

An injured vampire, cornered in a filthy alley, is found by a weary waitress on her way home. Her choice to help him ignites a forbidden bond that could save his immortal life—or end her human one.
Lena’s shift had ended with the ache of a thousand steps. The alley shortcut was a habit, but tonight the air tasted of iron and rain. Her breath hitched when she saw him—a dark shape slumped against brick, pale skin stark under the streetlamp. His mercury eyes snapped open, locking onto hers with a predator’s focus that rooted her to the wet pavement. Her pulse hammered in her throat, a frantic drum against the sudden, electric silence.
Somehow, she got him to his feet, his arm a dead weight over her shoulders. The journey to her walk-up was a blur of shared breaths and staggering steps. As she lowered him onto her narrow bed, the sterile streetlight through her window painted his agony in stark relief. In this small, human space, his predator's grace was gone, leaving only a wounded creature trusting her with his survival.