DELUXE EDITION--featuring gorgeous sprayed edges, a foil case stamp, beautiful endpapers, a detailed map, and deliciously moody art throughout. From New York Times bestselling author RuNyx comes the highly anticipated prequel to Gothikana: Arkana--a tale of lush, suspenseful, dark gothic romance. A rumored sorceress. A ruthless lord of science. A cursed castle. What could go wrong?A desperate woman, Lenore Emmeranne comes to the University of Verenmore--an elite institution of scientific learning perched high in the mountains--summoned by a mysterious offer of employment. With a gift for healing she can barely explain and a string of misfortune and accusations behind her, she hopes the mountain will give her a clean slate. She plans to keep her head down and vanish into the stacks. But upon her arrival, she discovers it is not only the afflicted who are in need--it is Verenmore itself. Lord Draven Constantine, dean of the university, is a man of science and ruthless discipline, revered by his students. He wants no one like Lenore disturbing his ordered world, and the secrets he guards must stay buried. But her presence shatters his ennui and sparks a dangerous fascination--and their descent into doom begins. Set in 1872 in a mountain-locked castle where bodies and reputations disappear into the stone, an unholy bargain haunts its halls and slithers down the spine of the mountain as Lenore and Draven navigate lies, surrender to forbidden desire, and cling to life--and to each other. Some desires can end in ruin.
