Bellkeeper and the Devouring Saint, The

In a sanctuary built on suffering, the only thing more dangerous than the monsters in the dark is the man who learns to love one. For twenty-four years, Josiah Lincoln has existed as a ghost. High above the polished marble and righteous cruelty of Greythorne Cathedral, he lives in the freezing belfry, ringing the massive mourning bells to soothe the nightmares bound in the crypts below. He is invisible, abused, and absolutely convinced of his own worthlessness. In a church that strictly regulates human-monster bonds to siphon their chaotic magic, Josiah simply wants to survive unnoticed. But when a collapsed floor reveals a forgotten subterranean chamber, Josiah is drawn to a crushing, suffocating loneliness that perfectly mirrors his own. There, chained and starved in the dark for centuries, lies Eli Dalton—the Devouring Saint. He is a massive, terrifying creature of ash and bone who doesn't hunger for flesh, but for the bitter ache of human isolation. In a moment of desperate empathy, Josiah breaks the highest law of the Church of Quietus. He touches the unsanctioned beast. What follows is a blinding, soul-shattering fusion of ancient magic and raw devotion. Eli absorbs Josiah's lifelong sorrow, replacing it with a fierce, possessive warmth and a feral promise of protection. The Bellkeeper and the Devouring Saint is the breathtaking, gothic first installment of The Cathedral of Unquiet Beasts. As High Priestess Hecate Hawthorne's inquisitors sense the forbidden warmth radiating from beneath their feet, Josiah and Eli must navigate a deadly game of deception. If their beautiful, defiant heresy is discovered, the Church will burn them both to ash. But for a bellkeeper who has finally been seen, and a saint who has finally been fed, no price is too high for keeping each other.