The Mortal Stain

In the rain-lashed, industrial decay of Ironport, Veridia, Detective Victor Hale has spent six years undercover inside the Volkov Syndicate, becoming Kael Rennick—enforcer, confidant, and monster. When a vulnerable transgender informant, Sasha Petrova, dies in police custody under suspicious circumstances mirroring the RoettO'Connor case, Kael is ordered to retrieve the evidence that could finally bring down the Volkov empire. But as the lines between cop and criminal blur, Kael discovers that the true “devil” isn't Roman Volkov, but the terrifyingly human instinct to control, possess, and survive, pushed to its darkest extreme. Trapped in a web of his own making, Kael faces a reckoning that will shatter his identity and force him to choose between justice and the seductive violence he has come to crave.