The Unwanted

She was hired to capture the runaway Crown Princess back to the throne. No one warned her the man hunting the same prize was the one she swore she'd kill on sight. Qarissa is a common-born assassin for the hire—lethal, invisible, and always one failed job away from being erased. Her mission is simple: infiltrate the kingdom's infamous auction disguised as one of the women for sale, and extract the hidden princess before the highest bidder claims her. Then she sees him. Austrell. The lost prince who ignited the Great Throne War and vanished into legend. The man she once trusted with her life—before he gave her every reason to end it. When assassins turn the auction into a bloodbath, the two are forced into an uneasy alliance on a road crawling with enemies. One princess. Two dangerous claims. And a secret only Qarissa carries: the truth of who he really is. Delivering one girl should have been easy. She never planned on remembering why she once would have followed him anywhere. Slow-burn dark fantasy. Broken trust, buried crowns, and a power she has yet to awaken.