Delaney has lived a quiet life, hiding from her past at an estate that deals in the reversal of magic. But her sequestering has little to do with the lie of legacy her parents sold. She holds a secret gift. Taboo. Arcane. Previously thought to be as extinct as the owl they pray to. After untimely deaths pull her away from all she knows, Delaney finds herself in a position meant for her sister: bride to a Lord. Head of their faction. But her sliver of hopefulness is shattered by a dream.
Don’t trust him.
Val’s driving desires are inarguably reasonable: for his arranged wife to love him and to use his necromancy—held on a pedestal unlike Delaney’s—to make a difference and set his people free. If only he can get through the veil of denial his darling wife clings to like a lifeline. And the gentle suggestions of his deceased sister-in-law that he is not to be trusted. With his obsession at war with his secrets, Val races against a ticking clock to opportunity, a chance to change the world.