Orphan turned fugitive Ophelia Dannan has been safely hidden in the mortal world for four years, her memories and magic locked away from herself and the siphoning Gray King of Magus. A king whose armies hunt relentlessly for one source of pure magic that vanished with Ophelia.

A scholar, a smugger and a soldier have sworn their lives to hide and guard her until the time is right to awaken her magic. To protect her, they move her often and see to it Ophelia forgets the lives she lives with them. Rune chooses quiet farmsteads, filling Ophelia's time with adventure and daydreams. Falcon prefers the grit of city streets ruled by gangs, challenging Ophelia to survive by wielding knives and swindling thieves. And Hart has all but given up his rotation with her, after what happened a year ago, to keep safe the girl he fears could destroy two worlds.

But across worlds in a kingdom as dark and brutal as it is beautiful, where the Gray King enslaves the magic born, rebellion is stirring and a dark force is rising to stake its own claim on the throne. When shadows reach tendrils across the mortal world for Ophelia, she's pushed into a perilous quest in search of truth, her magic, and a way to break the monarchy before it breaks them all.