Wither and Bloom

A cheerful necromancer. A grumpy holy warrior. And a magical plant shop about to become a war zone. Elara Vance has a secret. She isn't just the best florist in the lower district; she is a highly illegal practitioner of the dark arts. She brings dead flowers back to life using graveyard dirt and sheer stubbornness. It pays the rent, and it keeps her safe from the High Temple's Inquisition. Then Paladin Kaelen moves in next door. Kaelen is a towering, heavily armored weapon of the Radiant Dawn, sworn to purge the world of dark magic. Unfortunately for Elara, his blinding holy aura accidentally vaporizes her prized inventory every time he walks past her shop. Their furious bickering results in a fragile, highly volatile truce: he keeps his light to himself, and she keeps her zombies in the soil. But when a terrifying, ash-gray blight begins consuming the city's flora, their petty squabble becomes a fight for survival. The deadly rot is eating the region's magic, and neither Kaelen's holy fire nor Elara's shadows can stop it alone. To save their home, they must do the impossible. They must combine their clashing magics into a single, terrifying weapon. It requires absolute trust, total vulnerability, and a fake-dating scheme that threatens to ruin Kaelen's pristine reputation. If they fail, the city turns to dust. If they succeed, the High Priest will burn them both. And if they aren't careful, they might just accidentally fall in love.