CONSTANCE: BOOK 1

CONSTANCE
Book 1 of the Blackthorn Chronicles
By Rip_Itsuna

London, 1863. The skies weep as Duchess Constance Blackthorn buries her husband-a duke twice her age, brother to the King, and the final heir of a cursed bloodline.

At only twenty, Constance is a widow with no child, no allies, and an entire Duchy to govern. Whispers haunt her: that she killed him, that a woman cannot rule alone, that Blackthorn men always die at forty.

They don't know the truth.

They don't know about the ancient infernal pact forged generations ago... or the butler who stayed behind when all others fled.

Lucien is elegant, obedient, and unnervingly perfect. But beneath his flawless exterior hides a demon-Stolas, Prince of Hell-whose centuries-old contract has finally run dry. And now he has eyes for the Duchess herself.

Because power ripens in grief.
And her soul is the most tempting he's ever tasted.

A gothic tale of secrets, seduction, and supernatural games, Constance is the beginning of a slow-burn descent into dark desire, deadly bargains, and the cost of sovereignty in a world ruled by men-and monsters.