They say I'm a monster. Cold. Unfeeling. A man born to rule with bloodstained hands. They're not wrong. I don't feel guilt when I kill—only euphoria. There's nothing like the rush of holding someone's life in my hands, knowing I control the exact moment it ends. Life is weak. Fragile. Death is the only truth. Then I met Remi Cain. Quiet. Obsessed with the beauty of death, just like me. The second I see him, I want him. Not just his body, but his darkness—the parts no one else sees. I want to own him, break him, bind him to me with blood.

My life changed when my father died, and in the time since, I've learned to accept that my voice will never be the same. There are years and a literal ocean between the boy I was and the man I am now. Scholarship student. Loyal best friend. Talented fighter. The only thorn in my side is Remington Langford. Cocky, popular, far too handsome for his own good, and insistent on calling me his friend. When a lost bet turns into a trip to Italy as his fake boyfriend, we grow closer than we ever intended, and it's not long before the lines between what's for show and what's not blur.

The infected didn't break me. They didn't capture me for experiments and use me like an object. Humanity made me into the monster I am. I'm reckless because it makes me feel alive, careless because I'm addicted to pain. And I'm dangerous because I've got nothing left to live for. Nothing, until I meet a raider who seems to see right through me…who demands I do the one thing I said I'd never do again. Let him in.

I should hate Rowan Hughes. He was a bully when we were kids, and now I find out he's messed around with my girlfriend. But how can I hate the campus soccer star when he's everything I've always wanted to be? With my reputation on the line, I can't let Rowan get away with humiliating me in front of people I know—people we both go to school with. When he swears he didn't know Annalese was my girlfriend, I actually believe him. When he says I'm good enough to play beside him, I want to believe that too. But when he insists he's not gay, all I want is to prove him wrong.

When my parents threatened to cut me off if I wasn't married by the time I turned 30, I thought finding a wife would be easy. But apparently, I'm not the best at dating, and almost two years later, I'm still very single. My birthday is coming up fast, and unless I want to give up the comfortable lifestyle I'm used to, I need to find someone willing to settle down quickly. I'm desperate and out of ideas, until my best friend suggests I apply for a new reality dating show.