Description
In a world where the Mafia still has a presence in Las Vegas, the Yakuza are slowly trying to move in. Ren is the monster under the bed, the shadows lurking in the corner that send a chill down your spine, and the sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. Ren is a walking Nightmare - literally. He drives mortals to fear him, then feeds on it. He has his eye on rising through the ranks of the Yakuza, but to do so, he is forced into his own nightmare, an arranged marriage with Hana. However, she runs. In his search, he meets Melisande, a sad-eyed human who begins to stir alien feelings in him. Niall, a novice who is working toward becoming a priest, is practically the opposite of Ren in every way; including that he is a Dream from the same world as Ren. When his friend, Melisande, brings Hana to the church he is taking his final steps in, he feels an immediate urge to help her. He sees a troubled young person with a potentially beautiful soul, a soul that makes him question what his desire to help her stems from. In the middle of two worlds, and two otherworldly beings, Hana, the troubled daughter of a sadistic Yakuza boss from Japan, and Melisande, a kind artist who volunteers with the church, find their respective worlds turned upside down by love and conflict. [Contains obscene amounts of adult language, some rape, a fair amount of violence, and absolutely no examples of relationships that should be emulated.]
Chapter 1 - Just a Little Higher
