I didn’t want his soul. I just needed him to help me pass my dissertation defense. Sasha Kane is twenty-seven, broke, and one “practical application” away from failing her PhD in demonology. So she does what any desperate academic would she draws a summoning circle in her basement with discount candles and fumbled Latin—hoping for a lesser imp. A primary source. Proof. She gets Kaerath instead... moreI didn’t want his soul. I just needed him to help me pass my dissertation defense. Sasha Kane is twenty-seven, broke, and one “practical application” away from failing her PhD in demonology. So she does what any desperate academic would she draws a summoning circle in her basement with discount candles and fumbled Latin—hoping for a lesser imp. A primary source. Proof. She gets Kaerath instead. Eight feet of obsidian-dark skin and volcanic light, Kaerath is the Lord of the Seventh Circle—the Sovereign of Desire—and he’s trapped behind her chalk lines. He offers her the research of a lifetime. She offers him sanctuary. Except Kaerath doesn’t just hear her questions—he tastes her fascination, feeds on her wanting, and looks at her like she’s the first thing in three thousand years that’s ever mattered. And the more Sasha blurs the line between researcher and subject, the louder the Seventh Circle grows. Because the circle that bound him wasn’t just a cage. It was a signal. And something out there wants its lord back. What to. Size difference (8ft demon / stressed academic). Forced proximity (summoning circle rules). “Touch her and you die” devotion. Dark academia + “monster in a suit” dissertation defense. Consent-forward, scorching heat. Happily ever after. less
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