A Rogue's Ruin: Abante Press

In the ruins of Thrallkeld, love is a weakness-and a weapon.

When Wynnie, Alys's mother and Griff and Mal's childhood guardian, vanishes into the haunted city of Thrallkeld on an errand of revenge, her wife Vic feels the agonizing moment of her death. Still, she refuses to believe it until she sees it, and she sets out to bring Wynnie home. With her is Alys, possessed by something and unraveling; Griff, aching for a commitment he isn't sure his boyfriend will ever give; Mal, who wraps Griff in armor as he fears that Thrallkeld will once again cut out the very heart of him; and Liam, still nursing old wounds but determined to save the woman who's become like a mother to him, too. Each hurried step south leaves them all wondering whether this will be a rescue mission, or simply a recovery.

Thrallkeld is no ordinary ruin, and it's more than the place where a young Mal once met his match in a ruthless crime lord. It belongs to the Shadow Queen, a powerful entity who feeds on death and misery. And there's plenty of that in the air as the party splinters, with Griff and Mal seeking the help of a witch in a nearby swamp while the others scour the city itself for Wynnie. Amid the crumbling stones and waterlogged tunnels, the ghosts are the least of their problems as they're plagued by old flames, new desires, and enemies with ledgers of debts longer than Mal's list of misdeeds.

Yet romance blooms in the unlikeliest places-between spells and scars, on stage for all to see, and in the quiet moments before everything falls apart. But some hearts are already spoken for. And some may never return. Because in Thrallkeld, the ghosts aren't the only ones with unfinished business.