Scienter 

As a forensic science student, she’s built her life around understanding the aftermath of violence. Every bloodstain tells a story. Every crime scene holds answers. Death has always fascinated her—not because she craves it, but because she needs to understand the people capable of creating it.

Nothing in a textbook prepares her for becoming part of the story herself—or for questioning what a killer saw in her that no one else ever has.

One late night, Hadlee stumbles into an alley moments after a murder. The victim is still warm. The killer is still there. She should panic. She should run. Instead, she studies him.

Soren has lived by one rule: never leave a witness behind—a rule that’s kept him alive through mistakes that would have buried anyone else. Hadlee should be another loose end. Instead, she’s the first person who’s ever looked at him with curiosity instead of fear.

Walking away from her should be easy. It isn’t.

Every encounter chips away at the rules they’ve always lived by until curiosity becomes obsession and every decision is harder to explain than the last. But getting close to Soren means stepping into a world built on violence, secrets, and loyalties that don’t forgive mistakes.

The more Hadlee uncovers, the more dangerous the truth becomes. There are people willing to kill to keep their secrets buried—and others who believe she’s already seen far too much.

Soren knows exactly how this story should end.