Lyra Thornwyck was born into one of Moonveil’s most powerful magical families, but power has never meant freedom. Her rare blessing makes her body poisonous enough to turn a kiss into a weapon, a secret she has spent years protecting while using that same gift to punish men who prey on women no one else will defend. Now her family has found another use for her. An arranged marriage will secure a political alliance beyond Moonveil’s walls, and Lyra is expected to smile while everyone else decides what happens next. Cassian is not the husband she would have chosen. He is infuriating, observant, difficult to poison, and far too interested in the truths Lyra keeps hidden. Their marriage begins as a negotiation between two suspicious people with secrets worth killing for, but the world outside their private war is becoming more dangerous by the day. The Hollowed are attacking Moonveil with increasing frequency. Sacred defenses are failing. Rival magical families are maneuvering for advantage. And the violence Lyra thought was confined to her own household may be connected to a threat capable of reaching every hold in the city. Forced to work with Cassian, Lyra discovers that his people have survived by rules very different from the polished cruelty of Moonveil society. The more she learns about him, the harder it becomes to decide whether he is another cage or the first person who truly sees her. To protect her sister, her city, and the women who depend on her, Lyra will have to expose secrets powerful families have buried for years without letting anyone discover the most dangerous secret of all: exactly what she can do with a touch.
Lyra Thornwyck was born into one of Moonveil’s most powerful magical families, but power has never meant freedom. Her rare blessing makes her body poisonous enough to turn a kiss into a weapon, a secret she has spent years protecting while using that same gift to punish men who prey on women no o...