Born to an empire that never wanted her, Iris Malcaris has spent her life surviving. As the bastard daughter of King Galen, she was nothing more than a political pawn, bartered away to a cruel lord who seeks to break her in every way possible. But when a dangerous dragon-blooded king crashes into her world, Iris is stolen away from one monster and delivered to another. Jasper Ombreus, King of Pyrestone, is everything Iris was raised to fear. A Drak'Alor, a warrior born of dragon's blood and fire, and a ruler with no mercy for his enemies. When he offers her sanctuary, she doesn't believe him-powerful men don't take in women like her without a price. Yet, as war brews across the lands, and enemies circle closer, Iris discovers her greatest threat isn't the battlefield, but herself. Dark magic whispers through her veins. Shadows rise at her command. And when the war comes for her at last, Iris will either wield the darkness inside her...or be consumed by it. But there is one thing even she cannot escape. Fate. And hers is bound to a king of dragons and fire. For fans of romantasy, slow-burn tension, found family, and heroines who refuse to be tamed.