Chloe stumbled back, her hands still pressed to her neck, the warmth of her own blood searing through her fingers. Her chest heaved as her mind scrambled to make sense of what she’d just felt. Fangs. Her blood. The impossible strength, the predatory precision. Valerius wasn’t just a man, he was something else entirely. Something dangerous. Something… monstrous.

Her eyes burned with a mix of fury and fear. “What… what are you?” she demanded, her voice trembling but sharp, slicing ...