Thirst Trapped

How it's going so far...

CHAPTER 1

As Eva De Silva looked around the Love Bites offices, it was easy to see they were exactly as Sebastian Draco had left them. Not that he’d been able to tidy up, having been whisked away to All Hallows Keep by one of those dreaded Wreaks.

Standing in what had once been the reception area, Eva wrinkled her nose. The place stank of abandonment, neglect, and the lingering scent of Sebastian’s overpriced cologne. Dust motes danced in the shafts of evening light filtering through the blinds, giving the space an almost ethereal glow.

And beneath it all, something else. Faint, almost imagined. Jasmine.

Eva frowned. Sebastian’s taste had run to aggressive and overpowering woods that had a tendency to burn your nostrils, but nothing as delicate as jasmine. The scent was proof someone had been here recently, even if the thick layer of dust coating everything said otherwise.

Not wanting to leave it to chance, Eva expanded her energetic aura, searching for even residual energy, but found nothing, which was strange in itself. She filed the observation away and continued her exploration.

The infamous Sebastian Draco had built quite an empire here. Vampires had flocked to Love Bites, not for deep connections or lasting relationships, but for the quick fix. A blood donor with a pulse, though often not for long. The place had been a goldmine, preying on base needs rather than emotional ones. Fitting, therefore, that it had fallen into ruin, much like its creator.

The question she faced as the new owner was what to do with it now?

Her grandmother, Georgia De Silva, had run the Blood Bond Agency for centuries, matching vampires with their eternal partners. While running the agency in Georgia’s absence, Eva had never imagined adding a second business to her responsibilities.

Yet here she was, contemplating exactly that. Georgia’s extended vacation had stretched from weeks into months, with her latest postcard from Egypt hinting at no immediate plans to return.

Sometimes Eva wondered if the extended absence was a test. Georgia had never fully trusted Eva’s judgment. Too impulsive, too emotional, too willing to bend rules that had kept the De Silva family safe for generations.

Taking over Love Bites would either prove Eva’s instincts right or confirm every doubt her grandmother had ever voiced.

The weight of that uncertainty sat heavy in her chest. She’d spent her entire existence trying to earn Georgia’s approval. At some point, she’d have to decide if that approval was worth having.

Eva wandered into the main office. A large desk dominated the space, its surface covered with fine leather dulled by neglect. She moved behind it, her gaze sweeping back and forth across its dusty surface until it caught on something.

The dust was thick and undisturbed, except in one corner, proving that something had sat there recently. Something that was now gone.

Eva’s eyes narrowed. The pattern suggested that whatever had been removed was roughly the size of a ledger or a small laptop. Had someone beaten her here? The lingering scent of jasmine told her it was so, even if there wasn’t an energetic footprint to back that up.

She made a mental note to ask Lilith to check for signs of a security breach. Someone had wanted something from Sebastian’s office badly enough to risk breaking in. And the lack of any residual energy said they’d been careful.

Still, lax security to one side, the place had potential. Without Sebastian’s energy poisoning everything, it could be transformed into something worthwhile. Not everyone wanted or was ready for a blood bond. Some just wanted companionship, a date for the evening, someone to talk to.

In sharp contrast, the Blood Bond Agency’s reputation was built on lasting connections. If she diluted that brand with casual matchmaking, her grandmother would kill her. But a separate agency, operating under different principles, yet still ethical... that had possibilities.

Eva’s phone buzzed. A text from Deedee, the ancient receptionist who’d been with the agency longer than Eva had been around. Centuries longer, if the rumors were true, although Deedee deflected questions about her past with a skill that suggested there was much she preferred to keep buried.

A walk-in client. Asking for you. Says it’s urgent. DD

With dawn only an hour away, Eva took one last look around the dust-covered space, her mind made up. Love Bites would rise again, but under her terms. The name would have to go, of course. Too much baggage, too many bad associations. Something fresh. Something that captured connection without predatory undertones.

Bitten by Love, perhaps.

She locked the door behind her, already making a mental list of renovations needed, along with a decent security system.

The walk back to the Blood Bond Agency took only a minute. Inside, the atmosphere was nothing like Love Bites. Instead of harsh neon, the space had warm lighting and family heirlooms.

It was a combination designed to put clients at ease, especially the clan matriarchs who often took an active interest in any blood bonds. Particularly those that involved a sizeable blood price, the vampiric equivalent of a dowry.

Deedee sat at the reception desk, her youthful face at odds with the power Eva knew she possessed. Most vampires projected their strength openly, wearing it like armor. Deedee did the opposite. She tucked hers away so completely that newcomers often mistook her for a fledgling. Eva had seen the mask slip exactly once, and it had given her nightmares for a month.

“He’s waiting in your office.”

Eva raised an eyebrow. “You put a client in my office unsupervised?”

Deedee snorted. “Please. After Sebastian? Nobody gets in unsupervised. Lilith is with him.” While her tone was light, something flickered behind her eyes. A cold satisfaction that reminded Eva of a cat playing with a mouse it had already killed.

“So, who is it?”

A flicker of concern crossed Deedee’s features. “Ranier Zimmermann.”

Eva froze. Ranier Zimmermann, the vampire she and Dominik had saved from becoming one of Rupert’s victims. The same Ranier who’d been close to a true death when they found him, and whom Dominik had spirited away to Seattle for protection? That Ranier?

