Echoes Empire of Ashes- Echoes of St. Petersburg

The brother Ares Volkov believed dead has just claimed, in writing, the throne he has spent six years holding together with blood and concrete.Viktor Volkov is no ordinary rival. He is blood of his blood, raised in the brutality of St. Petersburg while Ares grew "soft" in America-and now he wants to collect three decades of resentment from the entire empire, starting with the woman Ares dared to make his queen.A year ago, Elena Vance swore she would never again be anyone's disposable pawn. When she crosses the Russian border on her husband's arm, she doesn't go as a hostage: she goes as a weapon. Her signature is worth as much as any army, and she is ready to prove it in front of every old-guard boyar who dares to doubt her.But St. Petersburg does not forgive weakness, and Viktor isn't the only monster lurking in the ice. When the war for the throne intersects with a blackmail ring compromising half of Europe, Elena and Ares discover that some blood debts aren't settled with a single gunshot-and that the price of protecting their own could cost them everything they've built.A lost brother. A contested throne. A promise neither of them is willing to break.