The Burial Club — Parker Foye

Aggy Stephenson is a funeral bidder, hand-delivering invitations to funerals in the latest fashion among city elite. His work takes him to the house of Laurel St. John, a man as handsome as he is rich, and as frequently bereaved. Despite the circumstances of their meeting, Aggy quickly falls for Laurel's strange thrall. But they stand on either side of a barrier: wealth, status -- and death.

Dilettante, socialite, and vampire, little surprises Laurel -- until he meets Aggy. But Laurel isn't the only creature with his eye on Aggy, and not everyone is restricted to hunting at night. When Aggy misses a delivery, Laurel wonders if his love has tired of a life of darkness. Then Aggy's name appears on the list of the nearly departed intended for Laurel's plate, and the sun isn't enough to stop Laurel's wrath.

Can Aggy and Laurel keep walking the thin line between the living and the dead? Or will the city force them to choose between existence -- and each other?

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The Burial Club is the second story from Love Has Claws, a speculative romance trilogy linked by the town of Lastings. They are standalone stories, but your experience may be enhanced by reading Nine Years of Silver (Love Has Claws #1).

Content Warnings: bloody violence; on- and off-screen murder; vampire-specific dub con; death, grief, and mourning; past death of a sibling; vomiting; workplace harassment; abduction.