When Valentine’s sire is forced to take a mate by his Clan leader, Valentine is reduced to stoking the castle’s furnaces as nothing more than a cindered servant to the new matriarch. With his sire Libertine incarcerated and Valentine forced to wear a cursed collar, there seems no way to escape Belladonna’s hold on them. When a stranger appears, Valentine is surprised by how quickly he trusts the other vampire. He accepts the request to go to the castle of his Clan Lord, the ancient and powerful Hades, to uncover who is working to overthrow him. His reward is freedom for both him and his sire. No one is meant to know who he really is, and Valentine pretends he’s one of Hades’ favorites while in the castle, adopting the name Cinder and playing his Seductive nature to its full. But his world is shaken to its core when Valentine finds himself falling for the enigmatic Cole. As a Seductive, Valentine never imagined he’d want an Alpha Predator as a mate. Worse yet, it may be that Cole could be the very one he’s been sent to uncover. When the battle for dominance begins, where will Valentine’s loyalty lie?

Cinis

“Very wise.” Arsen nodded. “May I approach, Lord Valentine?”


“I will never be a Lord to you. You’re a brother to me. Of course you can. Blade trusts you, because Itrust you. Without you, this day wouldn’t have happened.”


“I have to observe the protocols, Valentine.” Arsen strode over and pressed a kiss to Valentine’s cheek. “At least outside of here.” He flopped onto Valentine’s bed, crossing one leg over the other as he settled his arms behind his head. “The boys are waiting outside. They didn’t want to come in, too afraid of Blade’s wrath. According to Seth, he’s stomping around like a second Hades, growling about the need for the ceremony at all.” Arsen chuckled, then sat up, a familiar glint of mischief in his hazel eyes. “But I think when he sees you, sees the way everyonelooks at you, he’ll strut like a peacock instead of grumping like a wolf with a sore head.”


Chapter 36