SCARLETT I lived my life believing I was ordinary. Human. Unremarkable in a world that never looked twice at me. That lie shattered the moment Aleksandr Noctov saw me. Being near him feels like standing too close to a storm. Dangerous. Intoxicating. Inevitable. His presence pulls at something buried deep in my bones, something ancient that stirs when he's close. I don't understand the power humming under my skin or why his touch steadies a darkness that terrifies everyone else. They say my soul has lived before. That it was hidden on purpose. That I was never meant to be found until him. Loving Aleksandr means accepting a truth older than memory and bloodlines that cross kingdoms and gods. It means choosing him even when his shadows stretch far enough to swallow the world. And I choose him anyway. ALEKSANDR I was forged to rule monsters and feared because I am one. Centuries of control keep the darkness chained inside me. Rage. Hunger. Power the gods themselves would destroy if they sensed it. Then Scarlett awakens something I was never meant to feel. She calms the storm without trying. Her presence quiets the ancient soul inside me like it recognizes her as its equal. Its counterpart. The one thing capable of pulling me back when I stand on the edge of becoming everything they fear. I have buried empires for less than the threat of losing her. I would tear realms apart before I let anyone touch what fate bound to me. She is not fragile. She is not human in the way the world understands. She is legacy. Power. My undoing and my anchor. And if loving her means unleashing what I've kept locked away for centuries, then let the world tremble. Because I was never meant to survive without her. This is Book 1 in the House of Crimson Series. Reading Order: House of Thirst, House of Hunger.