The Exile's Lifebound Bride

The blood cannon locks onto Helen Vale’s chest as her fiancé publicly brands her a traitor. Before the executioner fires, she throws his rebel blood-crystal deal into the court—and reaches for the hand of the kingdom’s most feared exiled warlord. Rafe Dain agrees to protect her only when she offers him a forbidden fortress map and a fake marriage blood pact. Bound to him inside a dying border fortress, Helen must hunt the rulers secretly fueling the war while every command she makes burns away her royal blood, memories, and remaining years. He was supposed to use her as a weapon, but the closer Rafe gets, the harder it becomes to tell whether he is guarding her life—or claiming it. To destroy the traitor who ruined her first life, will Helen sacrifice her freedom and the last years of her life to the warlord who may be planning to wield her against the entire kingdom?