Scholar turned mercenary Ryesand Valafar rummages through a ransacked city for banned religious texts, investigating an ancient and dangerous magic. While investigating an abandoned temple, he encounters a threatening woman with a price on her head. Wanted by both the crown and a menacing cult, Cressida Benoit searches for a way to get rid of a brand and make her grand escape. This unlikely pair of opposing personalities must band together to uncover secrets of an ancient religion driven by rituals of blood, death, & sex. A kingdom in upheaval is no place for two lost souls to fall in love.

Tropes
decadent parties & aphrodisiacs, dark rituals of forbidden magic, Reluctant-Allies-To-Lovers, constant bickering, battle couple, BatCat dynamic

Tags
Bi FMC, Demi MMC, Queer normative world

Content Warnings

Demons, Drug usage, Alcohol consumption, Aphrodisiac usage, Sex Pollen trope in Chapter 18, General fantasy violence, Blood magic, Dark magic rituals near act 3