The Ashen Veil

In a world where death is a transaction and souls are the currency, Elya Varin walks the thin line between desperation and defiance. Her brother, Ren, was taken from her-lost to the secretive order known as the Ashen Veil. They whisper of balance, of a world kept in check by their unseen hand, but to Elya, they are nothing more than thieves who hoard the dead. When they offer her an impossible bargain-his return in exchange for something stolen-she has no choice but to accept.

Her hunt leads her to Dain Calder, a mercenary whose name is spoken like legend and warning alike. He should have perished long ago, yet he lingers, trapped in a body that refuses to die, cursed to walk the border between the living and the lost. The Ashen Veil wants him, but they will not say why. And as Elya uncovers the truth behind Dain's unnatural existence, she realizes the price of her brother's soul may be far greater than she ever imagined.

Pursued by the relentless Oris Veyne, a hunter bound to the Ashen Veil's cause, and shadowed by the chilling presence of High Seer Valcora, the order's ageless and unreadable leader, Elya is forced to question everything she thought she knew about death, fate, and the cost of defying those who claim dominion over both.

In the end, she must make an impossible choice: trade one soul for another, or shatter the very foundation of the world-no matter the cost.