Step through the wrong door, and the dark will ask your name. Princess Alyssa thought the fae were only bedtime monsters-until Nightmere, the Unseelie court, drags her into a palace that feeds on vows, secrets, and the sweetest sound of all: surrender. To save her brother Rowan, Alyssa is forced into a bargain with Malachai, an Unseelie king bound by ancient debts and a leash of living red cord. In Nightmere, every word is a doorway.
Every promise becomes a chain. And the Root Room-a pool of hungry water beneath the palace-demands a price paid in blood, truth, and names. As Alyssa learns to weaponize silence and refuse a realm built on bargains, the line between enemy and ally blurs. Malachai is danger wrapped in a crown, but he is also the only one who understands how to survive a court that devours mercy. Together they attempt the impossible: steal Rowan back from the roots and tear free of Nightmere's grip-before the palace takes its interest and turns love into its next meal.
Because the cruelest bargains aren't the ones you sign. They're the ones you survive.
Step through the wrong door, and the dark will ask your name. Princess Alyssa thought the fae were only bedtime monsters-until Nightmere, the Unseelie court, drags her into a palace that feeds on vows, secrets, and the sweetest sound of all: surrender. To save her brother Rowan, Alyssa is forced into a bargain with Malachai, an Unseelie king bound by ancient debts and a leash of living red cord. In Nightmere, every word is a doorway.
Every promise becomes a chain. And the Root Room-a pool of hungry water beneath the palace-demands a price paid in blood, truth, and names. As Alyssa learns to weaponize silence and refuse a realm built on bargains, the line between enemy and ally blurs. Malachai is danger wrapped in a crown, but he is also the only one who understands how to survive a court that devours mercy. Together they attempt the impossible: steal Rowan back from the roots and tear free of Nightmere's grip-before the palace takes its interest and turns love into its next meal.
Because the cruelest bargains aren't the ones you sign. They're the ones you survive.