Veyra is dying by inches. Every hour the siege tightens, and every hour necromancer-midwife Maren Aster trades her own warmth to keep another heartbeat going. When the council drags General Kael Rhyx, a dragon-born weapon with heat in his veins, into her ward and binds them with an oath that punishes distance, she gains the one thing she swore to avoid—power on a scale that can save or ruin a city.

Beneath Veyra sleeps a bone-wyrm, a guardian that will rise only for a life-keeper and a flame-kin in true accord. To call it, Maren and Kael must gather the city's dead by name, survive a political bid to sell the wyrm for surrender, and learn to wield their tether without breaking each other. As the river turns to ash and the walls begin to sing with strain, found family rallies around a miracle on wheels and a vow with a safeword.

Love, consent, and the courage to share the cost may be the only magic strong enough to raise a guardian—and keep Veyra alive.

★★★★★