The price of power is unforgiving, and for one mage, it's a debt paid in chains and despair.

In a world where magic intertwines with sin, Blaise Hawthorne wields his arcane gifts with a heavy heart. His attempt to liberate his friends with a spell that razed an enemy bastion to the ground brands him not as a hero, but a war criminal. Imprisoned, tortured, and forsaken, Blaise's only glimmer of hope flickers from a deceitful ally, but trust is a dangerous game when survival hangs by a thread.

The threads of fate entangle him with Malcolm Wells, a man whose political acumen and influence are utterly powerless against the forces binding Blaise. When a chance to free Blaise emerges in the form of an outlaw mage with dangerous ambitions, Malcolm is thrust into a volatile alliance. Together, they orchestrate a daring escape, but the shadow of betrayal looms large, and Malcolm's own dark history threatens to doom them all. Will Blaise reclaim his freedom and emerge unbroken, or will the demons of the past consume them?

Effigest is the pulse-pounding second entry in the Tales of the Outlaw Mages series, where the wild allure of the Old West collides with the mystique of fantasy. This tale weaves together the threads of found family, LGBTQ+ representation, and the relentless quest for redemption, all set against a backdrop where every spell cast is a gamble of life and death.