Tasting Blood After Coughing

Because of a last-minute business trip, my husband missed the Thanksgiving family dinner. I spent the entire day helping out at my in-laws' place in the countryside with our five-year-old son, only to receive a complaint from the downstairs neighbor just before dinner. "Ari, could you please close your kitchen window when you're cooking? I can smell the hot sauce from all the way here. My husband has a lung condition—he can't handle it." My neighbor's words shocked me, and I immediately called my husband, who was allergic to chili peppers. "Honey, did someone break into the house? The neighbor said there was smoke coming from the kitchen." His breathing hitched for a second before he let out a casual laugh. "No break-in. My flight got canceled, so I was home alone cooking. When are you two coming back? I really miss you." I smiled and told him we'd stay a couple more days, but in the middle of the night, I packed up our son and drove straight home.

He's a demon King in the eyes of the world, but she's the only one who can bring him under control.

“You saved my life. Name your price.” “Take responsibility for me.” Asaraiah Montova is the invisible daughter of a brutal mafia bloodline. Born from her father's affair, she survives abuse, cruelty, and betrayal in silence. Her only sanctuary? A shed hidden deep in their estate, until she finds a bloodied stranger inside. Malrik Kaine is the name whispered in fear. A vampire and the ruthless mafia boss of the Kaine Syndicate. Cursed. Untouchable. Dangerous. When she saves his life, he owes her a favor. She demands the unthinkable: marriage. What starts as a desperate bargain spirals into an obsession between a girl with nothing to lose and a man who has lost everything. What if the shed wasn’t the first time they met? What happens when she finds out she has died by his hands more than once? And when her past collides with his curse, neither blood nor death will be enough to stop them. Dare to follow her into the darkness. Because once the blood debt is owed, there is no escape. Step into the shadows of the syndicate. Here, debts aren’t forgiven—they’re collected... in blood. “In the mafia, blood isn’t thicker than water—it’s the price you pay for power.”

Alice Ashford was born a hunter. Trained to kill the monsters that haunted the night, she wore her family’s legacy like armor, silver bullets, sharpened blades, and a name feared by every werewolf in West-bridge. But one secret kiss with Liam, the golden boy of her school…and the son of the Crimson Moon Alpha, shatters everything. Because Liam isn’t just a wolf, he’s her blood and her forbidden half-brother. And then there’s Kane. Silent, watchful, dangerous in ways Liam never was. A werewolf from a rival pack who should have been her enemy, but instead becomes her shield. Torn between loyalty and desire, family and fate, Alice uncovers a truth more devastating than the lies she’s been fed: she isn’t human at all. She’s the bridge between worlds, hunter and wolf, hated by both, desired by many. When war ignites between packs and hunters, Alice must choose where she stands… and who she’s willing to bleed for. Because in the end, love can save her, or destroy her. And the monsters aren’t just in the woods.

My father raised me on one principle: fair exchange. If I wanted anything, I had to earn it myself. Fifty cents for washing the dishes. A dollar for mopping the floor. Five dollars for a perfect score on a test. To buy the pair of white sneakers I had been dreaming of, I spent three months collecting recyclables. In that house, I lived like a pieceworker, paid by the task. It was not until my senior year of high school that everything began to crack. I collapsed during morning study, my body worn down by years of malnutrition. The doctor said I needed better nutrition. My father stood by my hospital bed and started doing the math. "Three hundred for the hospital stay. Two hundred for medication. Chester, this all goes on your tab for the future." I turned my head and saw a boy in a school uniform in the next bed. His father was feeding him spoonfuls of chicken soup, his eyes red with worry. In that moment, the world I had known for 18 years fell apart. It turned out not every child had to earn their parents' love. After I was discharged, I went home and saw the pair of designer sneakers on my brother's feet; it was worth thousands. That was when I finally woke up. I tore up the family photo and, without hesitation, applied to the college farthest from home. Ten years later, my father called me in tears. My brother had taken all his retirement savings, sold the house, and run off with his girlfriend. He was left with nothing. No home. No one. I smiled and tossed him a rag. "Want a place to stay? Sure. It's 50 cents per window. Earn your own rent."

When Seth Gibson told me his legs were crippled and that only snowmelt from a mountain's peak could cure him, I did not hesitate. I scaled the mountainside, climbing over 15,000 feet just to get some snow for him. When I staggered back, bruised and scratched, cradling the snow outside the hospital room, I overheard cruel voices down the corridor. "Seth, today's the deadline. Nevaeh still isn't back. Could she have died up there?" "I heard that the mountain's pretty high. She might have gotten altitude sickness. What a shame! She's already risked herself for Seth ninety-nine times. This was supposed to be the last time before the game ended." "Serves her right! She used to bully Janice, Seth's childhood friend, didn't she?" I saw Seth through the crack in the door. He was standing at the window, his legs perfectly intact, and his expression ice-cold. "Enough," he said flatly. "If she dies, the game ends." I froze in disbelief until it finally sank in. Seth had been pretending all along. A laugh nearly escaped me. What a relief! I could finally get rid of this weight on my shoulders. I pulled out my phone and called his uncle. "I'll marry you," I said.

In the third year of chasing the famously untouchable Hayden Lane, I still hadn't managed to marry him. The Lane family had an old rule. Any woman who wanted to marry into the family had to personally draw a fortune stick and receive a supreme blessing. I tried ninety-nine times. Every single time, the result was the worst possible omen. Before my hundredth draw, I personally saw Hayden replacing every fortune stick inside the cylinder. "No matter how many times she tries, she can only draw the worst omen." At that moment, I finally understood that he truly didn't love me. But that was fine. I didn't want to marry him anymore either. I tossed the fortune cylinder aside and turned away. Then I called my parents. "I accept the marriage alliance with the York family."

Do you want the physical copy of the series to read ahead? Search Dark Blood Series/Taylor Walker Dark Blood on Amazon. £2.00-£6.00. My name is Killian Saunders. I started off as a normal teenager living a normal life until now. I’ve been pushed from pillar to post, investigation after investigation to find the main problem with my mental health. I live in the psychiatric part of the hospital because I can be a possible threat to everyone around me. But the main problem is, nothing is helping me. No one is helping me. I have no relationship with my family anymore and I’m losing everyone I need and trust. But I feel its going to be too late until I get the help that I need. It won’t be long until I’m not me... it won’t be long until I turn into the monster I fear the most.

"Three worlds. One forbidden bond. A love that could ignite war." Selene Rhea was born a witch, sworn to her coven’s laws. She never asked for the fire that surged in her veins, or the fate that tied her to two sworn enemies: Rowan, a feral wolf bound by loyalty and rage, and Lucien, a vampire prince wrapped in shadow and hunger. Drawn together by an unbreakable bond, the three of them ignite a passion that is as dangerous as it is irresistible. Their nights burn with desire, their days thrum with power, and their bond becomes more than love — it becomes a storm. But forbidden love has a price. When wolves, witches, and vampires rise to tear them apart, Selene must embrace the terrifying truth: she is no longer just a witch. She is axis — the center of a bond that could either remake the world or burn it to ash. Blood will fall. Desire will consume. And war will begin.

Desmond Hawthorne returns to Winekove where it all began, to live a simple life. He meets Hope Wallace, and his life changes. He and his brother, Solomon, are attacked later by a vampire hunter, Silas Hermott. He eventually defeats Silas and falls for Hope. Hope becomes pregnant with a baby which is tagged "impossible". They get attacked by many enemies from the past until Suzana, the witch who turned them into vampires returns and requests for their child. Desmond dies trying to save his family.