The Adversary (Chronicles of Rhyacia #2)

by Thea Harrison

Blurb:

From NYT bestselling author Thea Harrison comes the explosive conclusion to The Unseen!

When Dragos and Pia move to the Other land of Rhyacia, they hope starting a new life will bring safety and freedom to their family, especially their young baby, Niall. And at first their new home seems perfect… but looks are deceiving.

Beneath Rhyacia’s idyllic façade an ancient, malevolent force lurks, waiting for the right opportunity to break free of its cage. When that opportunity comes, it strikes with devastating accuracy.

While Dragos has never backed down from a fight, he’s also never encountered an enemy like this one before. How can he fight a foe who doesn’t have a body? A foe who can invade and turn his own mind against him?

How can Dragos protect his family, when at any moment one of them may become the enemy?

As Dragos and Pia race against time to fight this unseen menace, they must also acknowledge a terrifying truth—when anyone can become the enemy, no one can be trusted.

An adversary who can trap the dragon poses a threat to everyone in Rhyacia, and that means no one is safe…

Themes: Paranormal, Shifters, Dragons

Rating: 4 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

Finally we have the conclusion of the drama that threatened to take Pia’s mate from her forever that begin with their move to the Otherworld they planned to make home. This series began long ago with Pia and Dragos finding love in their surprising mating and we have gotten glimpses of their lives together as they mated, ruled their Demesne, and birthed and raised their children. This spin-off is just the short story of the new drama in their new Otherworld home. In the previous book (The Unseen) they arrived and begin their settlement, but something strange was happening, which led them to investigations until suddenly a ruin was found directly under their settlement. When Pia and Dragos ventured into the settlement, a being took over Dragos body and only Pia realized it and the danger is presented. Now the story picks up right after Pia and the gang have subdued the possessed Dragos and her son Liam has arrived with the other Sentinels to assist. While Pia and the team work externally to try to understand the enemy, Dragos struggles internally to push the hijacker out of his own body. But even when Dragos is free, are the rest of the inhabitants of the new world safe or is the danger just beginning? Dragos, Pia and team must fight and hurry to protect the world from this psycho before someone they love is stolen from them permanently and the world as they know it ends. While it was safe to say this story was packed, it certainly didn’t focus much on Pia and Dragos’s relationship, despite us getting moments of passion and affection. Pia has always been much stronger than she believed herself to be, but in this story I think she truly found her footing as a leader and one willing to do just about anything required of her to protect her mate, children and people. She was hilarious, brave, smart, and clever by turns but maintained her loving and sweet nature in the end. Dragos was of course a serious badass, but I think he found his softer side in this one as he faced a loss and decision unlike any he ever imagined before finding his mate and having children. It was great to see these two and their family as they all came together to overcome evil and protect their own. I am hoping to see more of these characters later on down the line because I always love losing myself in their adventures, but if not, this story was a fitting ending all the same. Pia and Dragos at their best for sure.