A Life of Stone

Frozen in stone is torture beyond imagining. Returning to life is worse.

Demitria has been sleeping in stone for two and half thousand years. The centuries pass, barely noticed, until someone touches her with a spark of familiar warmth, and her blood quickens beneath her skin of marble. Her desire to live pulls her on, even as the trials of her past—and the fears of her future—push her to stay safe, cold, and solid.

Nikolaos is forced to set aside the revenge that has driven him into the life he now leads when he sees a familiar face at an auction. Not among the sea of wealthy bidders, but on an implausibly lifelike statue. He becomes its caretaker when his employer purchases it, both men hoping it will bring their dreams to life.

When the man who holds them in his unforgiving fist demands what he cannot have, chaos tears through the beautiful facade of the isolated world he rules. Will Demitria and Nikolaos overcome their ancient wounds, finally claiming their own destinies? Or will they lose everything to the hard fate the Gods—and other magic users—have dealt them…