The Cipher of Shadowed Vows

I am Saia Vodya, a Shield of the Umbral Aegis, and my life's purpose is to stand between my clients and the grave. But my latest assignment is different. I am bound to Kaelan Dremour, the arrogant heir to a shipping empire, not by a simple contract, but by a spectral Vow sworn at his farcical engagement party. Now, I am his literal shadow, tethered to him until the threat against his life is eliminated. Kaelan sees me as a nuisance, a blunt instrument in his gilded cage, and I see him as a reckless fool dancing with death. The Dremour manor is a maze of chilling secrets and whispering ghosts, and the assassins targeting him are not entirely human. As we are forced to rely on one another, I glimpse a vulnerability beneath his pride, a kindness he hides from the world. But our bond has a price, a hidden clause in our spectral contract that my mentor never mentioned. What happens when the Vow that forces us together is also counting down to our mutual destruction?