When a young woman seeks out a fabled king to grant her eternal life, she finds herself caught in a vampiric court teeming with sinister lies and wicked lust.

Iris Henning has lost everything. After the death of her beloved sister, there’s little left for her in the oppressive village where she grew up. Desperate and alone, she wanders into the forest with one goal in mind: find Anatole, the mythical Scarlet King from her childhood fairytales.

Legend says that joining Anatole’s court guarantees eternal life, luxury, and otherworldly magical powers. Iris is prepared to sacrifice her humanity for these incredible gifts, seeking out Sylvain, the king’s righthand man, and begging him to bring her to the castle. When she arrives, what she finds is a court that’s as cutthroat as it is enchanting. If she hopes to survive, she must climb into Anatole’s highest ranks by whatever means necessary.

Wrapped up in his ruthless seduction, Iris’s devotion to Anatole is a lust-fueled haze. But immortality was supposed to offer her so much more with the promise of education, travel, and independence. And as Sylvain holds nightly tutoring meetings with her—teaching her what it means to be not only human but a monster as well—she wonders if her new reality is indeed a trap in disguise.

Now, torn between her blood oath to the king and the comfort she’s found in the arms of her kindhearted teacher, Iris must decide what freedom really means to her—and just how much she’ll risk to secure it.

Tropes include: love triangle, forbidden romance, court politics, unexpected powers, and fairytales come to life.