A Hospital for Souls
(The Downfall of Us All, #1)

Dante Alonso Hidalgo comes back to Sempiternal in defiance of his banishment with one aim: enlist in The Dragnet Games to butcher The President, Xavier Alonso Hidalgo, and let someone else pick up the pieces.

His first night back in Sempiternal, Dante joins the ranks of a group of other Dragnet Games hopefuls, all which have their own personal motivations in volunteering themselves for the reaping. One confidant, whom he eventually pursues a romantic relationship with, Rue Alvarado, hopes to find his younger brother, who he believes is still alive after disappearing five years ago—after also enlisting in The Dragnet Games—despite having no tangible means to prove it.

While Dante has no interest in laying claim to the prize of The Dragnet Games, which is upward mobility into the vampire ruling class by being allowed to become one, they remain the only means for a human to gain access to the Sulod District—where the vampire elite live—and thereby, give Dante the proper avenue to butcher his older brother. However, with Xavier now at the helm of the nation’s governance, he has singlehandedly launched Sempiternal into its modern, digital age with his administration’s invention of the Courser Chip. A small, SD card-like object that serves two purposes: being placed in a technology to give them AI-powered interface, or allow someone to inhabit the form of their correct gender, the latter of which has allowed Dante to sneak back into Sempiternal undetected.

However, Dante’s one-way mission of vengeance is soon turned on its head when he is then face to face with Robyn Alcina; the last surviving babaylan, or practitioner of Sempiternal’s long forgotten Blood Sacraments. Unlike the differing, personal motivations of his other allies, Robyn needs Dante’s help in unearthing the roots of a government conspiracy. The likes of which will finally dare to expose the true origins of the human-like sentience intrinsic to the Courser Chip’s interface that Robyn swears is the key to finding Rue’s brother.

Now with the future of Sempiternal resting neatly in his hands, Dante must either cast away his selfish, one-sided aspirations of revenge for something bigger than himself, or be so consumed by it that it sees him lose himself and everyone else he cares about entirely. But, no matter which avenue Dante chooses, his destiny already involves powers so infinite they are as ancient as the land itself. And, they have already deemed him the only possible vessel that can fix all Xavier has already broken.

Trigger Warnings

• Coming soon!