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About Blood Guard by Eve Bale
Title: Blood Guard
Author: Eve Bale
Series: Bladed Princess #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
I was the winner—and the envy of many. What I didn’t realize is that I was a pawn in a game I’d already lost…
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.
Excerpt from Blood Guard
© 2022
Eve Bale
“If you’re not meeting gangsters, then where are you going?”
“To make some preparations.”
I wait, but apparently, that’s all I’m getting. “More, Dimitry. I need more words,” I tell him, with my eyes still closed and my head resting on the side of the Jacuzzi-style bath.
“For a new challenge. Perhaps some excitement.”
I prick up my ears. “Sounds interesting. What’s the catch?”
There must be one. It feels too much like Dimitry is tempting me into doing something I won’t like. He’s already noticed I’m bored. But here is safe. A little empty and meaningless, but safe. Nothing can take Dimitry away from me here.
“No catch. But there will be no more need for Russian lessons, for one.”
“You know full well I didn’t even make it through a week of those, never mind ten years. Now, what are you hiding? What preparations are you making?”
“For a trip filled with adventure. Perhaps you may receive some answers to questions I haven’t been able to answer over the years.”
That’s when every single alarm bell starts going off because he’s using terms he knows will grab and hold my attention. They’re all there: excitement, adventure, and the biggest hook to lure me—answers to questions.
He also sounds like he’s been reading fortune cookies. That or stealing the lines from some cryptic psychic with dangly earrings and a colorful scarf in her hair.
Maybe that’s where he’s been going on his errands: visiting psychics.
“You’re not telling me everything, Dimitry,” I say, in a voice filled with suspicion. “What are you hiding?”
“Since Russia bores you, perhaps it’s time we returned to the States.”
“I told you, I am not b—wait, what? What do you mean, return to the States?” My eyes snap open and I start to sit up before remembering at the last minute why that might not be such a good idea. Flashing Dimitry once is one time too many. Twice in one night might have him convinced I’m throwing myself at him. Again.
“Da.”
For a second, I meet his gaze, then I shake my head. “No. No, Dimitry. No. What’s the Russian for no again?”
“Net, zaychik.”
I narrow my eyes. “Why am I getting the sense you’re just calling me little rabbit in Russian?”
His expression doesn’t change. “Are you? Perhaps you’ve been in the bath too long.”
What my being in the bath has to do with anything distracts me for a second. But only for a second. Soon I’m glaring at him because it wouldn’t surprise me if distraction wasn’t his intention in the first place.
At any other time, I’d push him on this Russian word, but not now. Not after the bombshell he’s just thrown in my face. “I’m not going back there, Dimitry. It’s not happening.”
“Little rabbit…”
“Net. A thousand times net.”
His lips curve at what has to be the worst Russian to come out of a human mouth, ever. “Unfortunately, matters might mean that decision is soon taken out of our hands.”
Panic ignites in my belly because this is not happening. Not Vegas. Not with Dimitry. Not ever.
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About Eve Bale
Eve lives in London. She writes steamy and suspenseful paranormal romances about heroines who grow into strong women, and the alpha heroes who love them.
If you want to receive updates on new releases and grab your free copy of ‘The Lottery’ (a prequel for the Bladed Princess series), you can join her mailing list here: www.evebale.com
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