Blackthorn Castle has a rule: anyone who remains inside after nightfall will not live to see the seventh day.
Werewolves have overrun the wastelands, while vampires are trapped in their own bloodlines, unable to escape. Once you enter the castle, your life is tied to an invisible thread. When the thread snaps, so do you.
Her name is Elena. In a battle between the true and fake heiresses for the family inheritance, she is the one worth the least. On her wedding night, she is shoved into a bridal sedan to serve as a substitute bride, given the name of the white lotus, and sent to marry Ryder Kane, master of the castle. On paper, it is a marriage contract. In truth, it is a chain.
At first, Ryder treats her like she is nothing. He is cold, trusts the wrong people, frames her, and pushes her toward death.
He does not know that beneath this woman’s downcast eyes lies a mind that has woven an entire web of secrets, that she has the makings of a master of mental magic, and that the blood flowing through her veins belongs to the only surviving branch of a lineage that endured a century of sacrifices.
