Nearly 100 years after the Global War devastated the world, Aerina has only known peace. Raised a Patrician in the strictly segregated Alban Republic, she lacks for nothing. Nothing except knowledge of the world outside, and the attention of the man she desires most.

Marcus is a Reaper, responsible for the state’s security. He is a leader, an elite fighter, and sometimes, an executioner. Raised as a Man of Death, he has never known true peace.

While masquerading as a Plebeian, Aerina unknowingly is part of an assassination attempt on the Consul. Nearly executed, she becomes an outcast to her own class, and her life is now endangered by a traitor who thinks she knows too much. She turns to the most unlikely source for help – her almost-executioner, Marcus.

As the pair closes in on traitor, they uncover a far greater threat. Devastation is coming to their shores, lured by an Alban secret kept hidden since the Global War. Can Marcus and Aerina overcome their differences to save their world? And will they find in one another what they each desire most?