In the kingdom of Umbra-Vael, the sun is a ghost and I am the hand that steals life. As a tithe-collector, I survived by siphoning essence from the weak to feed a crown that never had enough-until I was sent to the Forbidden Spire to bleed a monster. Prince Valerius is a creature of frost and shifting ink, a man consumed by the very shadows I was born to harvest. But the moment we touched, the world tilted. A Sanguine Pact snapped into place, tethering my soul to his in a psychic collision that neither of us can escape. Now, I am more than a collector; I am the Mason plugging the leaks in his breaking spirit. But High Priestess Moros has a darker design. She has stolen my brother, Jaxon, turning him into a living battery to fuel a perpetual dark. To save him, I must navigate a court of blood-drunk nobility and a revolution led by a ghost from my past. Through our bond, I've felt Valerius's three hundred years of isolation. I've seen the golden sun in his memories. He represents the system that oppressed me, but he is the only light I have left. The Shroud is tearing. The vacuum is opening. In the rain of shattered shadows, love is the only ending worth the price.