I'm corrupted. My soul was impure at birth. I’m an angel born with an insatiable need for vengeance so intense that they caged me, branded me, and kept me in the dark. I've been promised purity, redemption, and freedom from my cage. Failure is not an option. My soul depends on it. I must hunt the Dread—a merciless clan of dragon shifters whose true nature reveals itself in the dead of night. For once my killer instincts might set me free. But one mistake is all it takes. One moment costs me my freedom once more.

All I wanted was to keep my head above water. To survive long enough to hit my 18th birthday so I could escape the nightmare that my homelife had become. But all of that was turned upside down the moment they showed up. The best friend from my past. The surly brooder. The kindhearted nerd. The king of campus. The dark one.

A land where witches wear their spells like tattoos is no place for a woman without a single magical mark—except for Raven, whose unblemished skin contradicts the truth of her power. Surviving under the scowls of her fellow witches has carved indelible scars into her mind over the years—just as the day she watched the Dark King's men murder her grandmother in cold blood. But the Dark King's reign of terror is far-reaching, and Raven's grandmother won't be the last witch to die under his rule.

Six years ago, I awoke in a cage with no knowledge of who I was or where I’d come from. Six years ago, I was spared the flesh markets and instead thrown in with a group of savages, where I learned it was fight or die. Now, eight Orders of Assassins are converging on the only home I’ve ever known. All in hopes of purchasing new blade slaves for their ranks. I’m for sale, yet all I want is a life far from death and ownership. Then I meet them, the Order of Scorpions. Their allure is a threat to the freedom I crave, but I won’t fall victim to their sting, no matter how tempting it might be.

Until an oracle predicted my regal future, I'd never imagined myself rising above the curve of my round ears. After all, I was the magicless halfling loved by beasts but loathed by every pure-blooded faerie at court. Well...by all but one.