Chains of Betrayal: Secrets in the blood, chains upon the heart

di Lucian Reef (Autore)

Lucian Reef, 2025

The bond should have been broken. Instead, it deepened. Prince Ithriel once swore to kill the assassin who haunted his steps. Now Kaelis—that same assassin—is chained in the dungeons of Valyros. To the council, he is a prisoner, a blade finally silenced. To Ithriel, he is something far more dangerous: a living temptation, bound in iron yet alive in every heartbeat of their cursed bond. The city rots around them. The bell tower stays mute, refusing to mark the hours. Armies gather at the borders. Famine creeps through the market. Within the palace walls, the council plots treason with polished smiles. Every oath sworn to Ithriel tastes like ash. To wear the crown would mean to inherit not loyalty, but a nest of knives. And still, Kaelis lingers. Chains cannot erase his training, nor the obedience carved into his marrow by his father, Lord Varandel—the traitor whose betrayal scorched Ithriel's house. In captivity, Kaelis should have become broken. Instead, he becomes sharper. Secrets coil around him. Bloodline reveals itself as curse. The mark of the Old Warden—the hand with an eye—emerges once more, twisted into a banner of betrayal. Ithriel tells himself Kaelis is only a weapon. Kaelis tells himself Ithriel is only a prince. Yet in the silence between interrogations, in the gaze held too long across a cell door, in the clash of tempers that sparks like flint against stone, something older than hatred grows. Desire. Every touch is dangerous. Every hesitation before the blade is betrayal. But their bond—blood-forged, cursed, relentless—pulls them closer. Ithriel finds that his vengeance falters when faced with Kaelis's silence. Kaelis discovers that obedience is fragile when Ithriel's voice cuts deeper than any order. They should remain enemies. Instead, they become something the city cannot allow. Meanwhile, betrayal spreads. Allies vanish. Symbols return. The council whispers of replacing Ithriel with a prince more pliant. Varandel's shadow moves across the city, his influence rising in secret banners and hidden oaths. Kaelis is his son, his legacy, his chosen weapon. To stand with Ithriel means to betray his blood. To stand with his blood means to destroy the one bond he has ever chosen for himself. Chains of Betrayal is the second book of the Thorns of Destiny trilogy, where: Enemies become captor and captive. Captivity becomes intimacy. Intimacy becomes betrayal. And betrayal cuts deeper than any blade. This is not a gentle romance. It is a tale of chains that bind both body and heart, of vows broken and reforged, of a bond that survives every betrayal but cannot escape its price. If you crave dark MM romantasy with enemies-to-lovers tension, blood inheritance, and forbidden desire, step deeper into Valyros. The chains will hold you as tightly as they hold Ithriel and Kaelis—and like them, you may not wish to be free.

• Autore: Lucian Reef
• Anno edizione: 2025
• Editore: Lucian Reef
• Formato: EPUB2 con DRMFREE
• Lingua: Inglese
• Compatibilità: Tutti i dispositivi (eccetto Kindle)
• Layout: Reflowable
• EAN: 9798232722791