It isn’t every day a dying girl wins the chance to live. Ten years ago, I was that girl. The first winner of the vampire lottery. And my prize? A new life as a bloodsucker.
No one told me that winning the lottery would cost me everyone I loved. But I still have Dimitry—I only have Dimitry—the sexy, inscrutable, Russian vampire who saved me from certain death. My protector. For a hot minute, there was a spark between us until it fizzled to a barely glowing ember.
Now Dimitry and I have been summoned from Moscow to the politics and the cruelty of vampire-controlled Las Vegas right when the city is going to pot. I swore I would never return to a place I will only ever be a pawn, but the alternative is much worse. Deadly.
I’m nothing there. Small-fry. But maybe it’s time I changed that.
A slow-burn vampire romance set in the same world as my Voracious Vampires of Las Vegas and The Bladed series. This series follows Kayleigh and Dimitry’s first meeting in The Lottery, my prequel story set ten years earlier.
Due to adult language, violence, and steamy scenes, this book is recommended for 18+. Also ends in a cliffhanger.
“You look bored, little rabbit,” a male voice murmurs in Russian-accented English, drawing my gaze to the other occupant of my leather booth, a man who has remained largely silent since our arrival a couple of hours ago.
Dimitry Ivanov is my date tonight, as he is every night. Since, well, I have no one else in my life. As is usual, he’s dressed in ripped black jeans and a black t-shirt that he lives in, as he sips on a large glass of vodka.
Yes, he’s Russian, and yes, he’s drinking vodka. I tell him he’s behaving like a stereotype. He tells me he is Russian, and he likes vodka. Where is the stereotype in that?
And I… never have a good enough response so I change the subject.
“Bored? I’m living my best life, Dim, there’s no reason for me to be bored.”
Even if it is hollow and filled with things that aren’t what I really want at all.
Dimitry, the vampire who saved me from certain death ten years ago and my date in the most platonic sense, raises an eyebrow. Nothing in his stormy blue-gray eyes suggests he believes a single word that just came out of my mouth.
He nods to the mass of people a few feet away. “Then perhaps you might join them?”
He’s right.
I retrieve my glass of blood-spiked champagne from the matte-black table in front of me and go back to tonight’s true entertainment: staring.
Before I can take a sip, a female voice startles me enough that I come dangerously close to wearing my drink.
“Dimitry, it’s good to see you again. Can I get you another vodka?”
I turn to the statuesque blonde woman in a painted-on black leather dress. Her lips are the exact shade of blood, and she has her large blue eyes fixed on Dimitry with predatory focus.
“No.” When Dimitry doesn’t even glance at her, has hope surging.
Maybe this thing we once had isn’t one-sided after all.
Ivana, the owner of the club, doesn’t move. That Dimitry hasn’t already fallen into bed with her is a mystery, considering she has a face and body guys don’t say no to for long. I know because I’ve seen it happen over and over. It was only a matter of time before she set her sights on Dimitry.
“Perhaps I might interest you in—”
Dimitry keeps his eyes on me. “No.”
Or maybe he’s only saying that because I’m here. If I wasn’t, I’m sure he’d be all over Ivana in one of the corner booths. I just know it.
Curious about how she’s taking Dimitry’s disinterest, I shift my focus away from him. Her eyes, narrowed with determination, tell me she’s not the type who gives up easily.
As if she feels my attention, her gaze slides from Dimitry to me. “Oh, it’s you again.”
“Yep, me again. Aren’t you going to ask if I want a drink?” I grin.
Her eyes harden. “You know where the bar is.”
“Yes, I do. So does Dimitry. Now, if you don’t mind…”
Geez, Kayleigh, find another reason to piss off the vampiress who already regards you as little more than dirt on her shoes, why don’t you?
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Three weeks ago, my life was over.
Then the impossible happened. I won The Lottery.
Winning meant I had to say goodbye to the life I knew and move to Vegas, the city claimed by vampires.
As their newest vampire, I landed at the bottom of the pecking order.
No power. No control. No way out.
So, here I am. Stuck in a place filled with vampires who don’t trust me and humans who want to know our secrets—secrets that kill.
Out of hopelessness steps him.
Dimitry Ivanov. Sexy as hell. Inscrutable. A vampire with all the answers, but that’s not all he has to offer.
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Nice excerpt. Sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteEven a pawn can make the winning move.
ReplyDeleteNeat cover, thanks for the review & excerpt.
ReplyDelete