A Liar's Twisted Tongue (The Fated Blood Trilogy, #1)

Her power will kill her... if he doesn't first.

Desdemona has spent her entire life praying her magic would never awaken. In the slums of the universe, she’s watched every Fire Folk burn from the inside out—victims of a power that always turns lethal. But when her own magic begins to surface, she’s taken to Visnatus, the most prestigious magical academy in existence. There, survival depends on one thing: mastering the very power that could destroy her.

Lucian Aibek is a prince born at the top of a hierarchy built on people like Desdemona. Her kind grows the food, raises the cities, and forges the crowns his family wears. So when he offers to train her, she accepts—because power is the only way she’ll ever be free.

But behind the palace walls, Lucian is no less trapped. His parents were murdered by the mysterious Arcanes, and he was raised by the cruel relatives who sit on the throne. Vengeance is the only thing keeping him standing—and Desdemona’s magic may be the key to getting it.

Forced into an uneasy alliance, they circle each other as much as they rely on one another. But their final resort is each other’s death—and when the time comes, they will have to be strong enough to see it through.