The Auspice & Animus Trilogy
Em Dubois, 35, likes to think of herself as rational. Embarrassing breakups, unstable employment, existential dread? All survivable with enough compartmentalization and panicked decision-making.
That is, until she’s pulled into the orbit of Vael and Serith, two ancient godlike entities hiding behind human smiles. Their deeply codependent relationship has shaped humanity through violence, manipulation, and fear for millennia. Em soon finds herself caught in the center of a slow-burn MMF/why-choose relationship none of them expected.
Across three books, their fractured relationship begins to change in ways none of them expected. What starts as dysfunction, power imbalance, and emotional wreckage slowly transforms into something stranger: connection, healing, and the possibility of a future none of them thought they deserved.
Perfect for readers who enjoy queer character-driven romance, MMF/why-choose dynamics, found family, morally messy relationships, and happily-ever-afters earned the hard way.
Series-Long Tags
- Dark romantasy
- Power imbalance
- Why choose
- Morally gray characters
- Slow-burn tension
- Angst
- Found family
- Friends to lovers
- Enemies to lovers
- MMW pairing/throuple
- MW romance
- MM romance
- Polyamory/ENM
- Queer representation
- Ancient beings/Immortality
- Complex characters
- Identity
- Memory loss
- Touch her and die
BOOK 1: Auspice & Animus
Em’s life changes when she meets Vael and becomes pulled into his world and his fold.
What begins as fascination and connection gradually draws her into something larger, stranger, and more dangerous than she understands.
Book 1 Tags
- Character-driven fantasy
- Cosmic fantasy
- Found family
- Slow-burn tension
- Friends to lovers
- Morally gray characters
- Ancient beings
- Identity
- Touch her and die
RELEASE DATE
- Coming June 2026
BOOK 2: Citadel
Circumstances tear Em away from what she knows and place her alongside Serith. Where Vael drew her in openly, Serith keeps the world at a distance behind carefully built walls. Forced together, Em slowly breaks through his barriers, uncovering what lies beneath his restraint while tensions and larger conflicts continue to grow.
Book 2 Tags
- Enemies to lovers
- Power imbalance
- Found family
- Slow-burn tension
- Morally gray characters
- Ancient beings
- Identity
- Touch her and die
RELEASE DATE
- Coming November 2026
BOOK 3: Cataclysm
SPOILERS WARNING: As everything finally begins to unravel, Vael and Serith become increasingly lost within themselves, their identities blurring beneath the weight of forces larger than either of them. Em can no longer remain the person pulled along by other people’s choices. With an unexpected ally, she must step forward and help pull the world, and the people she cares about, back from the edge before there is nothing left to save.
Book 3 Tags
- Identity collapse
- Reality unravelling
- Emotional slow burn payoff
- Found family
- Sacrifice
- High stakes finale
- MMW pairing
- Hope and happiness after ruin
RELEASE DATE
- Coming March 2027
Artwork
About the Author
Marcella Caes is a queer fantasy author and college instructor from the west coast of Canada.
She loves character-driven stories full of dark fantasy, impossible choices, and slow-burn relationships that take their time getting messy before becoming something better. She has a deep love for emotionally messy people learning how to heal, found connections, and endings that feel earned.
Outside of writing, she spends her time playing video games, reading fan fiction, making art, and engaging in an ongoing negotiation with anxiety.
Questions? Feedback? Fanart? Email me below. I’d love to hear from you!