The Violin

In 1871, Elise Knight made a deal with the devil: craft a powerful violin in exchange for her fiancé’s resurrection.

When Elise’s fiancé dies, she would do anything to get him back—even if that means striking a sinister bargain with Cassius, an exotic collector whose oddity exhibit is downright astonishing.

After seeing Cassius’s otherworldly flute work its magic, Elise begs her father for an apprenticeship, eager to make the seemingly simple sacrifice required to bring her beloved back from the dead: give Cassius a violin of her own making.

But before she can finish, Elise’s father falls deathly ill. Even Cassius’s elixirs can’t restore his health for long, and her father's dying wish may very well be Elise’s undoing.

Now she faces a grim choice: obey her father and let him pass in peace, or trust the man who promises her power over the grave.

©2025 Leah Elwood (P)2025 Leah Elwood