MAYOR LIAM’S POV
Her laugh lingered in the air, sharp and teasing, as she sashayed down the hall, her hips rolling under that crisp lab coat. I stood rooted, the cooling box biting into my palms with its icy chill, her jasmine scent still swirling in my nostrils, sweet and maddening. My pulse thrummed, a low drumbeat in my ears, and my lips curled into a snarl. Callista thought she could toy with me—dangle her flirty bullshit and slip away—but I wasn’t some lapdog she could toss a bone to. I wanted her pinned beneath me, those blue eyes wide and begging, but more than that, I wanted the serum. The real one. Eternal blood. Power was my drug, and I’d be the first to taste it, city be damned.
The lab’s sterile corridor stretched ahead, white walls glaring under flickering fluorescents, the
