Where Ashes Meet Desire

In Valmere, magic is ranked—and those without it are meant to be forgotten. Serina has lived her entire life invisible in the city’s Lower Rings, where survival leaves no room for longing. But when she breaks into a forbidden shrine and awakens the legendary World-End Dragon, everything changes. The power burning beneath her skin is uncontrollable, intoxicating—and deadly. Sent to eliminate her is Alaric Nightfall, the High Council’s most feared enforcer. Cold, devastatingly magnetic, and sworn to eradicate forbidden magic, Alaric has never hesitated before. Until Serina. From the moment their eyes meet, something dangerous ignites—an unspoken pull that coils tighter with every stolen glance, every charged moment where duty collides with desire. Hunted by the Council and bound together by secrets neither can escape, Serina and Alaric are forced into a reluctant partnership that smolders with tension. Her raw fire threatens to unravel his perfect control, while his presence awakens a hunger she never knew she was allowed to feel. Because when dragonfire stirs and hearts betray their orders, desire becomes the most powerful—and perilous—magic of all.