Break Clause

Mara Voss cleans magical crime scenes for a living. She knows the difference between a contract collecting what it is owed and a murder dressed up as paperwork. When Nell Farrow is found dead in a cramped apartment, the official ruling is simple: dormant contract failure. Old debt. Delayed penalty. Nothing suspicious. Mara reads the room differently. The burn on Nell's wrist runs the wrong way. The residue is too fresh. The official classification was filed before the body was fully examined. Someone reached into a paid-off magical contract and weaponized the part that could still hurt its signer. Then more "settled" contracts start turning lethal. With her own old contract under quarantine and Contract Enforcement watching every move, Mara has to trace a network of stripped clauses, fake repairmen, shell companies, and buried records before more desperate people are turned into assets, evidence, or bodies. Because in this city, paying your debt does not mean you are free. And someone is weaponizing the fine print. Break Clause is a complete urban fantasy mystery with magical forensics, contract magic, sharp banter, slow-burn romantic tension, and a solved case. Approximate length: 65,000 words.