After being poisoned and sidelined, Jace Smithson returns to duty, ready to do his part to bring about the downfall of Dr. Timothy Lerrans, the mastermind behind the organ thefts and mass killings in Cauldron City and beyond. However, the discovery of Timothy’s son has transformed the investigation into a race against time. Without heart transplants or the assistance of unicorns and dragons, Cole will die.
Without the young red dragon, they have little hope of bringing the twisted serial killer to justice and end his reign of death and terror.
Until Dr. Timothy Lerrans makes another mistake, Jace and his fellow detectives can only hope one of the innumerable dead ends provides them with even a scrap of evidence pointing them in the right direction. To add to their woes, Alicia Grimstone’s show must go on, and the cops of Precinct #153 are about to discover the truth of the dark world hidden behind the silver screen.
The games have begun.
Game On releases November 24, 2026 and is the third book in the Magic, Mayhem, and the Law in Precinct #153 series.
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Please note the following excerpt is an unedited sneak peek.
From Chapter One…
Friday, June 15, 2057
River Lakes Park, Precinct 153
Cauldron City, Nebraska.
An entire flock of baby turkeys peeped while following me through the house, reducing Alicia to hysterical fits of laughter and giggles. Sir Blackie posed for the black dragoness, fanning his feathers and gobbling, likely informing her the chaos was fully his responsibility.
I should have known the first hen’s eggs would only be the start of the insanity. I’d missed the first three eggs being laid, and then I’d learned the hard way that a hen would lay one egg a day until the entire clutch was in the world. The first hen had graced us with twenty.
The second hen was still laying eggs, and I worried that she was behind the others. Dr. Erik and Mrs. Dr. Erik had come calling to check on her nest, and I’d been promised all the little ones were fine thus far despite there being twenty-two of them.
If I found another egg in the morning, I would shift, go out into the orchard, and throw a temper tantrum.
The other hens had taken mercy on my soul, laying six to eight each before settling in to incubate their babies.
In total, I had forty-seven peeping turkey chicks following me around, and two of them had already learned to ask for breakfast in English.
When the next twenty-two joined the flock, I would run a high risk of going bald trying to keep everybody happy.
“They love you,” Alicia informed me between peals of laughter. “Just be glad you’re still on medical leave and can stand guard over your babies. I have to work.” She checked her phone and sighed. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to convince my grandpappy to actually participate as more than a prize donor?”
Thanks to the Black Dragon of New York, Alicia’s current work assignment would keep her in Cauldron City for at least five years. Through sacrificing Hardy and egging Captain Farthan on, her studio had all the key parts to run a an entire season of their game show. With my diamonds on the line, I pitied any networks trying to run anything when the episodes aired.
The opening volley would be a three hour special, and I feared it would be a season of at least six episodes, all of them at least three hours long.
Every clan in Cauldron City wanted to join in the fun, and they were willing to sacrifice their young dragons to make it happen.
“Food?” the male of the talkers asked, and he peeped before hopping up on my shoe and rubbing against my leg.
“Use your magic word,” I instructed, leaning over to get a closer look at the little guy.
“Please.”
As it was time for their breakfast, I scooped the little boy up, gave him a kiss on his tiny head, and carried him to the counter, setting him in the basket we’d set up specifically for the purpose of containing baby birds while preparing their meals. “This morning, you get your supplement treats to go with your regular breakfast.”
While I only had two talkers thus far, the other babies had learned certain words, and the entire flock of them lived for their supplement treats. The babies crowded against my legs, their peeps intensifying. One, the palest of the lot and the second talker, went to her father and snuggled with him.
Sir Blackie loved all his babies, but he doted on his talker of a daughter, making certain she always had a spot beside him when it was time for the flock to settle in for the night. I’d already begun the process of creating a nest for each bird, and I would need to make certain the two sentients were close to their father until they gained more independence.
Within ten minutes, I had dishes set out for all the birds, and Sir Blackie waited everyone else had theirs before coming to his dish. I took the time to praise the big boy for doing such a good job raising his babies before easing out of the mass of bodies to where Alicia waited where the kitchen met the rooms connecting to the entry. “I’ll deal with your grandfather if you deal with Dr. Erik and convince him I can at least go back to work for desk duty.”
She snickered. “Can you last longer than four hours without taking a nap?”
