The Hollow Cure Contract

The forbidden surgeon pressed a blood-soaked blade to the noblewoman’s throat—only to discover that crystal veins were already spreading beneath her skin. She offered him one thing he couldn’t refuse: access to the sealed ruins, in exchange for keeping her alive. Their blood-contract bound Kael’s life to Lyra’s, forcing a ruthless exile and a proud fallen heir to depend on each other through a city crawling with flesh-warping monsters. He treats her body with forbidden medicine while she hides the truth about her cursed bloodline—and every touch blurs the line between survival, control, and betrayal. But the Church Inquisitor Aldrus is hunting them, determined to seize the cure and rule the dying city. When the living altar splits open wearing Kael’s dead master’s mark and whispers his name, will he save Lyra—or sacrifice her to uncover the cure buried in a dead man’s memories?