Hope is what gets you killed on Tajss.
In the city, we survived by learning that lesson early. No epis. No strength. No second chances. We became smaller… quieter… harder to notice. And we lived.
Until the outsiders arrived bringing power we never had. Now everything is breaking. My people can’t handle epis. Not like they do. It burns too fast. Hits too hard.
And if we don’t find a way to control it soon, it won’t save us. It will finish what the desert started.
The only answer lies in a fresh zmelja trail—where epis grows in the wake of a creature that devours anything too slow to escape it. No team. Too dangerous. Just me. And him.
A cavern-born Zmaj who tracks the worms like he was made for it. Silent. Controlled. Watching me like he’s already decided something I haven’t. Out here, survival means trusting him.
But the closer we follow the trail, the more I realize something is wrong. The zmelja aren’t moving like it should. The desert isn’t behaving like it used to.
And the way he looks at me—like I belong to him—might be the most dangerous thing of all. Because even if we survive the desert. I’m not sure he’ll ever let me go.
A steamy alien romance featuring a protective warrior, forced proximity, and a hard-won happily ever after.
