In this post, you can read the back cover blurb, trigger warnings, and general tropes to expect in Part I, Mellifluous. Beware of spoilers!
Part I, Mellifluous: Back Cover
As always, Reuben's music opened his innate, deeper senses to what else was in the room with him. In this case, a single presence, which just from the quick melody echoed back an aura of grief, wariness, hunger . . . and little else, save perhaps a bit of growing confusion. Nothing insidious. Nothing of particularly ill intent, unless Reuben counted the desire to drink his blood.
It was still uncanny. It was still a risk.
But freedom was always worth a fight, Reuben reminded himself as he opened his eyes.
Reuben—or, as he always introduces himself, 'Reubielocks' of the Starlet Eye Bordello—hopes for a client with only peculiar, not dangerous tastes, when his services as a prostitute are requested one evening for an absurd amount of money. But after he is led into a secluded hideaway to meet a pale, stiff, overly-polite individual named Everic Payne, and gets informed he's been hired to give not his body, but his blood to the man, Reuben's life only descends further and further into danger.
Gold is a powerful incentive for someone like Reuben, indentured for possibly the rest of his life—enough to continue offering his blood despite the danger and cost to his already-fragile health. But it doesn't quite explain, the more he gets to know the vampire, why he starts wanting to help with Everic's secretive business here in the shining, godly city-state called Sazzera, or learn more about his dubious past, or grow close enough to gain his trust . . . even if all Reuben can offer in return are pretty lies.
For what could be more dangerous, in this blessed city of light, than a dark and ugly truth?
Content Warnings
Adult/+18 content, Rape/non-con elements, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual slavery/indenturement, Descriptions of gore, Substance abuse, Financial abuse, Religious oppression, Past rape/non-con of a minor, Nonconsensual knifeplay, Dubious consent related to indenturement, Dubious consent related to substance use, Ending is not conclusive (this is part 1 of at least 6).
General Tropes
D&D/TTRPG-inspired, Setting: High fantasy, M/M romance, Background F/F romance, F/M and M/M sex scenes, Suspense, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Vampires, Relationship of convenience, Blood drinking, Mid-to-slow burn, Misunderstandings, Unreliable narrator, Chronic pain, Political intrigue, Hopeful ending.
Congratulations, you are now officially informed (as one can be)! Of course, there are plenty of mysteries and plot twists still in store . . .