Prince Alexander may be heir to the Nephilim throne, but he'd rather blend into the crowd than stand out in his father's court. When the king of Calamus dies, an alarming edict reveals a future for Alex that he refuses to accept. As the funeral dust settles, Alex and his ragtag group of friends flee to the hinterlands, gambling on unknown dangers over palace politics. For better or worse, Alex is determined to do things his way, for once.

Left behind and in the dark about Alex's plans, his sister Ellynn prepares to receive an entourage from a distant Nephilim kingdom. She welcomes the distraction from her grandfather's death and her brother's disappearance. But their arrival awakens old hostilities and new suspicions. Soon, Ellynn's compulsion to eavesdrop lands her in a web of threats and betrayal she might be too entangled to escape.

As Alex is pursued by monsters from without and within, Ellynn treads the line between secrecy and safety. Every revelation determines someone's destiny. Kingdoms clash as Alex and Ellynn confront long-buried terrors in this latest adventure from the Tethered World.