A Tempest of Shadows

I was born with a curse that spun a violent storm around me, seizing every beautiful and fragile thing that flittered into my life, tearing it all from my grasp as effortlessly as the wings of a butterfly are torn from its body. Or so I thought, anyway. It all changed when they came for me, when they dragged me to trial for my crimes. I should have faced execution, but fate is a fickle and funny thing, taunting me with the knowledge that I was always destined to be so much more.

I had been torn apart and remade, a marionette to dance over the coals of this world, stitched together by my tormentors. The great masters thought they could break me down and own me. They were wrong. I had won my freedom, my place in this world, my golden-eyed protector by my side. Until it happened again; the grim call of fate looking out at me through eyes of darkness, the great masters waiting with the power I needed, curses and promises in their hands. It was time to make another deal. It was time to play their game in earnest.

What began as a war of force had turned to one of secrets and strategies. An army was amassing in the shadows, hidden from our eyes, slipping into our ranks until there was nowhere safe to turn, and nobody left to trust. To win the war, I would be forced to forget the man I trusted, and to bind myself to the men I hated. Forever. Since the first day, the great masters have fought for control over me, fought to claim me in marriage and seize my power for themselves. Every step of the way, they’ve asked me to choose.

To prove the purity of my soul, I sacrificed everything. I lost my magic, my best friend, and tied myself to the five kings of the afterworld in unholy matrimony. Now, every day is torture at their hands. I am their final hope, a perfect weapon to wield in the ultimate war still looming ahead of us. They will push me as far as it takes, no matter what.

This epic, apocalyptic fantasy is dark, lush and gritty. The heroin has multiple, slow-burn love interests, who all begin as true enemies, so you don't have to choose your favourite anti-hero.