A Ballad Of Shadows

In a realm that perfectly replicates the mundane streets, neon lights, and brick townhouses of modern Earth, a dark caste system rules from the shadows. At the top sit the pureblood vampire lords of Noxterra; at the bottom are the humans, lesser vampires, and the broken survivor of a forgotten realm.

Aries is an elf from the Mire, a realm completely slaughtered and chained. But she didn't just lose her homeland-the ancient enemy pumped a lethal, stagnant poison into her veins that permanently muted her immortal magic and stole her senses. Completely numb, unable to feel pain, warmth, or the spark of her own power, she survives as a thief outside the city limits. As part of an outcast crew called the Vipers, she executes high-stakes heists under the thumb of a brutal leader who would cut her fingers off if he knew she was tracking down elven relics on her own hidden agenda.
But her desperate search for a cure takes a volatile turn during a solo heist gone wrong. Fleeing into the gritty, rain-slicked lower districts of the city, she accidentally stumbles into the middle of a bloody street war led by Soren-the Rogue Prince of Noxterra. Inspired by the chaotic, cunning, and fiercely handsome nature of a true wildcard, Soren is a vampire who answers to no one, constantly breaking his own brother's royal laws to dispense his own brand of brutal justice.
When a rogue lesser vampire attacks her in the shadows, his fangs pierce her skin-only to find that her blood acts like pure acid. The ancient poison in her veins instantly drops the vampire dead, exposing her forbidden elven nature to the Prince.

Instead of executing her, Soren is intrigued by the lethal wildcard standing her ground against him. Forced into a dangerous alliance within a treacherous court of noble vampires, she must navigate her growing, intense attraction to the unpredictable Prince while secretly searching for the one thing she believed would cure her.