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Layala Lightbringer’s worst fears came true when she woke the wicked Black Mage, Hel. He claims she is a goddess reborn… and his wife. For her, the Elf King Thane is the love she desires, the one she fought for, and the one she wishes to marry. She wants nothing to do with her past. Until their lives are threatened and her relationship with Thane depends on remembering who she was in her previous existence as Valeen. But she can’t do it on her own.

Heartbroken and betrayed, I fled the faerie court only to be dragged back by my captor, a dark Fae Prince. I should have never made a deal with Ruskin. He's used me before. Now, he needs me again. The Queen has been doomed to eternal sleep. And I alone can break the spell. Once she wakes, my work should be done. I can leave and force myself to forget the handsome prince and his brutal yet beautiful court. Queen Evanthe's return was meant to heal the land, but she's too weak.

My life was perfect. I had an amazing fiancé, a business I love, parties and balls every week, everything was wonderful…until that night. The night where everything changed. My world is crashing down around me. Everything I knew is a lie and the men, the men in the masks, tell me that as they steal me away into the night. I wake chained, scared, and alone with four criminals. Criminals who tell me I'm theirs now, theirs to steal, theirs to kill. But there is something they don’t know about me, my past shrouded in darkness.

I punish lies and deceit, an eternal damnation of agony and pain. Yet, when it is my wife whose deception plagues me, I know what I must do. Shackle her soul to the lying, cold corpse that she is, ensuring that she never escapes me. My wrath, my torture, my pain, and my pleasure. I am the King of Flesh and Bone. Every part of her I possess and own. She is mine, death shall never do us part. Welcome home, my queen.

Isolation, darkness, and rotting flesh surround me, suffocate me, but I am the vile ruler who controls it all. I long for warmth, yet all that I touch is cold. Then, she stumbles in to my domain, lost and frightened, alone and confused. And I terrify her even more. She calls me the devil, so I show her pleasure, like only the devil can. I am the heat that stirs her flesh, the longing that trembles her bone. She begs her body to refuse, to escape my embrace, but I am her master, the puppeteer of passion. I am the King of Flesh and Bone. Welcome to my court, little one.

Who am I? I've forgotten the answer to that question long ago. Ever since I ran from that house, so desperate to escape, I left with only the clothes on my back and socks on my feet. After that day, I've only ever walked in stolen shoes.

In a world darkened by deceit, the truth is a light that won’t be dimmed—even when it illuminates Lorian’s betrayals more starkly than I could ever want to see. They call him the Bloodthirsty Prince. His reign of terror has left a trail of blood across this continent, a trail that intertwines with my own past—not even my parents were spared from his merciless slaughter. To save my brother’s life, I agreed to another bargain with the fae prince. Now, I’m forced to work with him, to travel to the fae lands, to spend my every waking moment with the man who betrayed me.

Surrounded by enemies, I've never been further from my crown… Or closer to death. Amidst a betrayal we couldn't have anticipated, I'll do whatever it takes to find my way back to Lorian—before his fury lays waste to this continent. Alliances are being forged and broken, our enemies are unifying, and Regner’s spiders are closer than ever before. We have only one chance to prevent him from attaining god-like powers and enslaving every human, fae, and hybrid across the four kingdoms.

Six years ago, I awoke in a cage with no knowledge of who I was or where I’d come from. Six years ago, I was spared the flesh markets and instead thrown in with a group of savages, where I learned it was fight or die. Now, eight Orders of Assassins are converging on the only home I’ve ever known. All in hopes of purchasing new blade slaves for their ranks. I’m for sale, yet all I want is a life far from death and ownership. Then I meet them, the Order of Scorpions. Their allure is a threat to the freedom I crave, but I won’t fall victim to their sting, no matter how tempting it might be.

Shadows so Cruel is a full-length dark fantasy romance novel, and book two in the Court of Ravens duet. The two-part story features two morally gray raven shifters, a young woman at the mercy of their shadows, and a HEA.