By
USA Today Bestselling Authors
Arizona Tape & Laura Greenwood

Having seen the worst the vampire world could offer her, Lucy is more determined than ever to make changes that could save lives. But with mysteries in the house, as well as outside it, she might have bitten off more than she can chew.

Can Lucy trust the people around her?

At the end of ‘What the Fangs’ there were a couple of discoveries made. A major one that has Lucy going to the Vampire Court, and another is that Mika, the blood slave William bought her, doesn’t have the brand on her neck.

As this book opens Lucy has requested a meeting with the council. She gets one shock after another after she reveals the blood slave auction. They knew about the illegal auctions and have done nothing. A younger member of the court approaches her after and tells her to look into her grandmother’s diaries, he also tells her about blood servants who are tattooed not branded. Although that doesn’t help her since Mika has no mark at all.

We also have almost every one living in the house, William her now true fiancé, Derek and Watson the men she is dating and cares for, and Mika her ‘accidental’ blood slave. All of them are helping her to gather evidence to take down the auctions. Her attempts keep failing because the one in charge of it all has too much power. She needs more evidence and her grandmother’s journals have to provide it.

This is a favorite scene.

I stretched out, letting the covers envelop me. There was something comforting about good bed sheets, and I was going to make the most of them. Between my budding relationships, the oddness surrounding Mika arriving at my house, and the blood slave rings, I had plenty of things that I should be doing today, but that wasn’t going to steal my rest.

A small lump on the bed shifted next to me. Oh, right, Jester. He’d become particularly needy in the last couple of nights. And right now, he was reminding me that I had yet another mystery to solve. Who’d delivered the cat and why? And what was the meaning of a blind cat anyway? I could have sworn my life was complicated enough without being confused by that.

“I see you’re finally awake,” Watt said.

I darted upright, sending Jester rolling down the covers. “Why are you lurking in the doorway?” I demanded.

“I brought you coffee.” He held out a mug as if to prove it. “It’s the kind you like. Brewed to the strength you like…”

“You remember that?” I frowned. Perhaps I should be focusing more on what he was doing in my room, but that could wait.

“I could make myself look good by saying yes, but that’d be a lie.” He moved over and perched on my bed, handing me the mug. “William reminded me when he suggested I brought it up to you.”
“William sent you to my bedroom?” That was a new one. And I wasn’t too sure how we’d gotten here.

Watt shrugged. “I might have told him I have information about your case for you.”

“Watson!” I admonished. “You can’t go lying to my fiancé.”

“Oh, Lucy, you really have a low opinion of me, don’t you?” He reached out and stroked Jester’s head. The cat purred and leaned into him.

I rolled my eyes. Despite the fact he liked to sleep on my bed, the cat seemed to like everyone more than he did me.

“What can I say? Years of being rivals has rubbed off on me.”

“I hate to point it out, Luce, but we’re still rivals,” he teased.

“And yet you’re in my bedroom, promising me the one thing you know will get me to agree to see you.” I took a sip of the coffee, pleased to find he had made it just like I liked. Or William had and gave it to him. I wasn’t sure it mattered. The whole point of our budding relationship was what I’d said to William yesterday, I got different things from each of them, but not because none of them were good enough. It was that I needed more of everything.

“What do you know about Radclyffe?” he asked.

I perked up. “The Elder?” He’d been one of the ones missing from the meeting.

“I don’t know, I’ve never paid much attention to that side of things. You know how they feel about commoners.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You realise I’m an heir, right?” Of course, he knew that. He probably suspected that I was more than that too. Watson wasn’t a fool.

“And the day you take your seat will be a good one in the vampire world.”

“I think that was the day Grandmother took her seat,” I muttered. Which reminded me, I needed to search her office today and find her notes. Hopefully, it would enlighten me on the nuances of blood slavery. And perhaps have some answers about Mika too? I wasn’t sure where she fit into this whole mess.

“She paved the way for you, Lucy. That’s how it works,” Watt pointed out.

“Hmm. Just hurry up and get to the point. What did you find out about Radclyffe?”

He smirked and shook his head. “Your pillow talk needs work.”

“I’ll improve the quality of it when the person on the pillow next to me has earned their place,” I threw back instantly.

