Shadows of Asphodel teaser

I got to see the cover art for Shadows of Asphodel, and I spent a good amount of time dancing the Victorious Author Dance around my apartment.

Ahem.

I will be orchestrating a proper cover reveal soon, but until then, I want to share a teaser of the cover art. Because I’m not really mean.

I also revised the blurb for Shadows, so here it is in all its shiny glory:

1913. The death of the Belle Époque and the brink of the Great War.

Outlawed in America, armed with only an antique sword, Ardis just wants to do her job. As a mercenary, she works to keep the peace in Transylvania. Truthfully, this kind of peacekeeping involves beheading rebels who oppose the empire of Austria-Hungary. It shouldn’t be too hard—gunpowder has been useless ever since the archmages of Vienna cursed the entire continent of Europe with the Hex.

But Ardis never expected to find an unarmed gentleman bleeding out on the battlefield: Wendel, who manages to be a charming bastard even on the verge of death. And she certainly never expected him to revive the dead to fight for him. Wendel is a necromancer. He can’t die unless Ardis wants him to return as a monster—or so she has heard. Afraid to find out, she saves his life.

When Wendel swears fealty to Ardis, they forge an uneasy alliance underscored with sexual tension. Together, they confront rebels, assassins, and a conspiracy involving the military secret of Austria-Hungary: robotically-enhanced soldiers built by the inventor of the diesel engine, Rudolf Diesel himself. But as Ardis starts to fall for Wendel, she realizes the scars from his past run more deeply than she ever imagined. Only Ardis can stop the necromancer before his thirst for revenge destroys him and everyone else around him.