Fierce Dancer

FIERCE DANCER 82ND STREET VANDALS BOOK NINE HEATHER LONG Copyright © 2023 by Heather Long Cover: Crimson Phoenix Designs Editing: Leavens Editing Lines & Proofreading by Lunar Rose Editing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. CONTENTS Fierce Dancer Series so Far Foreword The Vandals Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Epilogue Afterword Vandals Glossary About Heather Long Also by Heather Long FIERCE DANCER The dancer. The victim. The sister. I’ve worn a lot of labels over the years. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to escape. I hid in my dance. I ran away from my life as much as I could. I fought to be somewhere else even if I couldn’t be someone else. One night, after my partner lashed out at me and I’d been hurt, the Vandals took me and never looked back. They introduced me to a world I had no idea existed and a family so much greater than the one I’d been trying to survive. I gave myself up once to protect them. I’ve fought for them. I’ve bled for them. I’ve killed for them. And I’d do it all again if it keeps them safe. My name is Emersyn Sharpe. I was born Ivy Hardigan. When the Vandals kidnapped me, I had no idea how life-changing it would be or that I would find real love. More, I found my place in this world. To have the future I want, I will finally wage war on the past. FIERCE DANCER is a full-length mature dark, new adult romance with enemies-to-lovers/love-hate themes. The dark romance aspects of this tale continue. Please be aware some situations may be uncomfortable for readers. Trigger warnings can be found in the foreword should you require them. This is a why choose novel, meaning the main character has more than one love interest. This is book nine and the final in the series. For the found family. The sister of your heart. The brother of your soul. The people who are there for you no matter what. You matter. SERIES SO FAR Savage Vandal Vicious Rebel Ruthless Traitor Dirty Devil Brutal Fighter Dangerous Renegade Merciless Spy Reckless Thief Fierce Dancer FOREWORD Dear Reader, Welcome to the ninth and final book of the 82nd Street Vandals series. If you have not read the first eight, stop. Do not pass Go. Grab book one: Savage Vandal, and start there. Seriously. This is a series that really must be read in order. Every series has a beginning, middle, and end. Some we can see coming, some ambush us. This one? This one came to life and flourished on its own. Some pieces were incredibly clear, others were a mystery—a genuine mystery—until I found out what happened right alongside the characters. Did I know every twist and turn the story would take? Yes. And no. Some of it was organic, other pieces were guideposts, set into the bedrock. I knew when we reached them, we would be at turning points in the overall story. Now… we’re here. The last book. So much went into the writing of this book and I’ll address some of that at the end. For now, let’s do a little previously in the 82nd Street Vandals. Reckless Thief opened with so many of our beloved characters in danger following the cliffhanger in Merciless Spy. The tattoo parlor where Vaughn worked was burning down with people trapped inside it. Vaughn and Rome rushed in to help, but there were a lot of casualties. Kellan and Milo went to check the alarm at the auto body shop, only to have it blow up in front of them. Kellan took a hell of a knock to the head. In the meanwhile, the back of Jasper’s car exploded and flipped the whole vehicle even as a truck tried to slam into Liam’s car with Em inside it. A flurry of activity included Jasper and Liam in a pitched gun battle while Freddie and Em fled through the alleys and backstreets to get to the clubhouse. Em shot someone to save Freddie and Freddie knifed someone to save her. Jasper came for them while Liam went for his brother and Vaughn. Once he was sure they were safe, he went after his parents. He found his mother Mary, alive but in shock. His father, Jonathon, had died of a heart attack. Not long after that, he learned that the body left outside of the warehouse belonged to Ms. Stephanie, Doc’s sister and the social worker who fought so hard for all of them. Losing her hurt them. The losses were brutal and they were all suffering. Old friends and new ones converged to help. Em focused on being there for her brother and her Vandals. After everything, she wanted to help them. In the midst of this all, the identity of the king was revealed to be a lot closer to home than anyone could imagine. It was also war. The guys went after Reginald Sharpe, Em’s adoptive father. More revelations ripped open old wounds and allowed some to heal, especially in the case of Freddie who let himself really make a physical connection with Em, albeit one he