Burning
Blood
by
New York Times & USA Today Bestseller
Pepper Winters
BURNING BLOOD
Copyright © 2026 Pepper Winters
Published by Pepper Winters
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Libraries are exempt and permitted to share their in-house copies with their members and have full thanks for stocking this book. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
No part of this book is permitted to be used in training AI models.
This is human written through numerous plot-notes, annoying rewrites, a painful amount of deletions, and untold number of agonising hours. And yes, receipts can be provided.
Published: Pepper Winters 2026: [email protected]
Cover Design: Christley Creatives
Editing / Proofreading by: Christina Cornish
Artwork: Valerie
Audio: Noah Trent & Alexa Borys
Contents
Playlist
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-One
Chapter Sixty-Two
Chapter Sixty-Three
Chapter Sixty-Four
Chapter Sixty-Five
Chapter Sixty-Six
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Chapter Seventy
Glossary
Acknowledgements
Other work by Pepper Winters
Playlist
Jared Benjamin – Poison
Jared Benjamin – Believe it
Kygo & Imagine Dragons - Born to be Yours
Coldplay - A Sky Full Of Stars
Ruelle - War Of Hearts
Ruelle - Monsters
Pink - What About Us
Zac Efron, Zendaya - Rewrite The Stars
Avril Lavigne - Head Above Water
James Arthur - Impossible
Neoni - Darkside
Prologue
I’VE HEARD THAT WHEN DESTINY COMES for you, there’s no escape.
You can fight, fake, and force yourself to believe whatever you want to believe, but fate always finds a way.
No matter if you’re enemies or strangers. No matter if you met in tragedy or sweet romance, once destiny binds you together, that’s it.
You’re no longer your own person; you’re part of a whole.
It doesn’t matter if the person you chose is crazy or angry or suicidal.
Once you’re bound, two hearts beat as one.
Their revenge becomes your revenge.
Their love binds with your love.
And their death...is your death.
Always.
Chapter One
TO GO FROM THE BEST KISS of my life to being asked to commit murder...
He had to be kidding, right?
I gawked at him.
His voice echoed over and over in my head.
“Kill me, kill me, kill me.”
My palm turned slippery around the knife, my lips still stinging from his, my heart a manic monster in my chest.
Raw panic rushed up my throat. “There’s no way I’m—”
“Do it.” His eyes held mine, narrowed and black. “Stab me. Right now.”
I backed up, wrenching my hand from his where he forced me to hold the knife. “You’re crazy.” Tears pricked my eyes. “I can’t. I physically can’t hurt you.”
“Once again, your lack of obedience is infuriating.”
“My obedience?!” My temper got the better of me. “I don’t remember promising to obey you—”
“I told you not to fuck this up for me.” His eyes locked on the drones above. The drones watching everything. “And keep your voice down.”
“Let’s just go back inside—”
“It’s too late for that.” He reached for me. “Come here.”
“Get away from me.” I went to throw the knife into the bushes, but he rushed me, grabbed my shoulders where my rucksack hung, and hissed into my ear. “You will do this for me because I can’t do it on my own. I need you.”
Need you.
Need you.
Up until now, I’d hoarded those words.
I’d relished that someone like Lucien Ashfall—who prided himself on hating everyone and everything—needed me.
Useless stress-phobic me.
To ease his pain.
To give him pleasure.
To share my company and just talk to him...
But this?
Murdering him?
Not possible.
Utterly impossible.
I fought him. “Let me go.”
“I’m not asking, Rook.”
“And I’m not doing it, Lucien.”
“Don’t you get it? I only have one shot. Just one!” His snarl vibrated through my bones, making me ache from head to toe. “And I’m not going to fail.”
“I’ll do whatever you need, but I can’t—”
“Stab me. Before they come.” His fingers dug into my shoulders like pincers. “Stab me, Rook. Do it.”
My name. He hardly ever said my name.
Now he’d said it twice in succession.
It made my heart skip a million beats and feelings to surge that had absolutely no business surging.
The drones suddenly abandoned us, shooting back over the wall as the rain became heavier, drenching us with wet splashes.
Without the drones recording us, I shouted, “You can command me all you want. I will literally do anything else you ask, but I won’t hurt you. I refuse.”
“Don’t you want revenge on me keeping you here?” He gripped me agonisingly hard, his face going black. “Aren’t you furious?”
“What?” My eyes widened. “Why would I—?”
“Don’t you hate me for taking you away from your life?”
“Yes. I mean no.” I scowled. “I mean...it’s not you who did this to me.”
