After saving her rebel friends on the final day of the election, Elessia is on the run. But the danger is far from over. As she fights her guilt for betraying Loche, the man she foolishly believed could mend her broken soul, and wrestles with the unexpected emotions stirring within her for Merrick, her fiercely loyal guard, Elessia learns of the rebel’s true plans—plans that threaten every loved one she’s left behind. But it’s the even greater peril looming on the horizon—the one that could shatter the very foundations of their world—that forces her to decide whether she is willing to embrace her birthright to the Rantzier name and, with the help of Merrick and his band of unwilling warriors, lead the journey to unite the warring factions of Havlands before it’s too late… Or before the Fae king and human regent find her.

Half-Fae Elessia could have had everything. Literally. Since her magic allows her to compel anyone to do her bidding by merely looking into their eyes, the world was at her feet. But after a tragic accident, she is thrown into the Fae king’s dungeons and forced to swear a blood oath to him, binding her to his service. Five years later, she’s living amongst humans in Ellow and has created a life for herself—as much as she can with the king’s promise to call in his debt looming over her. When he finally comes to collect, she is made to infiltrate the human elections to determine whether the current regent is involved in the strange things happening in the land of Fae. With the promise of freedom from the king’s claws, Elessia is determined to see it through. Liberty is within reach as long as she can keep the lethal Fae guard watching over her from eliminating her before she unearths the information the king seeks. But as she grows closer to the brooding human regent and secrets begin to unravel, Elessia realizes greater forces may be at play. And she might stand before the choice between her own freedom and that of a nation.