Shadow of Fall

Book 4: Knife's Edge, Alaska

by Rebecca Zanetti

Genres: Romantic Suspense; Crime Fiction

Synopsis

Welcome to Knife’s Edge, Alaska, where the four Osprey brothers return from military service with shadows in their eyes and secrets in their hearts. As danger looms, new romances ignite, and these rugged men must fight for love…and survival.

Damian Osprey spent years in intelligence, where secrets were currency and trust was a liability. Taking a job as head of security at a remote research facility deep in the Alaskan wilderness brings him back to the land he once called home. It should be routine. But the facility sits at the center of a pattern Damian can’t ignore, and every answer he finds only leads to darker questions.

Stella Osprey has never stopped watching his back. Their marriage began as part of an undercover operation, but the fire between them was never pretend. She’s been working in the shadows ever since, following a trail of secrets that leads her to Alaska. And back to the only man she was never supposed to love.

When Damian finally catches the woman he knows has been moving just out of reach, the heat between them ignites fast and fierce. But with secrets buried in the wilderness, a ruthless killer stalking the land, and a conspiracy that could destroy them both, trusting each other again could cost them everything.

Release date: October 20, 2026

Publisher: RAZ INK LLC

Print pages: 380 pages

Sample

He was a guy who liked shadows. Enjoyed blending into them and sighing in relief. As Damian Osprey looked out his expansive office window at the brilliant skies, his gaze dropped to the tree line in the distance. The one shrouded…by shadows.
He kicked back in his chair, a fine Scotch in one hand. His second of the night, which was a rarity for him. Usually he allowed himself just one.
Control was imperative and how he survived this life. Beat it, really.
An alarm dinged quietly through his office.
He stilled, turned around to place the crystal tumbler on the chrome and glass desk, and hit a button on his ringing office phone. “Osprey.”
“Hi, sir. It’s Carl. We have multiple alarms in the tunnels.”
Damian grinned. His brother was such an asshole. “Send teams to the north, south, and east tunnels with a capture order. No shots fired. Period.”
“Sir?” Carl growled.
“You heard me. I’ll take the western tunnels.” Anticipation lighting through him, Damian stood. The western tunnels led into the more secure area of the facility, and his brother would’ve figured that out in doing his research. Probably.
“Wait a minute,” Carl protested.
Damian dug in his drawer for a stun gun. “It’s my brother, Christian. He’s in the tunnels.” And C would most certainly take the western path, since it led to more secure areas of the facility.
“What? How do you know? The tunnels are ten floors down surrounded by magnetic rock, and we can’t get surveillance cameras down there. Plus, nobody should know those tunnels still exist, which is why we—”
“We can’t blow them and I’ve explained why,” Damian said with an admirable amount of patience. Again. If they collapsed the tunnels, the entire facility might implode, and who the hell knew what would be unleashed.
Carl grunted.
There it was. Damian gripped the stun gun. Oh, he loved his brother and would never shoot him, but a few jolts of electricity never hurt a guy. “I challenged Christian to break into the facility when he returns to town next week.” It would be just like C to come home early to take advantage of the surprise. “However, just in case, I want you to cover the other tunnels.” On the off chance it wasn’t Christian, all four tunnels would be at risk. A team would take each one, probably.
“Sir, I really wish you’d—”
Damian cut off the line, adrenaline slipping slowly into his veins. Finally. He’d been as good as stuck in mud the last month, not feeling much of anything. Perhaps a bit of frustration. Or a shit ton of it. Nothing was going as he’d planned, and as the fucking planner in the family, that bit his ass.
Now, finally, he had someone to hunt.
Even if it was his brother.
He strode out of his sleek glass and chrome office and through the outer corridor of the executive fourth floor, reaching the western bank of elevators, and riding down ten floors. His key card didn’t work on the first two underground levels, which pissed him off to no end.
That was a problem for another day.
He reached the farthest floor, stepping out into silence and dust. Row upon row of file cabinets lined every direction with records dating back to the 1920s. While the ionosphere experimenting HAARP facility was also in Alaska, it was built in the nineties, while his EVE, otherwise known as the Electromagnetic Vibrational Experiment, his facility that also somewhat tested the ionosphere, was created back when scientists dreamed more than strategized. This area of the building was rarely visited, with every record having been saved on computer servers in the northern part of the facility.
He dodged through file folders, noting his footsteps on the dusty floor. Only his. He’d explored every part of this damn place that he could access during his nine months there, and he knew every inch of the sprawling records room.
Reaching the farthest wall, he ducked his shoulder and shoved a wide file cabinet out of the way, revealing a steel door and biometric lock.
Yeah. The locks, even down there, were as modern and strong as he could make them.
He pressed his thumb to the pad, and the door clicked. Even though he’d been granted access, he had to shove against the heavy metal to push it open enough to get through. Stale and cold air washed against him and he stepped into the abyss.
Reaching down, he clasped the heavy flashlight he’d placed right beyond the door, just in case. Then he shut the door and stood there in the silence and absolute darkness.
Most people believed they’d experienced darkness before, but unless it happened within the earth’s rumble, it wasn’t close.
There was no light. Not a sliver.
He closed his eyes.
The planet had her own energy. It rumbled around him, and chilly air washed over his dress shoes. Moving. Someone had opened the tunnel somewhere. Impressive. He hadn’t been able to find a weak point, and Christian had. There was a reason Damian had almost always paired up with Christian when facing off with their other two brothers, Ace and Brock.
Damian was the most strategic and Christian the most dangerous.
Pretty much. Truth be told, Ace and Brock were fairly deadly as well. A family trait, he guessed.
No other sound hinted on the air. Excellent. He turned and walked to the west, knowing the tunnels well. He hadn’t spent the last months just sitting in his luxurious office. A left turn and then a right, continuing west and walking right past the dead end shafts in every direction.
In complete darkness.
A scrape sounded up ahead.
He paused. The smell of copper hit him. Blood? What the hell? He engaged the flashlight, illuminating the area. A flash of blond showed and then nothing.
Blond?
Christian’s hair was as dark as Damian’s. He moved forward, his steps quiet, his breath even. Blond hair? He turned into a side tunnel, and the sound of running feet hit him. He ran faster, his chin down, still quieter than his prey.
That wasn’t Christian. ...