From Ruin to Ring

Evelyn Hartwell's father died and left her at the mercy of her uncle Victor, who wasted no time framing her for a fifty-million-dollar debt. He gave her three days to pay, or he'd send her to work in a strip club. Desperate and cornered, Evelyn turned to an antique box her grandfather left behind. She placed a sandwich inside, and the box swallowed it—then spat out a priceless ruby ring. She had stumbled onto a relic that traded across time, connecting her to a starving medieval commander named Alaric. She sent an apple, and he sent blood-soaked vows of ten thousand gold coins. When she touched the warm blood on the cloth, she understood he was fighting a war right that moment. Alaric was outnumbered, his fortress about to fall, so Evelyn raided her father's panic room and dropped a gun into the box. In the Long Winter era, Alaric received the weapon as divine intervention, turned the battle, and poured the enemy's seized treasure back through the reliquary as thanks.

What began as a survival trade grew into love across centuries. Alaric's own king betrayed him and sentenced him to death. Evelyn refused to let that stand. She crossed time itself, walked into his world, and fought beside him. After they defeated the forces arrayed against them in both realms, Alaric left his kingdom forever and returned with Evelyn to the modern world, ready to build a life no longer separated by a millennium.