Ashes of the False Saint

Julian Knox has Mara Vale pinned against the basement wall, his gun pressed to her temple while her blade rests against his throat. The heir declared dead has finally returned for revenge—but Celeste Rook’s footsteps are closing in, and the fake saint is about to expose them both. Mara and the enemy’s son are forced to flee together through a collapsing underground vault, where Julian takes a deadly blow meant for her. The only escape requires Vale blood and Julian’s heartbeat, turning every touch into a desperate battle between hatred, distrust, and the attraction neither can control. Behind the sealed door, Julian discovers the bones of his murdered family—and Mara realizes the conspiracy that destroyed her mother may have begun with his bloodline. Then her mother’s final message cuts off after, “If Julian is still alive…”—just as Julian’s heart flatlines, leaving Mara with one choice: save the man she came to destroy, or die trapped beside him.