Mercedes Lackey

While fighting monsters that break through the barriers surrounding Apex City, Joy and her pack of magical hounds begin finding dead Psimons, and reporting the incidents only causes more trouble.

Sent by Lord Alderscroft to the bachelor's flat of a certain famous, and rather rude, detective, psychics Sarah and Nan are compelled to prove their powers to him before being asked to consult on behalf of his Elemental Masters associates, John and Mary Watson.

They came after the Diseray. Some were terrors ripped from our collective imaginations, remnants of every mythology across the world. And some were like nothing anyone had ever dreamed up, even in their worst nightmares. Monsters. Long ago, the barriers between our world and the Otherworld were ripped open, and it's taken centuries to bring back civilization in the wake. Now, the luckiest Cits live in enclosed communities, behind walls that keep them...

In this chronicle of the early history of Valdemar, Mercedes Lackey's bestselling world, a thirteen-year-old orphan named Magpie escapes a life of slavery in the gem mines when he is chosen by one of the magical Companion horses of Valdemar to be trained as a Herald. Thrust into the center of a legend in the making, Magpie discovers talents he never knew he had--and witnesses the founding of the great Heralds' Collegium.

"Mags was once an enslaved orphan living a harsh life in the mines until the King's Own Herald discovered his talent and trained him as a spy. Now a Herald in his own right, at the newly established Heralds' Collegium, Mags has found a supportive family, including his Companion Dallen. Although normally a Herald in his first year of Whites would be sent off on circuit, Mags is needed close to home for his abilities as a spy and his powerful Mindspeech...

Elemental Earth Master Richard Whitestone, devastated by the death of his beloved wife during childbirth, has ignored his daughter for years, until he conceives of a twisted plan to use her body to bring back the spirit of his wife.

The eldest daughter of a wealthy merchant, Bella Beauchamps, after journeying into the forbidden forest, is attacked by a cursed nobleman and secluded in his castle where she is torn between her family and this strange man who makes her happy.