They whisper his name in the underworld like a prayer they don’t want answered. Severin Vex — the man who deals in rarities no soul should touch. The Velvet Blade. The Merchant of Shadows. If it is beautiful, forbidden, and dangerous, he has sold it… or taken it for himself. His eyes have appraised treasures from every corner of the earth, and some from places no map dares to chart.

Tonight, the call came. His contact — the one who feeds his hunger for the exquisite — spoke in a low, knowing tone. “I’ve found something for you, Severin. Something you won’t be able to resist.”

The meeting place was a world unto itself, buried deep beneath the city’s skin. Leather the color of midnight glistened in the low amber light. Velvet draped the walls like the inside of a jeweler’s box, swallowing sound and time. Silk whispered in the corners, moving faintly in a breeze that did not exist. Every inch of it was decadent, but the air held the weight of something dangerous.

A drink was set before him — crystal heavy in his palm, the amber liquid catching the light like captured fire. His contact’s smile was the kind worn by men who know they hold a secret you’ll pay dearly to hear. “Get comfortable, Severin,” he murmured, voice rich with promise.

Then, without another word, he slipped behind a silk curtain… leaving Severin in the dim glow, waiting for whatever irresistible thing fate was about to place in his hands.