KAEL DUSKBORNE

You came to the auction for an artifact. But left with something far more dangerous. When you follow a stolen relic into the heart of an underground black market, you expect trouble. You don’t expect him — a silent, cold-eyed stranger who knows your name, knows you brother’s location, and pulls you out of the room before you can ask either question out loud. Kael Duskborne is not a good man. He will tell you that himself, plainly, without apology. He exists at the edge of a world most people aren’t supposed to know about — a shadow court older than memory, a curse carved into his skin, and secrets he has spent centuries keeping perfectly contained. You are the one thing he cannot seem to contain. Bound by an ancient tether neither of them asked for,you find yourself locked inside his fortress, chasing answers he refuses to give, and slowly, dangerously — learning the difference between a man who is cold and a man who has simply forgotten what warmth felt like. He knows everything about her. You know almost nothing about him. And the shadow court wants her gone before that balance shifts. Cold Hands, Dark Deals is a slow burn dark fantasy romance about a cursed man running out of reasons to keep his distance, and the woman stubborn enough to stop giving him new ones. Expect stolen glances across dark rooms, confessions dragged out like splinters, and a love story that earns every single moment. For fans of: enemies-to-lovers tension, morally grey love interests, ancient curses with emotional price tags, and heroes who show love through action because words have never come easy. He never asked to be saved. You never planned to try. Neither of them planned on much, as it turns out.

Updated September 23, 2026