Ella, the eighteen-year-old eldest daughter of the count, is coerced by her power-hungry father. He threatens her younger sister Leah and offers Ella as a living sacrifice to Ressa, the world-ending black dragon, in exchange for a noble title.
Ella is cast down into the sacrificial abyss, only to be saved by Ressa. She becomes his sacrificial bride and bears his mark. Inside the hostile dragon temple, Ella endures constant mockery and abuse. Faced with Ressa’s domineering possession, she refuses to submit and waits for a chance to rebel.
While fleeing, she is violently coerced by the dragon noble Gale. Trapped in desperation, Ella calls out to Ressa for help. Enraged, Ressa intervenes to protect her, shaking Ella’s heart.
Betrayed by her own kin, she is caught in the dangerous, obsessive love of the black dragon. To save her sister, Ella struggles amid oppression and hatred. Refusing to be a passive sacrifice, she is locked in a fateful tug-of-war with the black dragon.
