Kingdom of Death

by Lexi Ostrow

Kaelen Asher has spent her entire life pretending the strange things around her are coincidences—the whispers in empty rooms, the shadows that move when no one is looking, the unsettling pull she feels toward places touched by death. But when her mother falls gravely ill and slips closer to death with every passing day, Kaelen’s desperation drives her beyond the mortal world and into the Duat, the ancient Egyptian underworld. Determined to obtain the legendary Sands of Thoth and save the only family she has left, Kaelen is willing to risk monsters, gods, and eternal damnation. What she doesn’t realize is that the darkness has been calling to her for far longer than she knows.

Anubis, God of the Dead, has ruled the Duat for centuries with cold precision, untouched by emotion and unmoved by mortal suffering. Bound by an ancient curse that hollowed out every feeling except duty, he has long since forgotten what it means to want. Until Kaelen. The reckless mortal storms into his sacred halls blazing with defiance, fury, and a soul powerful enough to disrupt the order of his entire kingdom. Intrigued by the woman who makes him feel for the first time in centuries, Anubis offers her a he will give her the Sands of Thoth, but in exchange, Kaelen belongs to him for one month within his private chambers.

But Kaelen’s arrival in the Duat sparks far more than forbidden desire. When Set, the exiled God of Chaos, realizes the mysterious mortal woman has become Anubis’s greatest weakness, he sees an opportunity to reclaim the underworld for himself. Caught between warring gods, dangerous attraction, and the awakening power inside her own soul, Kaelen must decide who she can trust before the Duat descends into chaos. Because if Set succeeds, it won’t just cost Kaelen the chance to save her mother—it could destroy the balance between life and death itself.

312 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 13, 2026

About the author

Lexi Ostrow has been in love with the written word since second grade when her librarian started a writing club. Born in sunny southern California she's spent time in various places across the country and can't wait to settle down somewhere in the French Quarter when she's able too.

Lexi has been a writer ever since the second grade in some form or another. Getting her degree in creative writing and her master's in journalism she couldn't wait to get a chance to put her fantasies down on paper. Her debut novel, Torn Between Two Worlds is something that was simmering in her mind since middle school and she's so grateful to put it out into the literary world. From paranormal romance to thriller there isn't a genre she doesn't love to spend her time reading or writing.

Reading and writing are her first loves but her passion for shopping, love for yummy food and her love for all her many pets. She hopes to one day help other readers fall in love with writing as she did.