root-book

Twelve Houses rule the world—bloodline dynasties fueled by magic, power, and centuries of war. Each child is evaluated at eleven, assigned a rank within their House: Pawn to King. Card to suit. The chosen rise. The rest obey. Joseph Quinn was neither. Born into a branch family of House Veylor, trained as a disposable assassin, he was their loyal hound—feared, nameless, leashed. Until the day they betrayed him and left his body bleeding at their feet. But fate wasn’t finished with him. Joseph wakes up eleven again, his memories intact. This time, he has no illusions. The Houses will devour themselves in a war they create. The gates will open. The beasts will rise. The world will burn. And he won''''t stop it. He’ll accelerate it. On the day of his re-evaluation, Joseph shocks the House by drawing the Joker card—an unstable, unranked anomaly feared even by the noble elite. No one knows why the magic chose him. No one knows what he''''s capable of. That’s exactly how he wants it. Armed with forbidden magic that lets him absorb the essence of those he kills, Joseph doesn’t plan to become a hero. He plans to become the enemy the world can''''t ignore.