A Basket of Devils

Bound by blood and driven by desire, Arson's fate teeters on the edge. Orphaned at birth and cast adrift on the unforgiving sea, Arson and his three brothers are discovered by Haus LinGor, a bitter old man who seeks to amass wealth and power for his family. He adopts the four "devils" despite their strange, pointed ears and raises them as lethal assassins that slaughter any who oppose him. Forged in the crucible of Haus's ambition, the quadruplets know nothing of their own origins and little of life beyond their grisly duties. When a chance remark reveals that Arson and his brothers are actually elves, Haus takes them on a perilous journey to Norr, the elven kingdom, in search of suitable brides. His plan: to breed an army of so-called devils that will secure the LinGor legacy for all time. But beneath the towering canopy of Norr's enchanted forest, Arson is separated from his brothers and taken prisoner. In the custody of a beautiful Norrian princess, he finds himself at a crossroads teeming with peril and opportunity, torn between his loyalty to his family and his newly awakened instincts as an elf. Heart ablaze with desire, Arson conceives a daring gambit to seize the princess's handmaiden as his wife...or perhaps the princess herself. A Basket of Devils weaves a tragic tapestry of enemies-to-lovers romance, action-adventure, and a dash of dark fantasy. This gripping prequel to J.C. Hartcarver's Sufferborn series unveils the history of the Overseas Taint, an ancient menace seeping into the sanctuary of the Norr elves. It can be read as either a standalone novel or as the opening of a poignant generational saga.