Cordelia kept her word too. For every human body they threw to one side once they'd emptied it of blood, Cordelia found Eve plentiful and fantastic food. Eve had never known hunger like it. She'd drink someone's blood and not long after, her stomach rumbled loudly.

Cordelia guided her to restaurants, cafes and food markets and looked on with pride as Eve grabbed hold of food. She never held back, and they attracted stares, the woman with the ferocious appetite who seldom bothered with a knife or fork, mouth opening as wide as possible so she could take huge bites. Her lover would dip a finger in the plate, scooping up bits of cream or sauce, and press it to Eve's mouth. Out darted her tongue, circling the finger until it was clean.

They shocked diners all over London.

The capital presented a wealth of opportunities. There were vagrants a plenty, men and women wandering the streets, forgotten about or ignored by their families and whose records in various social service systems were not up to date. Who noticed if they vanished one night as two female vampires emerged from the shadows? Mouths open, eyes bright and glittering, Cordelia and Eve pounced.

When Eve's conscience stirred, something that ebbed and flowed, noisier afterwards once those appetites had been satisfied, Cordelia said she chose the useless and unworthy, doing her bit for the human gene pool by removing those with nothing to add.

They took it in turns to bite first. As an older vampire, Cordelia had more will power around blood. She found it easy enough to stop herself before she drained a body dry. She would start to suck and then she would thrust the dying man or the woman at her partner. Attaching her lips to the spot Cordelia had just vacated turned every bit of her on. Eve kept her eyes on Cordelia as her mouth formed a suction cup on their victim's neck.

Cordelia's eyes sparkled. "Keep going, go on, don't stop..."

Afterwards, Eve pushed Cordelia up against the wall, usually a dingy brick wall in an alleyway overcrowded with bins. She saved up the last mouthful of blood for Cordelia, a gift of hot, salty loveliness. Fingers still bloody, she caressed Cordelia's breasts before sliding her hands downwards, easing her way between her lover's legs. Blood, it seemed, made the perfect lubricant. Cordelia shuddered as Eve's fingers alternately tickled her clitoris and thrust upwards into her vagina. It only ever took her seconds to come.

And then once they'd cleaned themselves up, it was off to a Michelin-starred restaurant. Cordelia would order her the entire taster menu and Eve would eat it all, her girlfriend gazing at her as she sipped on vintage champagne. To the outsider, it must look as if they were two women with eating disorders—the one a binge eater, stuffing down vast quantities of food in record time, and the other a border-line anorexic, watching her friend eat as she stared at her, huge-eyed.

Ha!

All good things must end. They'd stayed at the hotel in London doing the same thing, hunting every few days or so for months. A body's worth of blood lasted a vampire a long time. Restaurant trips and visits to markets always followed the hunt. Cordelia had left Eve in the room one morning, sleeping off two bodies and a five-course meal, when she returned, her expression serious.

"We need to get out of here," she announced, taking off her wide-brimmed hat and pulling a suitcase from the wardrobe. She pulled clothes from hangers and flung them in the suitcase.

"What's happened?" Eve struggled to wake up. She always slept deeply after a binge.

"The Argist Academy."

"The Argist Academy?" Eve heard the capitals and pronounced the name with gravitas.

Cordelia opened drawers, tipping out their contents. Out tumbled scarves, corsets, underwired bras, stockings and tights.

"The fucking Academy. And this prick who works for them I thought I'd killed the last time. Turns out he's still alive and looking for me. They like to hunt us and they're on to us." She turned to Eve, her face regretful.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you take that second man last night."

Eve got out of bed, grabbing the silk robe draped on the chair next to it. "My fault. He was just too hard to say no to."

Second man had been one from the escort firm they'd used the first time. Eastern Europeans in the main, they tended not to have official records. Cordelia told her escorts went missing all the time. Agencies assumed they'd sent them to a sadistic client—though they made sure they got the money upfront—or where the money wasn't paid upfront, they'd taken it and ran.

