Aileana is the king's pet. She has lived her entire life in a tower, waiting for the day she will be forced to marry his son. When that day arrives, she has a plan. Armed with her daggers and desire for freedom, she runs from the king and his deadly power. Xander has spent his entire life on the run. He doesn't need anyone or anything, certainly not a mate. But when his path crosses with a feisty elf, nothing will ever be the same again. He has secrets to keep. She wants to leave Ithenmyr behind and not look back. Fate has other plans for them both.

When Luna is sold into marriage to the Prince of Darkness on her twenty-first birthday, she thinks she knows what to expect. Arranged marriages happen all the time, right? Wrong. No one could have prepared her for the reality of being married to the vampire prince. Ever since the day he was made, Sebastian has been living according to Queen Marguerite's rules. After all, he's only alive because of her. When she orders him to marry and bind himself to Luna, a human hailing a neighboring kingdom, he has no choice. He agrees to the marriage but never expects to feel anything for her.

What's a vampire to do when the fae who made her an orphan is searching for a wife? Make him choose her and end his life on their wedding night, of course. Brynleigh has been carefully planning this for years. Her plan is simple: date Ryker Waterborn, the Fae Representative's son, make him fall in love with her, and kill him after they say, "I do." Unfortunately, it will not be that easy. She won't be the only one going after Ryker's hand.

I was fifteen when the Death King came for us. With a mighty black dragon and the ability to command the dead, he raised an army of our fallen soldiers to fight for him—and conquered us in the night. My father, King Laurier of Scorpion Valley, couldn’t stop him. I tried to flee but came face to face with the man in black armor, the man who looked more like a god than a human. Instead of killing me, he chose to show me mercy… but it didn’t feel like mercy. Not when the next ten years of my life are spent as a slave in the Arid Sands, digging for Black Diamonds from sunrise to sunset.

When 18-year-old Arianna is stolen from her family and sold into slavery, she spends months disguised as a half-breed Fae struggling against the devastations of a decade-long war. But she never expected to find herself at the mercy of her country's greatest enemy.

Being a defective marks me in the eyes of the Solis Fae. Wingless. Magicless. Weak. To my kind, I’m nothing—not when strength is needed to survive the perpetual snow and ice that shrouds our northern continent in endless winter. But I’ve persevered, living a meaningful yet simple life with my sister...until the hated Crown Prince of the Winter Court thunders into our village. Prince Norivun’s massive black wings and potent magic cloud my senses and steal my breath. He’s beautiful yet brutal, so when he whisks me away and locks me in his castle I’m certain my death is tomorrow’s promise.

On the secluded continent of Edenvale, possessing magic is a death sentence. Those who have it are labeled Cursed, and by order of the king, they are Cleansed—a horrific event utilizing a hot, hungry pyre and an iron collar. Enemy to the king, a group known as the Cursed rebels defend their lands from his reach, creating an ongoing bloodthirsty war. When Sage's brother is conscripted for the war, she is forced to trade in her cozy, peaceful cottage life and join the Cursed rebels to get him back.

A century ago, an exchange was proposed: a life saved for a war of revenge. Captain Lia Solus of the fae army, and the secret bastard daughter of the king, is reminded of those consequences daily. Unable to claim her heritage or her throne, she's powerless to stop the innocent bloodshed that her birth ushered in. On the other side of the lines, Commander Jace Cadoria gladly fights the war of his ancestors to slaughter the fae who have terrorized the humans of their realm for generations. With a cunning plan to trap them, the end could finally be in sight.

For as long as she can remember, Arken Asher has been searching for answers—driven by an insatiable hunger, a need to understand the meaning behind her dangerous arcane secrets. She's finally taken that leap into the unknown, leaving her simple life behind to attend the Arcane Studium, a prestigious college of magickal arts & sciences nestled in the heart of Sophrosyne, the City of the Gods.

Wren has never stolen a life, but that doesn’t stop her from believing her darkness makes her a walking nightmare. Harboring a power so lethal, unpredictable, and entirely forbidden by kingdom law, Wren’s spent her whole life hiding what she is—who she is. A bloodwitch. Meanwhile, a war is looming, and Wren’s feral magic may be the only thing that can stop the uprising from destroying the kingdom, her home, and everyone that stands in their way.

For years, Erik, the scarred king of the Ever Kingdom, has thought of nothing but vengeance against the man who killed his father and trapped him beneath the waves, making him a prisoner in his own realm. Until his enemy's daughter unintentionally breaks the chains on the Ever, and Erik makes her the unwitting pawn in his vicious game of revenge. She's innocent. He's vicious. He will take back what he lost, no matter the price. Unless she steals his heart first.

Just hours after humans are born, the gods take what little power we have. In return, they protect our borders from the vicious, merciless fae. The humans who manage to keep their power are known as the corrupt. And they are burned. When my forbidden power is discovered, I’m forced to flee my tiny village and the life I adore. To survive, I make a desperate bargain with the mercenary who abandoned me at my weakest moment. Our deal is simple: I’ll help him and his mysterious friends sneak into the city, and he’ll help me learn to wield the strange, dark power I’ve always kept hidden.

Adara has been an outsider for as long as she can remember. Born and raised in the earth fae realm, she's a water fae who can't control her magic, making her not just useless but downright dangerous at times. When a training mishap accidentally unleashes a hidden magic inside her, Adara suddenly finds herself on the run. The king wants to use her powers for nefarious reasons, and he'll stop at nothing to obtain her—including kidnapping and torturing Adara's mother.

Many centuries ago, desperate to save her dying sister, Dianna made a deal with Kaden, a monster far worse than any nightmare. Locked in servitude to him, she is forced to hunt down an ancient relic held by her most dangerous enemies: an army led by Samkiel, the World Ender. After the Gods War, Samkiel hid from everything, denying his crown and deserting his people. Now, an attack on those he loves sends him back to the realm he never wished to return to, and into the sights of an enemy he had hoped to forget.

This 2-in-1 box set collects both installments in Liv Zander's Pale Court duet: King of Flesh and Bone and Queen of Rot and Pain. This duology is a dark-fantasy romance featuring a ruthless man, a woman who can't escape his love, and a Happily Ever After. This world contains dark themes, violence, loss, and elements of horror some may find disturbing. What this book doesn't contain is a hero—because villains do it better.