The Oak and Holly Cycle, book 1: The Wren in the Holly Library
K. A. Linde2024

Street thief Kierse should have known something wasn’t right. Now she’s trapped in the library of an old Brownstone . . . with a monster. His powers aren’t supposed to exist. She can’t run. She can’t hide. And this man - this being, filled with terrible power and darkness — is well within his rights to kill her.
Thirteen years ago, the monsters came into the light and brutalized the world. The Monster Treaty invoked a kind of peace — one that isn’t always honoured. Now Kierse has broken the treaty. But instead of killing her, Graves does the unexpected: he offers her a job . . . a glimpse into who she really is. Kierse has always known she’s different. That she can do things a little better, a little faster. And there’s that sense she has when danger is only a breath away. But if the old tales are true, there are worse things in the world than monsters.
Like a threat more ancient than legend. Like Graves. Or like Kierse herself . . .