He is Valerius the Crownless Prince, a monster of ancient legend trapped in the dark. She is Lyra, the last remaining light of a fallen witch coven. To save her innocent brother, Lyra is forced into a sacrificial ritual that rips Valerius from the underworld, binding their souls together. Now, her heartbeat is his life-force, and her blood is his anchor. If her heart stops, he returns to the void. To secure his throne, Valerius drags Lyra into his freezing northern citadel, a treacherous world of hostile vampire houses and political assassins who want her dead just to watch him fall. But as the forced proximity of the blood-bond grows, the line between slavery and desire begins to blur. Trapped between a relentless tyrant, an ambitious regent, and a deadly shadow faction, Lyra must survive the court, and her own changing heart. Because if she tries to break the chains that bind them... she won't survive the crash.