I detest Fate. All vampires crave more than the rich taste of blood is their beloved, but I'm betrayed. I'm left hopeful and hopeless. Against all attempts, my heart has been poisoned against me. My belief is gone. A lie has been weaved for far too long and I fell into the web like so many others before me. I must ease the ache of time. No longer will I yearn for a fairytale. This torture comes to a stop. To find love, I follow tradition instead. A matching ceremony. And she changes all I know.

Salem, Massachusetts. The home of magic. The hell of the damned. The place where I rest until the end of time. There is only one way for me to wake from my coma. My beloved must find me and feed me her blood before I turn to ash. It's a rarity for a vampire to meet his blood mate. I knew when the coma took me, I'd die. In the dark. Alone. Until Maven Wildes buys my estate. Her presence at the house wakes my spirit. But not my mind.

For two days a year, a carousel sings. Humans come, but they do not leave. Gremlins, ghouls, and sincasters need to feed. If paranormals come, they will never be free. They have to put on a show and give the audience the creeps. A demon is a ringmaster, selling souls for the right price. A fortune teller sees his demise. A vampire is used to cry. An angel loses his wings. A banshee calls for help and screams. They will no longer exist after Halloween. It's why they need a Wildes witch. The most powerful one they will ever see.

A curse trapped me inside my werewolf, and I became the perfect killing puppet for the warlock controlling me. Screams of my victims haunt me. The phantom warmth of blood heats my hands. And guilt eats away at my psyche.

I know I'm lucky to have a mate at all. Most would rejoice. Most would run to them. Not me. I want to stay with my family. I was trapped in the veil for the majority of my life, fighting to survive. And I'm supposed to leave them for a man I don't know? I'm tired of Fate making the decisions for me. Yet . . . The ache in my chest becomes too much. The thirst in my throat becomes unbearable. The need to mate is a call I can no longer ignore. Even if I've never touched or kissed another. How will I satisfy him?

Purgatory is the life I never knew I wanted. I'm able to release the rage I've kept locked inside my entire life. When the fog hovers above the ground, I am in one place. The Graveyard. A fighting ring where I can unleash the violence my werewolf craves. The winner of every round gets a step closer to getting out of purgatory. The loser has their existence wiped from the universe. With one drop of blood spilled, I think of her. Elouise. I remember being young and in love with a vampire I wasn't allowed to be with. Our love was forbidden. And that fuels my lividity.