Synopsis

SAHARA LINDGREN, a boxing coach in Port Angeles, Washington, just wants to keep her head down, forget the fire that took her mother and left her scarred eleven years ago, and erase every memory of the father who never returned. But on the anniversary of her mother’s death and father’s disappearance, she is kidnapped by TOR STONEHAVEN, a stoic army commander, and taken to Baulderus, home of the elemental courts, a place she thought only existed in her childhood bedtime stories.

Sahara’s worldview is shattered after learning that her father died believing she perished in the same fire that took her mom, and having passed just days ago, he has left her his crown and the family’s blood curse. As it is, Sahara’s choices are: find the sequestered shards of the Heart of Baulderus to obtain her elemental abilities before the next full moon, or die.

The quest for the four shards is complicated by the fact that her father’s beloved city is living under threat from the Dirsei, a group of long-dormant insurrectionists that have risen up against a half-human’s claim to the throne. The slaughter of twenty citizens of Baulderus at the hands of the Dirsei thrusts Sahara’s arrival to the forefront of the continent’s mind, drawing scrutiny from the four court rulers.

Realizing she can’t do it alone, Sahara must resort to the one thing her abandonment issues have made her swear she’d never do—trust. Together with Tor and MALIK, the crown’s indebted personal shield, Sahara embarks on a perilous journey across the continent. Every choice forces Sahara to confront impossible questions about herself and decide how much she is really willing to risk for a crown she never wanted in order to save people she never even knew existed.