A KNIGHTS TALE meets BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER in this seductive, funny, and heart-pounding dark fantasy romance. In 1560s Italy, Ariya has spent twelve relentless years training with the devout Corvus Order of female vampire slayers. At last, she earns her first solo mission to prove her worth-but her elation crumbles when she learns the intimate nature of the assignment: seduce and slay the enigmatic Florentine nobleman Dante D'Agonisto, rumored to be a vampire hiding in plain sight. When she confronts him, Ariya is stunned to find that Dante is more than the ruthless predator she was taught to hunt. Cursed, desperate, and dangerously charming, he begs her to help him find a cure for his affliction-to reclaim his humanity and escape his brutal past. Forced into a false marriage to mask their uneasy alliance, Ariya begins to question every long-held conviction-and plunges into a very inconvenient attraction as hostility ignites into a forbidden carnal awakening. And if Dante is falling for her in turn, more than her mission is at stake. She may lose her heart to the very monster she has sworn to kill.