Mage and His Brute

He thought he had to choose between duty and desire. But what if he could have both? In an alternate Victorian London where magic reigns supreme, Duke Evander Ravenwood hides a dangerous secret-he is an Archmage of unparalleled power. When a brutal murder throws him into the path of Viggo Stonewall, the notorious leader of the underground information guild Nightshade, Evander's carefully constructed world begins to unravel. Forced into an unlikely alliance, Evander and Viggo find themselves drawn into a web of conspiracy that threatens the very fabric of their society. With tensions rising between the magical elite and the oppressed thralls, they must navigate a treacherous landscape of politics, prejudice, and forbidden desire to find a common enemy. But in a world where magic divides the haves from the have-nots, their growing attraction could be their greatest weakness-or their most powerful weapon. Can Evander and Viggo's burgeoning relationship withstand the storms to come? Or will the shadows of the past and the dangers of the present tear them apart? Contains mature themes.

In a Victorian London where magical privilege divides society, Duke Evander Ravenwood and Viggo Stonewall have forged more than just an alliance-they've fallen in love. But their happiness is short-lived when a new threat emerges. A renowned professor from the Royal Institute for the Arcane has vanished, leaving behind whispers of forbidden magic and mysterious experiments. As Evander begins to investigate, complications arise with the arrival of his enigmatic former lover. An expert called in to help, Leon Beaulieu brings old emotions and new secrets to light. Meanwhile, troubling rumors reach the Nightshade network: thralls linked to noble families are disappearing across London. Determined to track down the perpetrator, Viggo and his friends are drawn into a perilous hunt for an elusive adversary working from the shadows. Realizing their cases are intertwined, Evander and Viggo join forces to unravel the mysteries behind the professor's disappearance and the missing thralls. But their search soon plunges them into a web of conspiracies rooted in decades-old betrayals-where nothing, and no one, is quite as it seems. As allies become adversaries and the true mastermind closes in, Evander and Viggo will need their wits-and their trust in each other-if they're to survive the darkness gathering around them. Contains mature themes.