I scowled at the reminder I had a while left to go until my organs were fully healed. “Not precisely, but there’s no reason I can’t catch a nap at my desk between sessions of being useful at work. I’m no longer itching, and as far as I’m concerned, that means I’m fully recovered and ready to return to work.”
The itching had made a mess of my initial plans to reenter society and resume my career, as I suffered from poor concentration, a foul mood nobody wanted to deal with, and high risk of injuring myself seeking relief. After well over a month of sick leave, I took the top spot as the survivor of Dr. Lerrans’s attack with the longest recovery period.
Even Gloria had already returned to her regular schedule, as she’d gotten the final treatments to cure her strugwgling lungs in the first week of June.
Alicia smiled at me and checked on the birds, who surely made a mess of the floor behind me. “They’re getting better at keeping their food in their dishes. At least they’re staying in their room at night now, and they’re making use of the orchard during the day for exercise and general enrichment.”
Sir Blackie and his hens made certain to herd their little ones outside, where they prowled the orchards and engaged anyone foolish enough to enter their territory. Unlike wild turkeys, rather than peck and spur, the flock aimed to cuddle their victim into submission.
The gardeners had learned to play and tend to the birds at the start of their shift so they could care for the plants once the flock had been tamed. Sir Blackie insisted on supervising when he wasn’t with me. With so many babies underfoot, I held some hope I’d be able to leave the turkey at home so he could rule over the estate.
His hens complained when he left them for long.
I checked on the flock, pleased to discover they had managed to keep most of their food in their dishes. What they didn’t finish would be tossed in the communal bowl in their room, giving them something to peck at throughout the day until it was time for dinner. “Where are Misfit and Mamma Mia?”
“They’re napping in front of the fireplace. Mamma Mia ran her patrol this morning, chased that damned squirrel, and surely taught your puppy some bad habits.”
I snickered. To make certain Misfit didn’t fall behind in her schooling, someone came by from the station to take her to work. “And when is her ride arriving?”
“She has the day off. Captain Farthan might be talked into allowing you back into the station tomorrow with a good sales pitch and a promise to spend most of your time making quesadillas for everyone.”
While I’d rather work in investigations, I could handle being in the station making quesadillas. “At least Sir Blackie won’t mind staying home. But if you can get me into work tomorrow, I’ll try to get your grandpappy to participate.”
“Deal.” Alicia checked her phone again. “All right. Today, I need to review potential filming locations. I’ll take the Blackwing, so if you do need to run any errands to prepare for a possible return to work, you can do so with space for the pups and Mikhal.”
While I could get away with leaving Sir Blackie in charge of our home’s security and tending to his babies, Mikhal and the wolf-dogs followed me wherever I went. Of the trio, the hummingbird had the best understanding of my long recovery process and indulged in anxiety if I left without him.
I checked on the nest in the sitting room, discovered it was empty, and after a brief search, located the hummingbird catching a nap on the fireplace mantle.
Alicia had painted several large pinecones, and the tiny bird had turned the space between them into a nest, making off with every suitable scrap of material from the house to do it.
I’d needed to bring Yuri into make certain there was nothing unsafe for him in the nest, replacing everything dangerous with options safe for the little guy. I petted his head until he woke up and said, “I’m going to try to talk Captain Farthan into letting us return to work tomorrow, so we need to go run some errands.”
The bird clicked at me, stretched, and shook out his feathers. Rather than take flight, he hopped onto my finger and snuggled against my hand. Grinning at the sleepy hummingbird, I carried him to where Misfit and Mamma Mia dosed, and I nudged the pair awake with my toe. “We’re going on a trip.”
As trips often meant stops at the local butchers, both wolf-dogs bounced awake and headed for the door, sitting by the stand where we kept their work gear.
“I see everyone wants to go do something today.” Shaking her head, Alicia snagged her purse, checked its contents, and joined the wolf-dogs, handling their harnesses, which lacked any markings indicating they were police animals. “If you become too tired to drive, call dispatch,” she reminded me.
I sighed, wondering if life would go back to normal. In some ways, I doubted it.
After Dr. Lerrans had orchestrated the attacks on two Cauldron City hospitals and wiped out a hefty chunk of the homeless population in New York City, he’d gone underground. With the rival organizations tearing apart the necropolis for any signs of Mercy, I suspected our city would be safe enough for a while.
Lovell’s future mother-in-law wanted a safe place for her daughter and other children, and she was more than willing to kill to make it happen.
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