A Scent of Bitter Myrrh
By @john1208
I woke up clinging to the shattered chandelier of the Exarch’s bedroom, the gravity-wards failing as the apocalyptic Null-Tide storm finally broke. Below me slept Kivanc, the tyrant I was arranged to marry in my disguised, 'hideous' persona. I had ruthlessly used him to survive the freezing blackout, stealing his ambient heat and leaving before dawn. But in my haste, I dropped my blood-signed emancipation contract. Now, he is tearing the city of Yaldiz apart to find the mysterious woman who dared to bed him and run. By day, I play the part of his cursed, ash-scarred fiancée - the very woman he is aggressively trying to divorce so he can scour the underworld for his midnight thief. My survival depends on my quiet ruthlessness, staying one step ahead of his obsessive manhunt while living in his own estate. I thought I understood the rules of our deadly game: he wanted to execute the thief and divorce the ugly bride. But what happens when a drop of my bitter-myrrh perfume exposes my secret, and I realize the contract I left behind wasn't a death warrant, but a mating rite - and he has been hunting me to save my life?
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