In the wildest reaches of the west, deep in the fiery depths of hell, the year is 1459. A brutal and blood-soaked battle erupts between two formidable forces. Boothill, a notorious bandit infamous for his kills, invasions, and his ruthless cartel, faces off against his sworn enemy, Argenti. Argenti is a fearsome pirate captain who rules the hellish seas with an iron fist, driven by an insatiable thirst for domination. In their climactic clash, Argenti, determined to crush Boothill and his bandits, does not find victory through slaughter. Instead, a mysterious curse transforms Boothill and his men into stone statues, frozen in time on the battlefield. The only key to their revival lies in a unique and mystical element - roses clasped in Boothill's stone hands. Centuries pass, and the battlefield becomes an overgrown, thorny landscape, the roses still clutched tightly by the statue of Boothill. Stories of the roses' power spread across the seas, eventually reaching Argenti's ears. Now, in the present, the pirate captain returns to the west, his ambition reignited. Navigating the thorny maze, Argenti seizes the roses from Boothill's grasp. The earth trembles, and the curse is lifted. Boothill and his bandit crew, freed from their stone prisons, rise once more. Consumed by rage and a burning desire for vengeance, Boothill sets out to reclaim his roses from Argenti, even if it means facing death itself.
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]