​"Drink my blood, or watch your coven burn."​Vanya is a rogue blood-witch condemned to the execution block for practicing forbidden ancestral magic. But seconds before the blade falls, King Ignis—the ruthless, dominant dragon-shifter ruler of Obsidian Peak—snatches her from the gallows.​Ignis is secretly dying. A lethal core degradation known as Draconis Pyresis is consuming his dragon fire, driving him toward absolute madness and threatening his throne. The only force capable of cooling his inner flame is Vanya’s forbidden blood.​Bound together by the ancient, irreversible Ash-Tether, Vanya is dragged into a high-stakes court filled with dangerous political intrigue, forced proximity, and intense physical friction. Trapped beside a king she is supposed to hate, Vanya soon uncovers a deadly court secret: Ignis isn't naturally going mad—he is being systematically poisoned with wyrm-shade toxin by his own trusted advisor, Kaelen.​To survive the conspirators, save her imprisoned coven, and purge the poison destroying the king's dragon core, the defiant witch and the lethal Dragon King must form an unholy alliance. But in a court built on treason and dark magic, their explosive heat might destroy them both before the traitor's blade finishes the job.