The Painter Mage Books

I’m a Painter, able to use color and shapes and patterns to create power. After ten years spent facing horrors on the other side of the Threshold mastering forbidden arcane patterns, I want only to rest. I came home, returning to the small town I’d known before my exile, and before my father’s death. Only, it turns out my father was hiding more secrets than I realized. When another painter from shows up, she unleashes a deadly threat our world hasn't seen in centuries. Somehow, I'm the only one able to stop it Shifted Agony is the first book in The Painter Mage urban fantasy series.

Oliver Morris has survived the hunter attack, creatures who feed on magical ability, nearly sacrificing himself to protect his best friend Devan. But to truly keep her safe, he’ll need to help Taylor return to Arcanus before she releases any other dangers on his city. Then Devan is abducted by a dangerous painter, one who might be more deadly than anyone he’s ever faced, and demands that Oliver hand over a mysterious and powerfully magical item. Oliver knows he can’t save her on his own, but he’ll need to find a way to trust Taylor, forge new allies, and learn to control magic he believes beyond his ability if he wants to save his friend, or a fate worse than death awaits Devan.

I'm destined to kill the Druist Mage, only I have no idea how. When a dead painter is discovered near the local diner, a place that should be protected by patterns placed by my father before his disappearance, I begin to think that destiny might be closer than I thought. Then an old friend appears with power he should not possess, putting everyone in the city in even more danger and forcing me to make a choice to protect the city or risk losing Devan, something I can't allow happen again.

Dangerous power comes home to Conlin. After defeating my old friend Nik, I now have a teacher, but first I have to figure out how to animate him and then I can try to convince him to teach me how to defeat his master. As if that wasn’t impossible enough, the Trelking himself crosses the Threshold and demands that I recover a dangerous shardstone box, one that had been protected by my father. If I don’t, I know what steps the Trelking will take, especially now that he knows about Devan and I. But what can be so important for the Trelking to risk making the crossing? Something else has crossed the Threshold while the Trelking held it open that places the city in incredible danger. Now I have to protect Conlin from magical attack once again. Only this time, I suspect the Trelking is the one attacking the city.

After surviving the last attack on Conlin, I now serve as the city’s protector while studying with Nik as he teaches me the magic he learned from the Druist Mage. It’s knowledge I’ll need if I’m ever going to be able to kill him—and prevent his marriage to Devan. The power I’ve demonstrated has drawn the attention of something else, a power unlike anything I’ve ever faced, and one that intends to test me. If I fail, not much will happen—only that the balance of magic is disrupted and the barrier between our world and that on the other side of the Threshold will fall. I’ve got three days to prepare, and I know that won’t be enough to get ready, but what choice do I have?