Taste of the Thief

Emperor Kassian is not a man; he is a nightmare fueled by fire. Cursed by the "Eternal Ember," his blood boils with a scorching heat that drives him to madness. To keep his sanity, he slaughters. To cool his burning veins, he destroys. For years, the Red Tyrant hasn't slept a single night, his mind teetering on the edge of total collapse. Vera is a street-smart thief who knows only one rule: steal to survive. When she breaks into the Imperial Palace, she expects to leave with a bag full of gold. Instead, she stumbles into the Emperor’s forbidden chamber and finds herself face-to-face with the monster himself. But just as death seems inevitable, a single drop of Vera’s blood falls, and the impossible happens. The scent of her blood doesn't drive him to kill; it calms him. Her touch doesn't burn; it freezes. Due to a mysterious artifact she swallowed as a child, Vera is the only living antidote to Kassian’s curse. For the first time, the Tyrant sleeps—but only if she is in his arms. Now, Vera is no longer a thief but a prisoner in the Emperor’s bed. She is his medicine, his obsession, and his only lifeline. Trapped in a palace full of enemies who want her dead and a monster who craves her very essence, Vera must find a way to escape. But as Kassian’s hunger turns from blood to desire, she realizes that the safest place in the kingdom might be the most dangerous place of all: the Tyrant's embrace.