While Joclyn is trapped in the tormenting hell of Cail's mind, the battle around her only continues to grow and spread. Edmund has infiltrated the underground hallways of Prague, guiding the massacre that would end the lives of the last of the great magical race. In her attempts to stop him, Wynifred has been captured and her magic restrained. Chained up in the ancient dungeons of Prague, her fate is left in the hands of her father, who has tried to kill her before. With Ryland's screams and Sain's fragmented sights as her only company, Wyn must rely on something that has been hidden deep inside of her for centuries to help them break free. Ilyan's whole life has been building up to one purpose. Protect the Siln. He knows what he must do, and he has no doubt in his ability to do so. But when his father's magic removes Joclyn's mind from her body, he is left protecting the shell of the one person he loves.

Desperate to find a way to break her free of her prison, he makes a choice. And that one choice changes everything. Now, Ilyan finds himself bound to Joclyn in a way that he never knew to be possible. They say that blood is thicker than water, but Black Water burns, and Ilyan's heart may not be strong enough to keep it pumping through his veins and give the girl he loves back into his brother's care. Even if he can, it may not be safe to do so.