The Serpent’s Bargain

Elara is the best thief in the Sunken City, but no amount of shadows can hide her sister’s failing health. When the legendary Shadow King offers a deal—his protection and a cure in exchange for a wedding vow—Elara has no choice but to step into the Citadel of Night.

King Malakai is a monster of myth, cursed to never feel the sun and whispered to have a heart of cold obsidian. Elara expects a prison; instead, she finds a court of lethal secrets and a husband whose very presence makes her dormant magic scream to life.

But there’s a catch to the Serpent’s Bargain: Malakai’s touch is the only thing that fuels Elara’s power, but every time they touch, the curse that blackened his soul begins to bleed into hers.

As a revolution brews outside the castle walls and a forbidden hunger grows within them, Elara must decide: Will she break the curse to save her kingdom, or succumb to the darkness to save the man she was born to betray?