Eight Chosen Ones came before her. All of them are dead.

When a bubble of light abducts Esme, she wakes in a version of Kansas City where magic is real—and a secret war is being lost. Demonic beasts called malevolenci are invading through otherworldly rifts, and the ancient Order sworn to stop them is running out of time.

Terrifying? Sure. But it's way more interesting than her old life.

In this Sanctuary world, werewolves from the secret Order patrol alongside the KCPD. Vampires make excellent doctors. Fairies dream of Hollywood. Elves are lawyers. Goblins run banks. Trolls are soldiers—and serve the best barbecue in town. Magic is woven into everyday life…and into a war no one else sees.

The Order summoned Esme for one reason: She's an alterni, an alt-world version of the original Esme who fought to save them. Only alterni can wield magic powerful enough to fight the malevolenci. The problem? Eight alterni came before her. Eight are dead. And now it's Esme's turn to master complex magic and become the Order's greatest weapon before the Sanctuary is destroyed.

Partnered with King Owen, the charming but broken ruler haunted by alterni he's already lost, Esme is determined to succeed where her eight dead predecessors failed. But as malevolenci attacks escalate and the Order rushes her training, Esme realizes the truth no one wants to tell her:

She wasn't summoned to save the Sanctuary. She was summoned to replace the last failure, and no one believes she'll survive either.

But the Order is out of time. If Esme fails, so will the Sanctuary—and the unchecked demons will destroy everything they've fought to protect.

No pressure.