He was never meant to exist. Now he’s the only thing standing between her and the abyss. When Elara’s noble house is slaughtered in a blood-soaked ritual, she becomes the last surviving “key” the Crimson Veil coven needs to tear open a forbidden door. Hunted across a dying forest, poisoned and bleeding, she’s saved by the last man she should ever trust—Kael, an honor-bound half-infernal, half–dark-elf rogue warlock with hellfire in his veins and too many ghosts in his eyes. Kael offers her one impossible way flee into the mountains to an ancient ruined fortress and vanish into the underways that wind beneath the world. The price is a blood oath that binds their lives together. If she falls, he falls. If he loses control of the power carved into his skin, she’ll be the first to burn. Trapped between ruthless blood mages above and hungry things that listen from the dark below, Elara and Kael are forced into a perilous, intimate proximity—sharing wards, nightmares, and the kind of slow-burn tension that feels a little too much like temptation. He is dangerous, dominant, and determined to keep her alive. She’s wounded, furious, and absolutely not willing to be anyone’s sacrifice. This edition collects the first five chapters of Kael and Elara’s story—a sultry, atmospheric dark-fantasy romance full of forbidden magic, blood oaths, haunted ruins, and a deliciously slow slide from guarded trust into something far more dangerous. Perfect for readers who like their fantasy sharp, sensual, and just a little bit infernal.