Faced with losing the only grimoire volume Daegan has or turning his back on Casidhe, he makes a surprising choice. Time is literally running out of an hourglass for Casidhe to prove her value to Queen Maeve or face never leaving TÅμr Medb, but to hand the crazy queen a grimoire volume would destroy humans and nonhumans. Reese finds a place to stay away from those she cares for in Atlanta while hunting the origin of demons flooding the city, but she’s not as adept at hiding as she thinks.

Trapped waist-deep in a flooded tunnel, Casidhe faces a new threat when Cathbad finds her, forcing her to gamble with her unpredictable sword. After Skarde attacked the gryphon village, a furious Daegan is no longer willing to show mercy to ice dragon shifters. Quinn, Reese, and the Beladors go after the demon-maker flooding Atlanta with predators, which backfires when Reese is faced with an unimaginable choice. Adrianna tries to work with Sen to escape their imprisonment, but he snubs her offer a moment before he shouldn’t have. 

While the Imortik venom continues to drain Daegan, his dragon confronts the dragon pretending to be his who wants Daegan dead. Casidhe finds a lead on a grimoire volume without Daegan around to stop her from a decision that turns out nothing like she expects. Tristan pays a heavy price for trying to escape spelled manacles. Atlanta is invaded by an influx of demons being driven by an unknown player while VIPER headquarters is attacked, resulting in a dangerous backlash from Tribunal deities.

Daegan is running out of time to find the destructive dragon impersonating him and the woman who claims to be the Treoir family squire, but Casidhe has no intention of being caught. She’s racing to find her best friend, believed captured by a deadly being. With Atlanta reeling from supernaturals being revealed, the Beladors are battling to protect humans while losing their own to Imortiks possessing any warm body, human or nonhuman. Hunting answers in Ireland lands Tristan somewhere he quickly realizes epitomizes a fate worse than death.

Atlanta hovers on the edge of chaos and pandemonium as rumors fly about supernatural beings living among humans. Deadly preternatural predators have been held in check for many years by the most formidable pantheons. One angry being has had enough and accesses majik of an ancient grimoire to release abominations capable of taking down the most powerful of humanity’s supernatural protectors.