A Strange Desire — Alexa Piper

Cora, who has newly discovered she is a powerful mage, and her boyfriend and most notorious antihero and soul-eating greed-demon Valerian, travel to China, where Cora is supposed to learn everything there is to learn about being a mage.Yet they have barely set foot on the ground when they attract unwanted attention. Jirou, fleeing from family obligations, is reeled in by the looks of the pretty couple. Bastien has much darker intentions: a long-held grudge against Valerian makes him want to steal Cora and make her his.Figuring out why they have suddenly become a target halfway around the world leaves Cora and Valerian to discover all the strangeness of Beijing in this fast-paced tale of creatures, mages, and magic