Things weren't great, but Mel was handling it. Dancing at the Scarlet Pole provided an income that just barely kept her financial head above water, she had her own place, and if her life wasn't exactly luxe, it was bearable. As long as she stayed the course, sooner or later she had to catch a break, right? Problem was, the only breaks the universe was coughing up were the ones she spent decompressing with her beloved coffee drinks in the club's back alley.

Elim had tirelessly chiseled at a forgotten seam between the realms, his only hope of escape a slender gossamer thread of unraveled magic. Determined and furious, he refused to spend the eve of his Uncle's coronation sitting meekly in a forgotten dungeon. Wedging himself between the crumbling mortar of enchantment and the mortal realm was beneath an Unseelie prince, but better a crownless head than a headless crown, as the saying went.

When the bitter taste of his freedom abruptly turns into a chance at something sweeter, the stakes of seduction between the exiled fae and his equally-stubborn quarry are higher—and hotter—than ever. Can Elim convince Mel that an accidental ancient ritual is the key to something better?