First published 2020
Enna has grown up knowing the wildwood is dangerous. The mystings that prowl its edges are not creatures to bargain with. But when one attacks her to take an enchanted stone, she has no good options left. She summons Maekallus, a mysting of her own, and strikes a deal. His help costs her a kiss, and that kiss pulls a piece of her soul into him. The arrangement goes wrong immediately. Maekallus is now trapped in the mortal realm, and the mortal realm is destroying him from the inside. Only Enna's willing kiss can slow the damage. She gives it, knowing what it costs her. Now part of her soul burns inside him, and for the first time in his existence Maekallus begins to feel things. Enna feels his suffering in return. This is not a stable situation. If they cannot find a way to break the binding before it runs its course, Maekallus will be consumed entirely, and the piece of Enna's soul inside him will be gone with him. Two people who started as a transaction are running out of time to become something else.
Genres: romance, fantasy, dark-fantasy, fantasy-romance
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, haunting, intimate
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity, slow-burn
Setting: wildwood, mortal realm
258 pages · Paperback · 47North