The Hand & the Flame (Book 1)

Good and evil aren't born-they're cultivated.
Temptation isn't always sin. Sometimes it's salvation wearing a dangerous smile.

In a world divided between light and shadow, two destinies are bound by a power older than the city itself.

Anastasia is a healer, gentle yet unyielding, her touch capable of mending broken things-and perhaps, one day, a broken world. Raised among the Luminants, she believes in order, mercy, and the quiet strength of goodness.

Rune is a weapon, forged in shadow, trained to obey and to destroy. The eastern district calls itself divine, its streets gilded and pristine, but Rune sees through their perfection-and despises it. He knows the weight of power, the sting of control, and the thrill of fire.

When fate whispers, their paths begin to converge-but not yet. For now, they move separately through their worlds, observing, learning, resisting the inevitability they cannot name. One touches life, one wields death; one believes in mercy, one in control.

And yet, the air trembles with a promise: that light and shadow, when finally combined, might not simply coexist... but remake the world entirely.

The Hand & The Flame series in Book 1: "Mercy Wears a Mask" is a tale of obsession and desire, of power and choice, where love is both weapon and salvation, and destiny refuses to wait.