Fae Isles

Agenor, Lord Protector of the Fae Isles and right hand of the Mother herself, doesn’t expect anything to still surprise him after twelve centuries of life. Finding a taunting note from an anonymous thief in his wardrobe is enough to rouse his curiosity, though. Enough to do the unthinkable—write back. Then he finds out he’s been exchanging letters with a humble human. Worse, a human challenging him to his face.

They call him the Silent Death, because he kills without sound and leaves none capable of speaking in his wake… When the empire’s deadliest fae murderer catches her wielding forbidden magic, twenty-year-old Emelin believes her hour has come. Instead, her inhumanly beautiful captor spares her life, but carries her off on his velvet wings into the one place from which no human ever returns: The heart of the Fae Isles. The treacherous Crimson Court, where the Mother of faekind has ruled unchallenged over fae and humans for decades.

Haunted by shadows of his past and magic he never wanted to wield, Creon is slowly losing control of his powers. The only solution may be found outside the buried halls of the Alliance’s stronghold—back within reach of the Mother and her armies hunting for him. Soon Emelin can no longer hide from the war looming over the archipelago. When her quest for Creon’s safety reveals glimpses of her own mysterious origins, she has no choice but to claim her place on the battlefield…or lose the male she loves forever.

With war looming, Emelin's plan is simple: break the Mother's bindings while her more diplomacy-minded friends persuade the rest of the world to join their rebellion. Unfortunately, their would-be allies are far too concerned about Em's exact connection to the feared and hated Silent Death. They might risk their lives for the world's only unbound mage, but they'll never fight for a fae prince's puppet. Forced to hide the explosive secret of their love, Em and Creon journey to the plague-cursed continent to learn more about the bindings.

Emelin has finally found the bindings, the key to her victory. But to use them, she needs one last piece of the puzzle… and the only person who can give her that information is a stubbornly silent Thysandra. An uncooperative captive is the least of Em's problems.