Power belongs to the Highborne. Magic is their birthright, gifted by Fate itself. In the Shroud, the city’s forgotten slums, the Lowborne struggle to survive with neither. 

Ariella Winters knows what it means to be powerless. A skilled thief with vengeance in her heart, she’s spent years plotting one thing: the queen’s death. When a mysterious group nearly kills her, Ariella is saved by the Mender, who turns out to be none other than the queen’s son.

Kelland Blackthorn will protect his family and the kingdom they rule, even if it means allying with the girl his mother warned him never to trust. What he doesn’t know: Ariella has her own plans, and earning his trust lies at the heart of them.

Every alliance is fragile. Every secret, deadly. Trust is a luxury neither of them can afford… yet desire proves harder to resist than either expects.