Nikolai couldn’t keep still. He paced the floors of his penthouse, feeling the tug of need deep within him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Ivan demanded. “I haven’t seen you acting like this since I first turned you.”

He shook his head. “Honestly, I have no idea. One minute, I was just sitting there, thinking how the last person in the world I’d ever want to do business with was Deacon Thorn, and the next, all I could think about was blood.”

Ivan frowned. “It hit you that fast?”

He nodded. “I don’t know how else to explain it. It was as though something took over me, and I couldn’t control it. All I could think about was the thump of the pulses of all the humans in the club, and I knew the only thing that would quench my thirst was sinking my fangs into a sweet, young neck.”

Just the thought caused his fangs to lengthen again, and he clamped his hand over his mouth. Shit, what the hell was going on with him?

But Ivan had stopped and was staring at him. “What did you just say?”

“Sorry? I said that I wanted to bite a young neck.”

He wound his finger through the air in a rewind motion. “No, before that. You said the only thing that would quench your thirst ...”

Nikolai threw both hands up in the air. “So?”

“I think I know what happened to you. Have you ever heard of The Thirst?”

He frowned, thinking. “I don’t think so.”

“There have been a number of cases in American recently. I hadn’t heard of it reaching the UK yet, but I’m starting to think it might have.”

Nikolai stared at him. “Would you tell me what the fuck you are talking about?”

“The Thirst makes the vampire it’s affected lose control of their normally in-check desires to feed and fuck humans. All humans. But especially those young, beautiful ones.”

What Ivan was describing was exactly how he’d felt at the club—like he no longer was able to control what made him a vampire. But there was one thing Ivan hadn’t mentioned yet.

He lifted a finger in the air. “But what about the smell?”

Ivan frowned. “What smell?”

“The magnificent nectar I caught a hint of as you were dragging me out of there. It was like nothing I’d ever smelled before. All I wanted was to be near it.”

Ivan’s fingers went to his mouth, rubbing his lips. His gaze was on Nikolai’s face, examining him as though he were a new species he’d recently discovered. “I haven’t heard any reports of a scent like that being linked to The Thirst. Having a heightened sense of smell for the location of fresh blood, yes, but not like what you’ve described.”

“It was as though it was calling to me, pulling me in. I recognised it like you might recognise the smell of your own home, or a blanket from childhood, or your mother’s skin.” It had been a long time since Nikolai had smelled any of those things, but he still remembered how it had been.

His maker pursed his lips. “I can’t help wondering if the two things are actually unconnected.”

“What do you mean?”

“That it’s just coincidence you caught that scent at the same time The Thirst hit.”

Nikolai’s tone grew hard. “What’s the scent, Ivan?”

“It sounds to me like you picked up the scent of your Bloodmate.”

“My Bloodmate?” He sought his mind for what that meant. “You mean the one person who is destined to be my mate?” He almost laughed at the idea. “That’s preposterous!”

“Is it? Why?”

“Because a vampire having a Bloodmate is a fable. A fairytale. It’s like a human claiming they met their one true love, and knew it the moment they laid eyes on each other.”

“Love at first sight, you mean?”

“Yes, exactly!” Nikolai stared at him, and then burst out with laughter. “So this is love at first smell?”

Ivan’s lips twitched with amusement, but then tightened again. “This isn’t a laughing matter, Nikolai. If The Thirst really has taken hold of you, it will only get worse. This Bloodmate may be your answer, however. If you find her, she’ll be able to help you.”

The laughter died from his lips. “How?”

“She’ll be able to quell the rage inside you. You’ll find peace in her arms. I’m afraid, if you don’t find her, there may only be one future for you.”

“Which is?” he prompted.

“You will eventually lose control, and then you’ll be too dangerous to be allowed to live. You’ll massacre any and every human you come across, so The Directive will eventually be forced to step in and end your life.”

Nikolai could barely believe what he was hearing. “This is insane.”

He started to pace, walking the breadth of his apartment, the windows overlooking the London skyline, which normally brought peace to his soul, tonight failing to do so. But even though only an hour or so had passed since he’d fed off that poor girl—the first human he’d fed from directly in decades—already he could feel the tightening of his throat, and the fizz of the blood in his veins as the need to feed struck him again.

But morning was coming, and even if he wanted to feed again, he was unable to. He was also unable to go back to the club right away and try to track down whoever the scent belonged to. Even if she wasn’t his Bloodmate, he still wanted to know.

“I need to go back to the club,” he growled.

Ivan lifted his eyebrows. “You think they’ll let you anywhere near that place after the performance you gave? If it wasn’t so obvious you were out of your mind, I’d be pretty fucking furious with you myself right now. You’ve totally screwed things up for me and Kira.”

“The wolf’s daughter? I don’t know how you can stand to be around a wolf in the first place, never mind fuck one.” He wrinkled his nose at the thought.

“Kira is only half wolf, and to me she smells great.” His tone lowered to a growl. “Not that her father is going to let me anywhere near her now.”

“She’s a grown woman, isn’t she? Can’t she make up her own mind about who she dates?”

“You know what these wolves are like. It’s all family, family, family. They care so much about the pecking order, I wonder if they even have minds of their own.”

Nikolai lifted an eyebrow. “And yet you want to get involved with one of them?”

“I already am involved with one of them. And it wasn’t a choice. Sometimes, we don’t get to choose who we fall for. Maybe you’ll understand that more after you find your Bloodmate.”

Nikolai’s lips twisted. “Hmm, I’m not so sure about that. But I do want to find whoever’s scent I picked up on. I don’t totally understand what’s happening yet, but I know I feel different, and I know the vampire back in that club, who attacked that girl, wasn’t the same vampire I normally am. If I have to go and try to find this ... Bloodmate ... then that’s exactly what I’ll do, whether Deacon Thorn likes it or not.”

But for now he had no choice but to sleep. Morning was almost here, and, unlike ancient vampires, he was unable to walk in the light. The sun drove him to his coffin-like bedroom for the day.

He just hoped whoever the scent belonged to would still be at the club once the sun had gone down again.