Mal and Jessica have spent four glorious months abroad, traveling to exotic places, enjoying other people and each other. However, they're tired of traveling, and they both miss Azrael more than they expected. When the sorcerer shows up on their doorstep, they're excited to see him. However, Azrael hasn't come on a social call. He needs Mal's magic for a difficult task. Mal isn't willing to wear Azrael's collar again for free, no matter how he feels about him. Mal's price: "You. No wards. Anything I want. And Jessica gets to watch." Jessica has deep misgivings.

Jessica, Mal, and Azrael are about to celebrate their first Yule as a married triad. They've invited all their favorite people to dinner. Azrael is enjoying the chance to play in his new kitchen. He tries out a special cookie recipe on Jessica with unexpected results. Meanwhile, Mal takes Tod on a hunt for a Yuletide goose. Solstice geese migrate between the worlds, and they're supposed to be delicious. Unfortunately, hunting them can be dangerous. In the end, Tod and Mal bring home an uninvited guest that no one expected.

Sairis has known all his life that knights are not his friends…until the last few weeks, when he somehow forgot, and tumbled into bed with one. He told Roland to leave, hurt him badly, used as many cruel words as possible. And yet Roland stubbornly refuses to leave Sairis alone, half-naked and friendless in the wilderness. After a surreal week of shared secrets beneath the stars, they’re about to rejoin Mistala’s army as it prepares for a desperate battle with a deadly sorcerer.

Roland and Sairis have escaped from a traumatic assassination attempt, solved the mystery of their attacker, and enjoyed plenty of heavy petting along the way. Roland knows that it’s too soon for love, but he feels like he’s falling head over heels. However, in the final moments when their attacker is revealed, Sairis does something unthinkable. He transfers a brutal spell to Roland, nearly killing him, and disappears.

Prince Roland comes home from the war to bury his father and sees his sister on the throne. He sneaks out to his favorite tavern, the place where he kissed a man for the first time and the place where he used to carouse with the lover he buried on a battlefield. Roland expects to flirt with a few strangers for old time’s sake. He does not expect to find a fascinating scholar from out of town - a lonely young man with beautiful eyes and an obvious longing to be touched, buried beneath a prickly demeanor. Their unexpected chemistry makes him feel alive for the first time in months.