All her life, Vaasa KozĂĄr has been sharpened into a blade.
After losing her motherâher only remaining parentâto 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 Reidâs 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 veinsâand help keep it at bay.
This proposal may be too good to refuse, yet Vaasa and Reidâs undeniable attraction threatens to break the rules of their arrangement. As her brotherâs 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 strengthâor the ultimate riskâin 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
âDismissing your emotions doesnât make them disappear, it only gives them reason to rise later without your consent.â
âThen fool him we will. Youâre not going anywhere, Vaasaâone witch is a problem, but a coven is a nightmare.â
âJust because this is all you have ever known, it does not mean it is all you will ever be.â
âI suspect you could stop my heart in any color.â
âThese knots are well done. Youâll have to teach me so we can switch places next time.â
âThen itâs one less thing weâll have to argue about. Marital spats are no fun, or so Iâve heard. Not that my wife has been around long enough for me to discover their level of joy.â
âI am the great-granddaughter of one of the most powerful Veragi witches known to this world, and she made her home in Mireh.â
âI wanted my wife to know everything she needs to in order to lead confidently at my side.â
âIt did not infect you. Veragi magic is generational, passed down from a mother to her eldest daughter. It only passes upon the witchâs death.â
âBeing 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, youâll settle for being a councilor and mind your own.â
âThis is my line, Vaasalisa. Do not threaten my country.â
âWould you like to stay? This shower is big enough for two, and it isnât a bed, so if weâre going by the aforementioned rule, it wouldnât technically be breaking our agreement if I took you in here.â
âThere are few things I fear, Wild One.â
"If I donât find her, I will burn all of Asterya to the ground.â
âYour 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 wasnât your brotherâs idea, or mine.â
âThen let me make you an empress. Tonight.â
âI 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.â
âThe choices of others are not a burden I carry any longer, and neither is their shame.â
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