All her life, Vaasa Kozár has been sharpened into a blade.
After losing her mother—her only remaining parent—to a mysterious dark magic that has since awakened within her, Vaasa is certain death looms. So is her merciless brother, who aims to eliminate Vaasa as a threat to his crown. In one last political scheme, he marries her off to Reid of Mireh, a ruthless foreign ruler, in hopes that he can use her death as a rallying cry to finally invade Reid’s nation. All Vaasa has to do is die.
But she is desperate to live. Vaasa enters her new marriage with every intent to escape it, wielding the hard-won political prowess and combat abilities her late father instilled in her. But to her surprise, Reid offers her a deal: help him win the votes to rise in power, and she can walk free. In exchange, she will share his knowledge about the dark magic running through her veins—and help keep it at bay.
This proposal may be too good to refuse, yet Vaasa and Reid’s undeniable attraction threatens to break the rules of their arrangement. As her brother’s lethal machinations take form, everything is at stake: Vaasa must learn to trust her new husband, but how can she especially when their perfect political marriage begins to feel like the real thing? In The Serpent and the Wolf, Vaasa and Reid must confront deadly betrayals, unravel the enigma of her dark magic, and decide whether their growing bond is their greatest strength—or the ultimate risk—in a world where love and power are the most dangerous games of all.
Why You Should Read This Book
Tropes
Trigger Warnings
The Serpent and the Wolf
“I know you speak four languages, and that men threw themselves at your father to get you in their homes and their beds. Never once did he concede. Which means you were useful, and that he honed you no differently than a blade.
“These knots are well done. You’ll have to teach me so we can switch places next time.”
“To conquer you would surely leave me dead, Wild One. But you have gravely bruised my ego.”
“Your mother made this arrangement, Vaasalisa, not your brother. She spoke directly with my own mother. While I made the formal request of our councilors, it wasn’t your brother’s idea, or mine.”
“The black mist leaking on the tips of your fingers originates from my home of Mireh. It is Veragi magic, and I know a master of it.”
“I propose the following: You act as my wife for a time, and I will help you discover all you wish to know about Veragi magic.”
“No man walks out of the position the same as he walked into it. To be the leader of anything can be a corrupting job.”
“Being the ruler of anything is a corrupting job, and no man walks out of it the same as when he walked into it. If you value anything about yourself, which I gather you do, given the seeming resilience of your ego, you’ll settle for being a councilor and mind your own.”
“Then it’s one less thing we’ll have to argue about. Marital spats are no fun, or so I’ve heard. Not that my wife has been around long enough for me to discover their level of joy.”
“I wanted my wife to know everything she needs to in order to lead confidently at my side.”
“Remind me who I am. Where I am. Because I think you are the only one who really knows.”
“Pretend you love me, Wild One. And make it convincing.”
“I am the great-granddaughter of one of the most powerful Veragi witches known to this world, and she made her home in Mireh.”
“I have waited a lifetime to watch it. To see each speck of fear dance in your eyes as you come to terms with your greatest nightmare, for you have found every way to witness mine.”
“The choices of others are not a burden I carry any longer, and neither is their shame.”
“I suspect you could stop my heart in any color.”
“Pick one you love. For if you don’t love it, it will mean nothing to you, and it must mean something to you.”
“This has nothing to do with how much I’d like to have you in my bed, though I do hope you’ll find interest in that, too, Wild One.”
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