Note: A note on series numbering: Author's site gives this as 5.5 in the series as of 2014-09-15. However, according to the story notes in Inked and the story information page on the author's site, this happens during the same time as Night Season and before Mortal Sins. That would make it 4.1 in the series.

Synopsis: A story of Lily Yu and Rule Turner. "In "Human Nature," Lily Yu turns twenty-nine—a marker she's decidedly ambivalent about. Her birthday celebration is cut short when the naked, heavily tattooed body of a man is found in a California town. At first it seems like a bizarre ritual killing, but there's more than magic afoot. The victim, David Pruitt, wasn't human . . . and years ago, he was Rule's Turner's closest friend." (from author's Web site)