Abattoir

In an empire built on stolen land, and stolen power, Althea Seren has spent her whole life just trying to survive.

Raised on the brutal coast of Sariel, where Aether is mined from the earth by the poor and hoarded by the elite, Althea knows exactly what the Empire is: cruel, parasitic, and hungry for more. When a twist of fate lands her in the capital under the roof of Atlas Sable-the Emperor's most feared executioner-she expects imprisonment at best and death at worst.

Atlas is everything Althea despises. A duke dripping in blood, bound to a corrupt throne and cursed by a magic that devours him from the inside out and his touch can leach the life from anything it meets.

Forced into a dangerous bargain, Althea and Atlas are pushed into an impossible lie. Althea is pulled deeper into noble society, ancient magic, and secrets buried. She discovers that Atlas's corruption is only one piece of a far older mystery, one tied to her own hidden power, and a history the Empire tried to erase.

Now, with rebellion stirring, court circling like vultures, and the Emperor tightening his grip, Althea must decide what is more dangerous: trusting the monster at her side... or not.

A lush, slow-burn fantasy full of political intrigue, deadly magic, forced proximity, and enemies-to-lovers tension, this is a story about love in unlikely places, survival, and the terrible cost of power.