When the Blackout Binds Us

Mara Venn races home after a dying caller gives her his location—her own address. On her doorstep, she finds a bleeding stranger who whispers the childhood nickname only her supposedly dead sister ever used. Before Mara can demand the truth, he burns a black shard into her palm. The city goes dark, sealed doors begin opening across the streets, and the Registry’s most dangerous fugitive claims Mara’s blood is the key to everything they buried. With assassins closing in, they’re forced into a seven-day life bond: she must keep him alive, even as his guarded touch awakens a terrifying pull—and he may be the man who killed her sister. Protect the fugitive and uncover the truth, or hand him over and lose the only chance to learn whether her sister is truly dead?