Shadowandsilk Stories

In the city of Veridian, beauty and decay walk hand in hand. Beneath its cathedrals of glass and smoke, the wealthy gather each year for the Grand Masquerade Ball-a night of music, masks, and whispered sins. But this year, the celebration turns to horror when a nobleman is found dead beneath the rose window, a red rose through his throat and a gold mask upon his face. Disgraced detective Calder Reeve and his sister Isla, a rising star in Veridian's police ranks, are drawn into the investigation. The deeper they dig, the more the murders seem less like crimes and more like ceremonies. Each victim is marked with strange symbols tied to a secret society thought long dead-The Veiled Choir, whose rituals once promised eternal life through sacrifice. As the Reeves race to stop the killings, they uncover threads connecting the victims to the cathedral's past-and to their own family. Every new death follows a verse from a centuries-old prophecy, foretelling the return of a figure known only as The Silent Saint. But when the evidence begins to point toward Isla herself, the case fractures the bond between brother and sister. In a city where everyone hides behind a mask, the most devastating truth waits closest to home. The murderer's identity shatters everything Calder believes-and forces him to choose between justice, blood, and survival. When the last rose falls, Veridian will never be the same.