Lay It Bare

Name: Lay It Bare
Author: Ciara Darren

Genre: Romance Thriller Suspense Adult LGBTQ+ M-M Romance

70 pages

Sanctum Book 2 • MXM • Romantic Suspense • Second Chance Romance • International Crime • Found Family • Interracial Romance • Trauma • Hurt/Comfort

Ellisandre speared another quarter of peach with their knife and held it up, meeting Sevastyan’s eyes. “Myths—the old ones—endure not because of their brightness. It’s their darkness. The stories might be of gods and heroes, but gods and heroes are gloriously terrible.

“They consume their children, slay their lovers, abandon friends, commit patricide, drink rivers of wine, grieve to the point the earth itself ceases to grow food, and through it all, they are us—writ large. Their crimes are larger, their loves are deeper, all the better for us to see ourselves inside of them. And yet, there is one crucial difference between the mundane man and a god or hero—the gods and the heroes, they dare.”

Sevastyan’s training is now a hinderance. In the wake of his failure, he must find new methods to break the lock on his voice. If he cannot, he will have failed to protect Rei. Time is running out. A power struggle within the criminal organization is going down, and Sevastyan is unwillingly at the center.

Rei grapples with not knowing why new marks have appeared on Sevastyan’s body. It is not his place to ask, and Sevastyan is offering no explanation. Before Rei can make peace with this mystery, they have a visitor, one neither of them knows if they can trust. Rei must make choices between obedience and taking a risk to preserve a life.

Ellisandre’s hands are full with their chosen family and knowing that Sevastyan has a secret he is trying to divulge. In preparation for the war that is coming, they train their protégée, guard their chosen family, and rebuild what was lost while they and Sevastyan were kept apart. And yet it may not be enough. While some Merchari agents are following the direction of the Yadro to watch and wait, others are not. And Ellisandre’s family has already been in their cross-hairs.

If Sevastyan cannot speak, if Rei cannot pierce the shadows of what has gone unsaid, Ellisandre may never arrive in time. Can they untangle truth andtrust from betrayal and lies before they become three more sacrifices to the Merchari’s greed?

This serial is a dark, contemporary MXM+ romance with chosen family themes intended for mature audiences only. While Ellisandre, Sevastyan, and Rei are the central triad, this is a firmly polyamorous romance.

This is a stand alone serial. The plot contains spoilers for Collin and Damian & Jun in The Residency Boys Universe. Read those first if you want to avoid finding out some things early. Sanctum Episode 1 starts roughly a week after Damian & Jun Episode 1. The two serials run parallel, but neither has to be read to understand the other. Collin: Episodes 1-3 is the very first book if you wish to read the entire universe chronologically.

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