The Plumed Serpent

Judas Romanovski, the man people warned me about, the man people feared, the man who destroyed the only thing I thought I had control of- my morals, my patience, my heart. I was deceived first, and then entangled in lies he weaved with his sinful fingers, luring me, manipulating me, and then caging me. A moth drawn to the flame, like tides drawn to the moon, like Eve tempted to sin..... a bird caught serpent's clutches. My helplessness intrigued him, my cries amused him. ****** Seraphina, a determined and selfless young woman who moved to Russia to pursue her studies and escape her family's financial struggles. Focused on securing a decent job to pay off her family's debts, she found herself in a precarious situation when her roommate suggested a highly lucrative job as caretaker for the blind businessman. What could go wrong? Desperate for money, Seraphina accepted the opportunity without realizing the profound impact it would have on her life. Little did she know, her decision would thrust her into the world of Judas Romanovski, the blind Russian mobster known for his merciless tactics and captivating turquoise eyes. Judas Romanovski's initial attraction to Seraphina sparked a dangerous game of desire and power. Unused of being denied anything, he became obsessed with this young caretaker whose innocent eyes only fueled his desire. Willing to go to extreme lengths, Judas stopped at nothing to make Seraphina his, even if it was just for one night. But was one night enough for him to possess all that he desired from her?

The Kumiho my father chose for me hated me. He hated that he was my pet. When I turned eighteen, I decided to give him his freedom. However, it turned out that he was in love with one of our servants’ daughters, Rachel Lenford. I was crushed, but I could only accept it. I woke up from a good dream to find a silver-ringed giant python coiled around my body. It hissed at me while flicking its forked tongue. "Why do you like him so much? How about trying me out? I'm better than he is." Trying this snake out? How would that work?

*Book 2* Mei Liu learned suffering from an early age. After experiencing great loss, she spent years enduring abuse at the hands of a sadistic pack of wolves, while hiding her identity. All until the day she was saved by her fated soulmate arriving at her doorstep. Mei was finally free, loved and accepted, with her happily ever after on the horizon. But an unknown enemy has been searching for her and once he finds her he has no intentions of letting her go. Dark secrets will be revealed, and she will be pushed beyond her limits. Can she rise up and fight back and become the strong woman she was destined to be? Or will it all be too much for her to handle? A Queen Among Snakes is the second book in the Queen Among series. Each story is set up in the previous book, so reading the books in order is recommended. Here are the books in the series: A Queen Among Alphas - Book 1 Bite-Size Luna - A Queen Among Alphas Prequel A Queen Among Snakes - Book 2 Runaway Empress - A Queen Among Snakes Prequel A Queen Among Blood - Book 3 Whole Again - A Queen Among Alpha's spin-off A Queen Among Darkness - Book 4 Dark Invocation - A Queen Among Darkness spin-off A Queen Among Tides - Book 5 Valor, Virtue, and Verve - A Queen Among Tides Prequel Spin-off A Queen Among Gods - Book 6 A Queen Among Tempests - Book 7

She is the last spark of a dying flame. He is the shadow waiting to catch it. Princess Saoirse of Aethelgard is dead—or so the Empire believes. When her kingdom falls to Oakhaven’s iron machines, the last Dragon Princess disguises herself as a lowly servant to protect the world's remaining magic. Her goal is simple: infiltrate the enemy capital, rescue her captured cousin, and end the royal bloodline. Prince Tristan is the Empire’s greatest disappointment. To the court, he is a drunken fool; in the shadows, he is the Viper, a lethal strategist plotting his father’s downfall. When he discovers a "mute" maid with eyes full of murder amidst the ruins, he doesn't expose her. He claims her. Trapped in the dangerous intimacy of the Prince’s chambers, a deadly game of cat and mouse begins. Tristan knows she is a liar; Saoirse sees the sharp mind behind his lazy smile. As their hatred shifts into a scorching, forbidden attraction, they realize they share a common enemy. But with the Emperor hunting the true Dragon, revealing their secrets could destroy them both. The Dragon is hiding. The Viper is hunting. Together, they will burn the world.

My adopted brother made a name for himself during the potion competition by using a potion he had stolen from me. No one expected the competition to be a ruse, but it turned out to be a scheme to find a husband for the serpent clan's youngest princess. She was born barren, cruel, and hideous. That very night, the serpent clan delivered a marriage contract, demanding that the creator of the potion take the princess as his wife. When my fiancée heard the news, she panicked and bonded with my adopted brother on the spot. After sealing their bond, he lifted his shirt, proudly showing me the wolf mark carved into his back. "Your fiancée's mine now, bro. What are you going to do? You'll turn twenty-five in three days. If no one marries you by then, you'll be randomly matched to one of those older, violent nomad beastwomen." He was wrong. I still had one choice left. I found my parents in the front hall, once again cleaning up the mess he had made. "If he won't marry the serpent princess," I said, "then I will."

Shantali Mae Cross, a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Ancient Arts, encounters an impossible phenomenon during her night shift—smoke from the heating vents coalesces into the form of a cobra near ancient Egyptian canopic jars, showing her visions of possible futures. She sees herself accepting a promotion, arguing with a dark-haired man in a hospital, wearing a wedding dress, and standing at a graveside in autumn. Shaken by the experience, Shantali becomes obsessed with understanding what she witnessed, diving into research about serpent smoke divination practices. Her investigation reveals that others throughout history have experienced similar visions at crucial crossroads in their lives, but those who became consumed with interpreting and controlling their prophetic glimpses inevitably destroyed the very relationships and opportunities the visions had shown them. As Shantali spirals deeper into her research, she begins shutting out her boyfriend David, a fellow security guard who loves her deeply. When David witnesses the cobra phenomenon himself, he helps ground her in reality rather than obsession. Through her studies, particularly the warnings left by Dr. Amelia Thorne—a researcher who died alone after chasing similar mysteries—Shantali realizes the cobra's true message: choose love over fear, presence over obsession. The visions weren't warnings of tragedy but glimpses of a life fully lived with all its ordinary struggles and profound connections. When David proposes, Shantali chooses their real relationship over her pursuit of supernatural answers. She completes her research by writing a fictional novel about her experience, transforming obsession into art while helping future cobra witnesses understand that some mysteries are meant to guide rather than be solved. The story explores themes of choice versus destiny, the danger of sacrificing present love for future certainty, and the wisdom of embracing life's uncertainties alongside those who love us.