Burning Heir

Students are branded by affinity: water, air, earth, or fire. But Nessa's mark is different. A silver spiral—the mark of an unbound. It's a power so dangerous her kind were hunted to extinction centuries ago—or so the Empire claims. To survive, she must hide what she is in a castle that reeks of blood, where students kill each other for advantage, and failing to tether an elemental means death. Nessa's greatest threat may be the only other volunteer—Raith Hollow, a powerful fire affinity whose scorching gaze follows her every move and whose secrets could topple kingdoms.

In the elven realm, Jassyn has spent his life both researching the fertility crisis and being forced to produce offspring. His existence balances on a narrow precipice between solving mysteries of the elves' infertility or succumbing to his handlers' maltreatment. A new assignment, tutoring a half-breed princess in a human realm, promises a temporary relief. But he soon discovers the real reason for his presence.

Perched between branches and shadows, we watch, we scheme, fighting for a kingdom forgotten and forlorn. Until we rip her away with our claws, our prisoner, our pawn, our plaything. She’s innocent and pure, fragile and helpless…but oh so guilty by blood. She calls us beasts, wicked and evil, vicious and cruel. We are all that and worse. One of us offers her shelter beneath his wings, whispering promises of pleasure, seeking redemption. The other longs to shatter her into a million pieces, whispering promises of pain, seeking revenge.

Long ago, Requiem was plagued by war and abandoned by the gods but Death saved the suffering people, giving each soul a hundred years of immortality. With that grace, he also sent two Maidens. One of Life, for healing and comfort, and one of Death, the only person in the world with the ability to kill. Generations later, the Life Maiden is missing and Princess Deyanira is nothing more than a trained weapon. A hunter. A murderer wrenched into Death's dark court to have the name of her next victim seared onto her palm.

Kirill und ich sind so verschieden wie Tag und Nacht. Er ist mein Vorgesetzter im Militär und der Mann, der mich mit dem Blutvergießen bekannt machen wird. Sein Charme und seine äußere Perfektion hätten mich nicht in Versuchung führen dürfen. Denn hinter dieser Maske verbirgt sich ein manipulatives, emotionsloses Monster.