAS task force she commands, perceive them as prisoners and hope to break the Treaty in order to get revenge.As Nadya attempts to maintain the fragile peace, the three empires are being invaded. They know the invading force is far more technology advanced than the SAS. But who are they, where did they come from, and what do they want?One thing appears certain. The SAS cannot defeat the aliens alone. But can they overcome their prejudices against the Riss, hatred of the clans, and long years of distrust with the other empires, combine forces and technology to meet the challenge. The fate of the three empires, Riss, and the Raider clans may depend on it.