The Crown of Ash. The Devil's Gentlemen, #40

The Crown of Ash is a gothic dark fantasy and paranormal romance set deep beneath a collapsing infernal kingdom where power is not inherited-but consumed. When mortal archivist John is drawn into the underground Ash Kingdom alongside the enigmatic immortal Davide, he discovers a world ruled by ancient ruins, resurrecting dead, and a living crown that feeds on devotion, grief, and obsession. As infernal factions rise, betrayals unfold, and the Ash Crown awakens, Davide is forced into a transformation that blurs the line between protector and destroyer.
Bound together by attraction, fear, and an inexplicable emotional pull that seems older than their lifetimes, John and Davide navigate a collapsing realm where love itself becomes a dangerous force. But the crown does not merely seek a ruler-it seeks a bond. One that turns affection into possession and devotion into control. To survive, John must confront the terrifying possibility that his connection to Davide may not belong entirely to this life.
and Davide must face the truth that love cannot exist where ownership thrives. As the Ash Kingdom falls into chaos and infernal wars consume the underground world, John becomes the only anchor capable of pulling Davide back from total surrender to the crown's hunger. In the end, survival demands the impossible: the destruction of power itself. When the Ash Crown is finally shattered, the kingdom collapses into ash and memory.
What remains is not prophecy, not royalty, not fate-but two men standing in the quiet dawn, choosing each other without chains, crowns, or control. A story of ruin, devotion, and the terrifying beauty of love that refuses to become possession.