Rails — Elva Birch

Bai knows better than to dream about his gorgeous Head of Files, Ressa. Fraternization at the Licensing Office is strictly forbidden, by his own ironclad decree. He should be content with their close friendship, and has almost convinced himself that he is.Ressa knows there's something missing in her life. Her work, which has always been enough, leaves her feeling unsatisfied… even her secondary job with the prestigious Carnal Guild. She takes a lover, but swiftly realizes that what she thought were choices were clever orchestrations. Someone is playing her, and License Master Bai, in some larger, unknown plot.Lives quickly unraveling, the only people that Bai and Ressa can trust are each other, and the bond of their friendship is sorely tested by secrets, betrayal, and the attraction for each other that they don't want to admit. RAILS is a dark, tangled story full of murder, sex, unrequited love, drugs, prostitution, blackmail, and betrayal. There are no fairy tale happy endings… but there is hope that love can prevail. Set in the shared world of Torn World, RAILS was released at tornworld.net in installments between 2010 and 2014. It has flavors of steampunk, fantasy, and light science fiction, moving between the glamorous high society of the Empire to the gritty criminal underworld.