For twenty years, the world believed the exile was dead. They called him a traitor. A monster. The man who opened the gates to darkness and vanished beyond them. But monsters do not die so easily. Jeremiah returns from the abyss changed by something far older and far darker than anyone could imagine. The man who once stood beside kings is gone, replaced by someone colder, more dangerous… and far more powerful. The kingdom fears him. And yet fate leads him back to the one person who was never meant to cross his path. Princess Liana has spent her life inside the safety of palace walls, raised on stories of the exile who nearly destroyed the world. To her people, Jeremiah is the beginning of every nightmare. But when she finally meets him, the truth becomes far more complicated than the stories she was taught to believe. Because the greatest danger may not be the exile himself. It may be the secrets the kingdom buried to create him. As ancient forces awaken and the fragile peace of the realm begins to crumble, Liana finds herself drawn into a world of shadows, betrayal, and forbidden desire. And the closer she gets to Jeremiah, the harder it becomes to tell the difference between monster and man. Some exiles return for revenge. Others return for war. But some return for something far more dangerous. Her. The Return of the Exile is the first book in the dark fantasy trilogy When the Exiles Return — a story of enemies to lovers, dangerous magic, and a love that may destroy a kingdom.