The Luminous Binding

Two Mortal Enemies. One Ancient Curse. A War That Will Consume Them All. In the empire of Solarion, light is law, obedience is grace, and Carys Vale is its most lethal blade. Her magic burns with the fury of the sun itself, her faith in her commanders absolute. Across the cursed border in Umbrae, shadows whisper, deceit is survival, and Prince Silas Vantas wears his cruelty like armor, a necessary shield from his mother's venomous court. They are champions of opposing sides in a war fueled by a thousand years of hatred. Their orders are simple: capture or kill the other. When their fated duel ignites within sacred, forgotten ruins, it does not end in victory or death. It ends in a silent, cataclysmic flash of gray-gold light—and a Binding. A primal magic sears their flesh with identical marks and chains them together, body and soul. To separate is agony. To stay together is treason. Declared abominations by their own people, hunted by the very armies they once led, Carys and Silas are forced into a desperate alliance. Chained by a power they cannot break, they flee into the lethal wastelands. Every step is a battle—against the monsters that stalk the wilds, against the hunters on their trail, and against the volatile, terrifying attraction simmering between them. But the Binding is more than a curse. It is a key. Through shared dreams and unleashed power, they uncover a devastating truth: their war is a lie. Their ancestors' greatest weapon, the god-like Primordial Crown, is not lost. It is sleeping. And its awakening will devour both kingdoms in a storm of unmaking. Carys and Silas are not an accident of magic. They are a prophecy—the only lock that can seal the Crown away forever. To save the world, they must embrace the bond they despise, master a power that could shatter them, and defy every oath they've ever sworn. But as light and shadow finally unite, they will learn that some destinies are forged not in loyalty, but in defiance. FORGED IN NIGHT is the explosive first book in THE LUMINOUS BINDING series, perfect for fans of the enemies-to-lovers tension of Jennifer L. Armentrout's From Blood and Ash, the savage, beautiful magic of Carissa Broadbent's The Serpent and the Wings of Night, and the epic, world-altering stakes of John Gwynne's The Shadow of the Gods. Enter a world where hate and destiny collide, and the only thing more dangerous than the enemy at your throat is the ally bound to your soul. ---