“He looks different,” added Deedee.

The receptionist didn’t elaborate on how he’d changed, but the hint of worry in her voice was enough to have Eva on edge.

However, on opening her office door, rather than face chaos, she found Lilith perched on the edge of her grandmother’s desk, the Welsh goth’s attire as dramatic as ever. But it was Ranier who caught and held Eva’s attention.

Deedee was right. He looked different. The confident vampire Eva had first met all those months back had been replaced by someone diminished. His shoulders were hunched, his once-immaculate appearance bordering on disheveled.

But it was his eyes that had changed the most. They held a haunted quality that spoke of a lack of sleep and daymares made flesh.

Lilith shot Eva a significant look before sliding off the desk. “I’ll leave the two of you to talk.” With a dramatic swirl of her floor-length black velvet dress, she was gone.

“Ms. De Silva.” Ranier stood, an automatic courtesy that seemed to cost him effort. “Thank you for seeing me.”

“Ranier.” Eva gestured for him to sit. “What brings you to the agency tonight?”

He took a deep breath while fidgeting with his cuffs. “I need your help. I can’t keep living like this. I haven’t left my apartment in weeks other than to feed. I jump at shadows. I need to reconnect with—”

“You’re seeking a blood bond?”

A hollow laugh escaped him. “I’m not ready for that. But I need something. Someone. I thought maybe you could find me a match. Not forever, but someone who might understand. Someone safe.”

Eva studied him, noting how his life force had changed. Once bright and vibrant, it now pulsed with a damaged, wounded quality.

“As you know, The Blood Bond Agency focuses on permanent matches,” she said carefully. “However, I might have an alternative. I’ve recently taken ownership of Love Bites, Sebastian Draco’s old agency.”

In response to his reaction, she rushed on. “I’m planning to revamp it as a more casual dating service, but with ethical practices and no exploitation. If you’d be willing to be one of our first clients, I could oversee your matches personally.”

For the first time since entering, a flicker of hope crossed Ranier’s face. “You’d do that?”

“You’ll need to give me two weeks to get everything in order, and I’ll need you to fill out some preliminary paperwork.” After glancing at the sky outside her office windows, she added, “But we can sort that out tomorrow night. Best you get home before the sun is up.”

“Thank you,” he said quietly. “This means more to me than you know.”

“And Ranier, if we could keep this between ourselves for now, I’d much appreciate that.”

After he agreed to keep the news to himself, they arranged for him to return the following evening. With Deedee having already retired for the day, Eva made the appointment herself before escorting her new client to the front door.

It was then she sensed a familiar energy approaching. Dominik.

Their bond was still new enough to marvel at. Not the fairy-tale nonsense humans believed in. No telepathic communication or knowing each other’s precise location at all times. Rather, it was subtler than that.

A constant awareness of the other’s emotional state that sharpened with proximity and spiked with powerful emotion. Even now, his approach had warmth spreading through her chest, his anticipation at seeing her bleeding through alongside something more urgent. Concern, perhaps.

Soon enough, the front door opened, and he stepped inside, his expression shifting from desire to composed neutrality when he saw Ranier.

“Zimmermann. I didn’t know you were back in Milota.”

“Count Zilonka.” Ranier’s energy flared with something like panic before settling. “I returned several weeks ago.”

The two men exchanged brief pleasantries before Ranier departed into the pre-dawn, with Dominik watching him go, his expression grave.

“He’s only just holding it together,” he said, closing the door. “The trauma has scarred him deeply.”

“I know. That’s why I offered to help.” Eva moved closer, allowing their bond to pulse between them. “I’m reopening Love Bites. I want to transform it into something positive.”

Dominik’s lips found hers, their energies intertwining in a way that intensified the kiss beyond anything she’d known in the past. Eventually, he broke contact, his reluctance clear. “You and your projects. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

Before she could respond, his phone buzzed, his expression sharpening when he looked at the screen.

“What is it?” asked Eva, splaying her hands on his chest to maintain their connection.

“Local scanner chatter. A disoriented vampire has been found near Lake Milota.” He met her eyes. “His resonance is strange. Depleted somehow. I’d better head there now.”

“Keep me posted,” said Eva, before watching his departure with a familiar ache. Dominik carried his burdens so quietly that it was easy to forget he had them.

The Zilonka name opened doors throughout vampire society, but it also carried shadows. His grandmother Natalia’s crimes were the stuff of legend. As was the whispered speculation about whether madness ran in the bloodline.

Eva had never asked him directly about Natalia, because some wounds weren’t meant to be probed. And given his grandmother was currently a guest at All Hallows Keep, it was just as easy to ignore them.

The day stretched ahead of her, full of possibilities. Unlike nouveau sang vampires, who would sink into a deathlike sleep the moment the sun rose, Eva and Dominik could move during daylight hours if necessary.

It was one of the many differences between hemaphytes and those who had been turned. But old habits died hard, and the night had always belonged to their kind, meaning she’d as often spend the day sleeping like the others.

Not that she’d succumb to that today. Not with a disoriented and depleted vampire in the mix, and Ranier’s renewed search for love. Add in someone breaking into Love Bites, and her intuition told her there was nothing coincidental about any of it.

to be continued …

Hope you enjoy this sneak peek. Now, I’d better get back to the fun task of editing until my eyes bleed - never safe around vampires.

In the meantime, you can start this fun series by clicking HERE

Andrene