For five centuries, Valeria Nocturne has run a hidden financial empire from a shadowed Manhattan lair, lights low, ledgers immaculate. Her ancient heart stays locked down by choice. Then ambitious rival Cassandra Vale pulls off a ruthless takeover, threatening everything Valeria controls. The vampire council responds with a brutal solution: a temporary blood bond to force an alliance and stop a war.Sealed together in opulent isolation, the two lethal queens circle with sharp smiles and sharper words. Negotiations bite. Silence presses. A crystal decanter sweats on the table as their stares linger too long. The blood bond heightens everything, sound, scent, touch, turning proximity into punishment and rivalry into a gnawing need neither wants. Old betrayals from a shared past surface. An ancient hunter slips closer from the dark. Time narrows.Valeria and Cassandra must choose: end each other, or gamble on a passion that could remake immortality.Can enemies bound by blood ever choose each other?