Serpent of Desire

Ilaria's centuries-old exile is bad enough - eternally banished from the underworld and stuck selling potions and poisons to humans. Her punishment? Guard the portal to her lost home, allowing anyone to enter while she remains forever shut out. But when a murder takes place in her shop, the tables turn. Now, the enforcers - the very creatures who redeem souls for their own deadly pasts - want to bring her to trial.

Her only chance at freedom is to solve the murder herself, but there's a catch: she has to work with Hawke, an enforcer who has hated her since day one. Stubborn, powerful, and impossible to ignore, Hawke is more of a roadblock than a partner, and their fiery clashes are only heating up.

With the threat of execution looming and tensions running high, Ilaria and Hawke must navigate a world of secrets, soul debts, and a past neither of them can outrun. Can they solve the mystery before her fate is sealed, or will their animosity be her downfall?