She and Eve had perfected their two-woman technique, sandwiching a naked and oiled torso between them, getting him excited and then biting hard. These days, Eve was able to last a lot longer. Sometimes, they even let him come first—a last gasp before the poor sod found himself staring in horror at bared vampire teeth.

"Where are we going, then?" Eve asked.

Cordelia threw a suitcase at her. "The west coast. You'll love it."

The call woke him at six am, a welcome relief from dreams stroke nightmares that featured red-heads who laughed as a black-eyed, black haired woman mounted him, her breasts jiggling above his mouth and her vagina hovering out of reach as he tried and failed to penetrate her, and the teeth appeared suddenly, flashes of white far too near his neck.

"That woman," Mrs Wang barked, skipping the niceties or any apologies for waking him. "The one who filmed you. Did you see her again?"

The unexpected call too early in the day for him to get his thought processes in order made him truthful.

"Yeah? Yesterday. She wanted to show me the rough cuts."

And the rest. This time, Liza had taken charge. She'd pushed him up against the wall, kissing him so hard she banged his head on the brickwork. It didn't matter; enthusiasm always fired Gregor up. Then, she slid a hand down his trousers, murmuring an appreciative "Mmm!" when she encountered bare flesh as Gregor favoured the commando approach to dressing.

Her hand caressed his arse, and he pressed back—encouragement for her to keep going. Her middle finger circled his rectum, moving in slow circles and then up him, pressing forward and finding that oh-so-under-used spot that only required light stroking for a couple of minutes until...

Just to make sure though, she used her other hand to cup his balls, handling them delicately and ticking her fingers against his cock, the thing straining against his jeans.

It counted as one of the most intense orgasms he'd ever had. And Gregor's come count was much higher than most people's.

Etiquette said one good turn deserved another. He flipped her on to her front on the floor, yanked her trousers to her knees and kissed his way down her spine, mouth stopping at the top of her butt cheeks. When she arched her back, he took that as encouragement. The kisses continued along the crack of her arse and his tongue took over, the tip of it working its way into her, and his other hand moved underneath so he could push the tips of his fingers against her. She wriggled beneath him, the back arching further.

Afterwards, he even took her phone number and at the time thought he might call her at some point. Women who knew that prostate gland trick were few and far between.

"She's dead," Mrs Wang snapped, her words bringing Gregor to his senses immediately. He sat up, phone pressed to his ear, and swung his legs out of bed.

"What?"

"Vampire attack. Seems far too much of a coincidence—a woman we employ on a contract and who sees you—or is seen with you. Cordelia specialises in vindictive behaviour, doesn't she?"

Yesterday's guilt—Gregor had noticed the way Liza eyed him afterwards, longing making itself plain on her face—was nothing compared to what he felt now. What was the phrase they used sometimes? Collateral damage, where innocent bystanders ended up victims. Perhaps all humans were collateral damage in the battle against vampires as all they needed to be at risk was a pulse. But this one was personal. He'd no doubt that he'd been watched and followed, and who had gone after Liza. Who else could it be but the woman who thought she'd killed him and now wanted to make a petty point? He shook his head. Nothing petty about murder.

"Your fault!" Mrs Wang hissed. "Do not doubt it! And don't get any misguided ideas where you go after her yourself. Don't even bother following up those restaurant leads. You are off the case and vampire hunting in general until I decide where I can deploy you without you shagging the local population and putting them at risk."

"But—

"I mean it! You're on gardening leave. Or why not make like Mary Berry? Cook some bloody chocolate cakes, stick them on a stall and maybe we'll flush out our plus-size vampire that way."

She cut the call off, no doubt wishing she'd called him on a landline where you slammed a phone down to make more of a point.

He got to his feet, Mrs Wang's words still ringing in his ears and the shriek of them clashing with his own thoughts. But doing what she said was out of the question. The mission to find and destroy Cordelia was now more personal than ever. No-one would stop him finding her and ramming that stake as far into her black heart as he could.