Andi swindles Folkway’s cruelest men for a living. When her best friend Eris goes missing, she vows to bring her back. Using only her wits, she traces Eris’s last whereabouts to the wealthy General Nox.
Apprehending Andi is Caden’s only hope of paying off his family’s debt to General Nox. But his plan goes awry when the wily criminal escapes. After Caden is kicked out of his bounty hunter faction, his best bet is to strike a deal with her.
Their arrangement seems sweet and simple: he leads her to Nox; she pays off his debt. But nothing is ever as it seems.
As they embark on a journey through unfamiliar waters, forests infested with mysterious beasts, and a city full of lies, their time to confront Nox is trickling away. War is spilling into every land, and the secrets between the two travelers threaten to expose their true faces.
When every step is a struggle, can they make it to the general in time?
Or will they lose everyone they love?
My throat is raw from screaming.
I’m locked in a prison of pain. A cramped box composed of knives so sharp that the flesh of my chest and back are torn with every movement I make. It tears, then heals. Tears, then heals.
All I can smell is my own blood. Raw and metallic, invading my nostrils with its terror. All I can see is darkness, although I know the coffin I’ve been enclosed in was once glimmering metal. By now, it must be rusted red with age. There’s no way to tell, not in this hellscape.
I am the goddess of my domain, a queen of death. That’s what they called me: the Empress of the Underworld. My body will regenerate for an eternity. It, along with my glory, will last forever.
And so will my agony.
My legs ache from standing. Yet I cannot kneel. If I do, the knives will pierce my knees and calves. If I shift my feet, they will pierce my toes. The injuries blur into one another as my mind stops processing the pain. I am numb. For too long, I have been trapped in the Underworld. Trapped in my own home for a victimless crime. Alone and angry.
The rage burns strongly in my chest. I close my eyes.
And for the first time in two thousand years, I see a sliver of light.
Behind my eyelids, an image of a girl forms. She is floating underwater, swept away by a river. Her arm is bruised and bleeding, painting the water red. Through her panicked eyes, I spot another girl above the water. This girl is tidy and neat, with small ribbons in her bouncy locks. Her small hand plunges down and pulls the drowning girl from the icy water.
I latch onto them. This small sliver of light... This is my chance.
I release my soul into her body, now my vessel, and let it lie dormant. When it is time for me to be free, I will unleash her upon this world.
And I will be free.
