Honey and Gerald were not going to the Bahamas, but to the so-called popular elite party that Gerald had been raving about for months, and now that they had been personally invited by one of his business partners, he had decided to invite his girlfriend. He smirked as he watched as the host of the party glided down the stairs to his girlfriend, tied up-half naked and drugged up with the red substance the rich and powerful had been talking about, and yes, he did feel like he was on cloud nine. This "red happy pill" was a new product on the market. One of the masked females dressed beside him in an unusual vampire costume licked his ears and murmured sweet nothing. Gerald moaned as he forgot about Honey with a small nibble from the alluring woman he was a goner. "Take me, darling. I want to taste you." The woman smirked and motioned him to follow.

James Grayson, however, furrowed his forehead. He had never met this woman before, but her scent was familiar, like a blossom of lilac and vanilla. She smells like Grace Lim. 

"Who are you, little girl?"

The woman didn't answer but arch her body towards him. She’d wanted him. Of the many vampires, she’d wanted him specifically.

The woman later muttered, "Oh, Edward dear, take me, show me heaven!" The woman giggled. "Take—"

He reached out his gloved hand and closed her mouth with his fingertips. He leaned over her, bared his canines, and went for her throat. But he didn’t bite her. He ran the tip of one fang up her jugular. And yes, she didn't exactly smell like Grace Lim, but rather just her mask. She was using Grace's mask.

With a jerk against the chains she had volunteered for, she orgasmed for him right then and there, the alchemy of the crowd display, the threat he represented, and the sort of sex she needed, converging into a release that glowed her face and made her wail as she thrashed.

Down below, the pleasure she felt trembled through the teeming bodies.

And he was aroused, yes. But not like they were. Not like she was.

Never as any of them. Nonetheless, the screaming voice in his head that told him he was a piece of shit was dimmed down by the sex. The flame of his fury against himself was annihilated by the distraction. The crowded house of condemnations under his skull was, shortly, emptied.

So yes, this acted for everyone. Nothing made sense, but last night when he made love with Grace, he felt something. Something he had never felt before, but those extraordinary passions left him nothing but emptiness.

Reaching up to his own throat, he released the cord of his dark uniform-sort cloak and dropped the heavy weight from his shoulders. He had black leathers on and nothing else but his magical tattoos.

James’s hands went to the woman’s body and he roamed, with his mouth, everywhere.

And the hurricane he was gradually creating raked over the decimated landscape of his soul, concealing the ragged, desolated mess he was.

She was getting what she needed, and so he savoured her blood.

Good thing. He needed to be at his apartment, his own refuge that no one else knew about, in about an hour, to get some sort of rest to continue his emotional torture. Being a warrior in the fight against the undead and walking the line between vengeance and staying alive, his clan and brotherhood needed a leader who was not mentally exhausted.

Now that was finally going to get him what he was after.

Inner peace through acts of war: Because he had to believe if you were facing off with the undead, surely vampires were too busy trying to stay alive to worry about anything else.

Fucking excellent.

One hour later, on the tenth floor of his apartment, James entered the room and went straight to his mini gym. He had always prided himself on his ability to roll with the punches.

What choice did he have? From the time he could remember, he’d understood his life as a pure-breed vampire meant he would never be controlled by others. If only he could remember his past.

But while other vampires and his sired might have resented their fate, James had decided to embrace what he was given.

He might be the last pure-blood vampire, but by the time he remembered Europe, he’d already developed an easy charm that made him the most powerful leader among the other clans. And, of course, it didn’t hurt that he was capable of casting magic; a strong alpha male with sculpted features, pale blond hair, and eyes that sparkled with humour.

The female vampires were usually desperate to make sure he never felt like an outsider to any other man without a memory of his origin or past. He was a leader, merciless and unforgiving, and executing vampire hunters was a necessity, like breathing air. He was born to hunt down and exterminate all hunters. Nothing else matters but their blood. His calling was for vengeance, and hatred scorched his soul like molten lava that freely flowed into his veins.

But now that Louie was dead, he felt alone more than even. He'd continued over the years, as he’d developed a relationship with Louie that went way beyond master and servant. They became as close as brothers. But still, James remained prepared to adapt to the inevitable changes in his life, especially now that he was responsible for Louie’s daughter.

For the time being, no one knew about her, and he wanted it to stay that way, with only two of his most trusted warriors, Dean and Kean, who managed to trick Grace's roommate's boyfriend into offering his apartment next door, but not without convincing Gerald. After all, it only took the pathetic human to be invited to the party to accept Dean and Kean's offer, not that it was a difficult job. Vampires could do wonders in mortals' minds.

And just earlier, Grace arrived, and now she was sleeping next door, her heartbeat steady.

James wasn’t sure what that would mean for his own place, but it was certain to be different.

Still, it was all good. He was a guy who understood how to adapt and overcome.

Until this moment.

Right now he didn’t know what the hell was happening.

One minute he was standing next to Grace’s bed, and the next, the world around them was fading to black.

For just a second, he thought he must be dying. What else could explain the encroaching darkness and the sensation that the floor had disappeared and he was floating through space?

It wasn’t a portal. He’d travelled through hundreds of them in his long life. He’d even visited Hades on a dare from Louie—a journey he never intended to take again.

But this was different. He felt as if he was melting along with the room, his very being dissolving into nothingness.

He couldn’t tell how long he drifted in the nothingness before the world once again became solid.

It was almost as disconcerting as the melting.

One minute he was weightless, and the next his feet were hitting a marble floor with enough force to send him to his knees. He grunted in pain, his mind scrambling to clear out the fog.

It was still dark, but it was the darkness of natural shadows, not... well, whatever had surrounded him before.

Holding up his hand, he allowed flames to dance over his skin as he cautiously rose to his feet.

He was in a large octagonal chamber. It looked similar in size and shape to the room he’d just been zapped out of, only it wasn’t lavishly decorated. At least not yet. This was not Grace’s room either.

Glancing around, he could see the domed ceiling was in the process of being covered with priceless golden tiles, while the heavy furniture and tapestries were carefully stowed in the corners of the space.

What was going on? Was this some sort of illusion meant to deceive his eyes?

On the point of moving toward the door on the far wall, he came to a sharp halt as he caught sight of an object lying on the stone floor.

No. Not an object.

Grace.

Shit. It hadn’t occurred to him that she might have been sucked up in the same magic that was affecting him. Stupid, of course. Why would anyone go to the effort of wasting their power on him? He was a pure-blood vampire.

But Grace...

She was…

James halted. Does anyone know about her?

Not only was she a rare half-breed female vampire, but she was the daughter of Louie. One of the most powerful half-breeds on the planet, with sorcery blood coursing through his veins.