Trust and loyalty may just have a price.

Tempa Blu has been a spy for the Larpa realm since she was nine, trained in weapons, deception, and unwavering loyalty. But loyalty has limits—her family comes first.

Tasked with uncovering the source of unrest in the southern city of Slorbor, she completes her mission and is ready to escape. There's just one problem. Her dragon, Boglaruru, is late. Again.

Enter Lew Donvan, a mercenary with charm as sharp as his blade and a dragon who actually follows orders. He claims he's only stopping for a break, but Tempa isn't fooled.

Their missions clash, their allegiances are at odds, and Lew's employer may be behind the very chaos she was sent to investigate. Worse, Lew's charm is proving harder to ignore than she'd like.

With war simmering between their realms and secrets from the past threatening to pull her father back into the conflict, Tempa can't afford distractions. Especially not from a man who lives in the gray space between enemy and ally.

She knows Lew won't kill for gold—but will he betray her for it?

As deception weaves them tighter together, Tempa must decide: protect her mission or protect her heart? Because the greatest danger might not be the war ahead, but the mercenary who refuses to let her go.

Read this new standalone installment of fantasy romance in the Solstice Dragon World because even when trust seems out of reach, opposites attract.