Sulfur & Steel, Book 1: Born of Ambition, Innocence, and Need

A completed slow-burn novel. The sequel already has a 80% advance.  Born a half-succubus, Jamil Al Maraj is a predator by nature and an assassin by trade. Comfortable in the shadow-drenched city at the center of the universe, she has little use for anyone but herself. But when a contract on a mage leaves her stranded in the bleak northern kingdoms, she is forced to rely on the one thing she despises: company. A cleric who keeps making increasingly bad romantic decisions; a dwarf who has never met a long-shot bet he didn’t take; an elven ranger who somehow became the only competent adult and is deeply tired of it; and a scholar who has read extensively about dangerous supernatural beings and is slowly realizing that “read about” and “prepared for” are two very different things. From the green meadows of an island kingdom to the scorching sands of ancient desert cities, they will battle pirates, slavers, corruption, and things that should never have existed—all while somehow surviving one another. If your favorite fantasy stories are driven as much by complicated people as dangerous worlds, if “monster as protagonist” sounds more interesting than “monster as obstacle,” or if you enjoy found-family stories that are earned rather than assumed, you may feel right at home in Sulfur & Steel. What you won’t get: • Overpowered protagonists• Instant teamwork• Or emotionally stable decision-making You will get: Consequences.Tension.And a group that might survive despite itself.  Posting also on Wattpad.