The House of Binding Thorns

Paris, turn of the century.

The magical factions known as Houses intrigue in the ruins of the city to gain power over their rivals. Among these, House Hawthorn is on the rise: now fully recovered from a bloody coup of twenty years earlier, it is now sending a delegation to the Annamite dragon kingdom under the river Seine, hoping to secure a prestigious marriage between sadistic Fallen angel Asmodeus and an imperial prince.

Madeleine, a former alchemist working to beat her drug addiction, goes with the delegation and finds herself amidst the plots and dangers of the Annamite culture. Dragon prince Thuan is undercover in House Hawthorn, trying to find the source of a destructive drug traffic. And in the Houseless areas of Paris, Fran oise, lover of Asmodeus's Fall-sister, wants protection for their unborn child.

As the waters of the Seine rise and the intrigues of West and East come to a head, those three will have to choose between their own safety, and that of House Hawthorn...