You can’t hide from evil. Especially in a small town.

Raised by an abusive father, twenty-two-year-old Tessa understands fear, and the lengths to which predators will go to cripple the minds of their victims. Most of all, she recognizes the liberation she gained when her cousin rode back into their quiet riverside town with a charter of the notorious Leidolf biker club at his back. For the last five years, she’s been under the protection of the rumored assassins, and in their midst, she thrives.

The only thing missing in Tessa’s life is love, and she has her eye on the wholesome insurance salesman next door. Matt has his eye on her, too. And all it takes to bring them together is murder.

When her cousin’s girlfriend is slaughtered and dumped in the river, a pulse of terror beats through Tessa’s town, growing stronger with each mutilated body until not even Tessa herself is safe. In fact, if her childhood sweetheart is right, Tessa is the reason the murders are happening. If the evidence is right, her cousin isn’t a vigilante, he’s a serial killer. If Matt is right, the Leidolf didn’t free Tessa, they only shackled her with new chains––and those chains are going to get her killed.

As the town descends into darkness, Tessa ignites a new love, fights against her old one, and defends not only Gary but the entire Leidolf club––and she has the bruises to prove it. Will she also have to give her life? Or is there something much worse than death in store for Tessa?

Sometimes, death is a mercy.