Lyra Whitlock has spent her life behind black gloves. One touch of bare skin can make her magic reach into another person and draw out the power beneath their flesh, so the court calls her Nullborn, monster, or weapon depending on what it wants from her. Summoned for another humiliating review, Lyra expects restraints, measurements, and officials pretending fear is justice. She does not expect Elias Thorn, the legendary war sorcerer whose return makes even powerful nobles lower their voices. Elias has reasons to distrust the institutions that classify dangerous magic, and he refuses to treat Lyra as a problem that belongs to the crown. Their uneasy alliance leads toward forbidden ledgers, erased testimony, and evidence that the history of the Nullborn was shaped by people who benefited from keeping them afraid. Attraction grows in the one place Lyra has never allowed herself to hope: the space between danger and consent. Elias's power makes touching him uniquely risky, while his refusal to claim authority over her makes distance harder to maintain. As political pressure closes around them, Lyra must learn whether control means never reaching for anyone or choosing when, why, and how her power answers. The court wants to know what her touch can take. Elias wants to know what Lyra chooses to give. The difference could break an old system built on fear.
Lyra Whitlock has spent her life behind black gloves. One touch of bare skin can make her magic reach into another person and draw out the power beneath their flesh, so the court calls her Nullborn, monster, or weapon depending on what it wants from her. Summoned for another humiliating review, L...