How Does Deadfall End?

This book is a Standalone, you don't have to read the first two to relate to what happened, though I do recommend it. Book Three of the Bloodlust Series “Is this some kind of joke?” Kiara asked frowning in confusion, waking up in the familiar podium where she once grew up watching people die in front of her as she herself fought for her own life. “I don’t know, but I don’t like this” Richard said from beside Kiara. The two were trying to process how they even got here to begin with. People around them started coming to their senses as they woke up inside the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Bloodlust Games, The final chapter” ************************* Re-entering the Bloodlust games was never an option in Kiara’s life. But when revenge is on the line and both she and Richard are forced into them, they have nothing to do but survive, for it was either play and live. Or die…

At our first anniversary celebration, my wife publicly announced that she was divorcing me to marry her true love. My past mission targets coldly watched me, thinking I would cause a ruckus and trouble Ivan Lowe like I always had. However, I merely walked over to a nearby lake and jumped into it. Unbeknownst to them, Serena Gale was my very last mission target. If I failed, I was supposed to go home. So, why did they only begin to regret their choices after I finally died?

The Blood Moon Feast was over. I was delivering the synthetic blood supplement I'd developed for the vampire lord, Evander, when he suddenly threw me to the ground. "Give it to me... I want you..." His crimson eyes burned with desperate hunger. My face flushed. I thought he finally understood the love I held for him. So I let him sink his fangs into my neck. I let him form a blood bond with me—a human. I wanted eternity with him. But when I woke up, Evander's eyes were filled with shock and regret. It wasn't love. Just an uncontrollable frenzy from his once-a-century bloodlust curse. And now it was too late. A human bonded to an ancient vampire suffers excruciating, soul-tearing pain. To forcibly break the bond? A death sentence. Evander chose to honor it. He owed me—I'd saved his life once in the human world. But everything changed when Odette died. His true love, waiting centuries to bond with him. When she learned of our union, she shattered—left the City of Eternal Night alone and walked into an ambush by rogue hunters. They burned her to ash. When his family brought back the only thing left—a moonstone pendant—Evander's hands closed around my throat. "This was your plan all along, wasn't it? You trapped me in this bond. Then you conspired with hunters to kill Odette. Go to hell and apologize to her yourself!" He ripped the bond from me, tearing away the very blood that kept me alive. A day and a night of agony as my organs ruptured. Then I died. When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back to the night his curse erupted.

Sitting here in the courtroom, I watch as my father is put on trial for a crime he didn't commit. He gets a heart attack and dies right before my very eyes. There's nothing I can do to stop it. As my heart burns with anger and resentment, a series of comments suddenly appears, floating in the air in front of me. [Poor Mason! He still has no idea it was his own beloved girlfriend, Christa Lowry, who served as lead counsel and used falsified evidence to incriminate his father.] [Christa teamed up with that scion, Todd Harlow. She sacrificed Mason's dad's life to net her first pot of gold!] Through these comments, I learn the truth. I wipe my tears away, tear up the acceptance letter I just received from the top art school in the country, and throw myself into the legal profession. After 15 years, I've finally been crowned the Grim Reaper of the criminal defense world, having never lost a single case. One day, my assistant comes to my office with a pile of top-secret case files. Christa is facing the death penalty for engaging in international money laundering, and I'm the only one who can save her. In the surveillance footage from the detention center, the once arrogant woman is now kneeling on the floor, begging in despair to be saved. At that very moment, those comments start appearing in my vision again. [Spoiler alert! The most satisfying moment of revenge is about to come!] [That awful woman is so deluded. She thinks that just by offering enough money, Mason will be willing to save her for old times' sake! What a joke.] [Quick! Refuse her, Grim Reaper! Send her to hell!] Reading the comments, I smirk faintly before tossing my pen into the trash. "Tell her I won't take on the case."

Late one night after getting off work, I was scrolling through my company group chat when a colleague shared a piece of news. The headline was horrifying. "Night-Shift Courier Murdered During Delivery, Police Suspect Robbery." I zoomed in on the crime scene photo that had been partially pixelated, and a chill ran straight down my spine. Lying in a pool of blood, the courier who had been hacked to death was unmistakably me. I had scrolled into news of my own death. Almost at the same time, my delivery app began vibrating violently. "Urgent pickup! Destination: Unit 704 Hawthorne Ridge Apartments, Building 7. Time limit: 15 minutes. Penalty for timeout: Death." As I stared at the notification that read "Pickup failed three times", the searing pain of my brutal death surged through my body. So that was it. I had already died three times. When I forced open the half-closed security door of 704 for the fourth time, a thin delivery envelope lay quietly inside. I tore it open. A photograph slipped out. It was a picture of my dismembered body. The timestamp showed tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. On the back was a single line written in fresh blood: "Next time, remember to pick it up on time." At that moment, the red indicator light on the hallway surveillance camera suddenly went dark. I looked up. From the ventilation opening in the exact same spot, a single eye was staring straight at me. The mole at the corner of that eye was identical to mine.

Tessa Smith was born into the perfect life—wealth, fame, and love. As the only child of a renowned business tycoon and his elegant housewife, her days were filled with luxury, private tutors, and the unwavering belief that she would someday inherit her father’s empire. Groomed to be graceful, admired by fans, and adored by the media, Tessa's world seemed idyllic—until it shattered in a single, tragic moment. One fateful evening, masked intruders breached their heavily guarded island manor. Her mother, Kiera, answering the door with love and peace in her heart, was murdered in cold blood. That night rewrote Tessa's future. No longer driven by wealth or societal expectations, she chose a path that no one—least of all her father—had prepared her for: justice. Despite opposition, Tessa joined the force, quickly rising through the ranks as a brilliant, fearless detective. She cracked impossible cases and earned her place in a male-dominated world. Alongside her partner and love interest, Caleb Milanowski—a sharp-minded officer from humble beginnings—the duo formed an unstoppable team, both in investigations and in life. But just when they thought they’d found peace, a final case emerged: expose a powerful, faceless kingpin who had evaded justice for decades. Through riddles and coded messages, the truth led Tessa to a devastating revelation—one that would test her loyalty, threaten her relationship, and force her to choose between love, legacy, and the truth. In a gripping battle between duty and blood, Tessa is thrust into the heart of betrayal. To restore peace to a nation, she must dismantle the criminal empire that may be rooted in her very own family. A tale of love, loss, vengeance, and truth—where every secret comes with a price.