He chuckled. “Radclyffe is an odd one. I did some digging on the slave ring you found, and came up blank. But then I went back and looked at the warehouse we were at before, and the one you’re invited to, and both of them are owned by shell corporations.”

“Let’s guess,” I started. “They’re both owned by Radclyffe.”

“Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner,” Watt announced.

I sighed loudly. “I guess the question is what we can do about it.”

“I guess that meeting him is the first step,” Watt suggested. “Do the Corentine family have a piece of land you can sell? A warehouse would be better, but…”

“You want me to sell a piece of my family’s legacy to this man?” I raised an eyebrow, in a little bit of disbelief over what he was suggesting.

“You won’t actually sell it,” he pointed out. “You’ll just pretend. Have him come around and then you can talk to him about whatever you want. Maybe suss him out a little bit.”

I stroked my chin, pretending there was a beard there for emphasis. Sometimes, it saddened me I wouldn’t be able to grow one in my twilight years. Long, twisty beards always gave older vampires an air of intelligence. “If I take Mika with me, then perhaps he’ll even start something about blood slaves.” Though she didn’t have the brand she should do if she’d come from his ring. That might be a good thing, it might not.

“Would he know William?” Watt asked.

I nodded. “He’s noble, like us. If he doesn’t know William, he knows of William, which will be enough to recognise him.”

“Damn. I was going to suggest I could go with you and pretend to be your fiancé.” He grinned impishly, like he was plotting something.

I shrugged. “You can come as my attaché, or not at all,” I said simply.

Watt blinked a couple of times, trying to process what I’d suggested.

“You’re going to have to explain that to me,” he said eventually.

I shrugged. “Most of the noble vampires have them. It’s not a big deal.”

“I’m not your attaché, Lucy.” It was impossible to read the expression on his face, so I didn’t bother trying.

“Of course you aren’t. Attaché would imply I was doing something outside the confines of my official relationship.” The nuance was a small one, and I imagined that a lot of vampires wouldn’t understand it. But it didn’t matter so long as mine did.

“Hmm.” He reached out and gave Jester a scratch. The cat pushed his head into Watson’s hand, urging the man to continue showing that amount of affection.

“I promise, Watt, I don’t feel that way about you.” I set my coffee down and let the bed sheet fall away from me so I could reach out and take his hand. I gave it a squeeze.

“It’s not me, it’s vampire society,” he said with a wink.

I chuckled. “Exactly. Don’t you just hate vampire society?” I joked.

“You have no idea,” he muttered darkly, before getting up and leaving the room. All right then, it seemed that our conversation was over for now. That was good to know.

“I guess I’ll organise a meeting with Radclyffe then?” I called after him.

I was fairly certain I heard him call back a yes, but I wasn’t sure about it. I guessed I’d just go along with the plan and pretend I knew what I was doing.

That method had got me through one hundred and twenty-five years of life, I was sure it would get me through more.

Hopefully.
Tape, Arizona; Greenwood, Laura. Fangs For All (The Vampire Detective Book 3). Kindle Locations (315-372). Twin Souls Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Things start heating up rather quickly after Lucy confronts Radclyffe. From one rejected Court appearance to a second, the man has too much power.

I love the way this plays out, Lucy has far more power than she’s letting on. She has her chosen family of William, Derek, Watson and Mika to support her every move.

I laughed, cried and enjoyed every single up and down. Now to read about Jester.

5 Contented Purrs for Arizona and Laura!

Laura is a USA Today Bestselling Author of paranormal, fantasy, and contemporary romance. When she’s not writing, she can be found drinking ridiculous amounts of tea, trying to resist French Macaroons, and watching the Pitch Perfect trilogy for the hundredth time (at least!)

A creator at heart, Ari has always been in love with the idea of turning nothing into something. She wants to conquer the book world with stories that focus on inclusivity and diversity, writing what she likes to read. Whether it’s adventure or romance, dragons and vampires, or princesses and students, there’s something for everyone.

Born in China, raised in Belgium, and currently living in the United Kingdom with her girlfriend, Ari is a citizen of the world and loves discovering new cultures. Luckily, her crazy imagination lets her discover places she’s never been to, meet people that don’t exist, and talk to readers from all over the world.