This Gilded Abyss

Sergeant Nix Marr is a damn good soldier, but she's desperate to leave her haunted past behind. She lost her best friend and her old flame In the galaxy’s most deadly sunken mines. But even the icy bioluminent ocean can't extinguish some fires. When Kessandra, everyone's favorite princess, and Nix's much-loathed ex, requests Nix's help investigating a massacre in the abyssal city of Fall, Nix refuses. Vehemently. But Kessandra always gets what she wants.

Consigned as Kessandra's bodyguard, Nix grudgingly boards a luxurious submersible that offers the only transportation to the city of Fall. It's frustrating, irritating, how quickly Nix and Kess fall back in sync. And much as she tries to fight it, Nix can't deny their spark. But Kessandra wasn't truthful - surprise, surprise - and Nix quickly realizes their ‘investigation’ isn't into the massacre that killed her friend. But they’re seeking what caused it: an illness that incites its victims into a violent craze.

When another royal is brutally murdered, it becomes apparent the disease has spread - and no one on the submersible is safe. Suddenly, survival hinges on trusting each other. And this would be a hell of a lot easier if Kessandra didn't keep lying. Injured and fighting for both their lives, Nix has to decide if she can trust Kessandra again . . . and what she'll lose this time if she does.