In a world undone by a terrifying virus, a fierce female survivor and a cruel military captain fight the living, the dead, and their lethal desire in this genre-shattering dark dystopian romance.

I survived ten years after the Raven virus turned the dead into monsters. Then elite soldier Slade Reece put a bullet through my chest.

I was searching for my family, torn from me in a raid, when the ruthless ex–Delta Force captain found me. He should have left me to die. Instead, he dragged me to his military base, where a lethal, classified armed force guards civilization in the frozen North. Outsiders are forbidden. Execution is the penalty.

Our chance encounter ignited an obsession he can’t control. His solution? Marriage—the only way to keep me alive. The deal: my body for his protection, help finding my family for my vows.

I should hate him—I do—but hate turns to fire as he kills anyone who threatens me.

Falling for Slade is blurring everything I know about survival. But now his enemies have discovered my existence—and they’re hunting me. I must choose: the family I’ve lost, or the devil who’s claimed me.

© 2026 by Lexie Axelson. ℗ 2026 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.