A Pyradistè Adventure

To most, Princess Katya Nar Umbriel is a rogue and a layabout; she parties, she hunts and she breaks women's hearts. But when the festival lights go down and the palace slumbers, Katya chases traitors to the crown and protects the kingdom's greatest secret: the royal Umbriels are part Fiend. When Katya thwarts an attempt to expose the king's monstrous side, she uncovers a plot to let the Fiends out to play.

Starbride has no interest in being a courtier. Ignoring her mother's order to snare an influential spouse, she comes to court only to study law. But a flirtatious rake of a princess proves hard to resist, and Starbride is pulled into a world of secrets that leaves little room for honesty or love, a world neither woman may survive.

Princess Katya Nar Umbriel's uncle Roland rose from the grave, kidnapped her cousin, and stripped her of her greatest weaponher Fiendish power. Without her Fiend, Katya doubts her ability to weather the storm her uncle is brewing. When she lacks what even the children in her family possess, can she even call herself an Umbriel?

In only a short time, Starbride has become the princess consort, a pyradisté, and a member of a secret order in charge of protecting the crown. Even steeped in responsibility, she's still an outsider. While wading through court intrigue and resisting schemes to break her bond with Katya, Starbride must prepare for a covert war. Roland is waiting, watching, ready for any chink in their armor, and he doesn't care who knows their secrets.

Princess Katya Nar Umbriel has little left to lose. Her uncle Roland took her home, scattered her family, and forced her to abandon Starbride, her dearest love. Slim hopes and righteous anger carry Katya into Starbride's homeland to raise an army and take back all that was stolen from her.

Starbride never dreamed she'd lead a pack of foreign rebels against a Fiendish usurper. She holds the capital city out of love, denying any rumor of Katya's death. As the two strive toward each other, Roland dogs their every step, loosing Fiend-filled corpses on Katya's army and hypnotizing the capital's citizens into hunting Starbride down. If they ever meet again, it'll be over his dead body.

Within the walls of her palace, Princess Katya's best friend lies at her feet, close to death. Her pyradisté is overwhelmed by some mysterious power, and her former lady-in-waiting has stabbed her in the back. Wounded and nearly alone, Katya must find a way to sabotage the magic of her Fiendish uncle Roland, or those who fight for the capitol will be overwhelmed by hypnotized guards and Fiend-filled corpses.

Starbride's pain is nearly overwhelming. The agony inside her only lessens when she satisfies a strange new desire to hurt those around her. She may hold the key to banishing Fiendish power from Farraday, but only by using it herself. Together, Katya and Starbride must make a final desperate push to take back the kingdom, but even if they survive, can the strength of their love keep them from madness? After all, fighting evil with evil has its consequences.

Lady Sylph’s only concerns should inheriting her title, marrying well, producing an heir, and lording it all over the peasantry. It’s what her father insists upon, and she never knew she needed anything or anyone else until her magic comes, an ability her class is not supposed to possess.

Thana never coveted the title of monarch’s pyradisté because her knowledge exceeds her ability. She hopes the royals will never depend on her, but then the palace’s pyramids go haywire. On top of that, a beautiful, spoiled noblewoman needs her help to conceal a new power.

Could Sylph’s ability and Thana’s magical mystery be related to a new kind of crystal being smuggled into the kingdom or a possible pyradisté coup? They’ll have to work together and overcome their biases, admit their feelings, and maybe surrender to their fierce desire before time runs out.