Grant has a tolerance for boredom. Late shift in a middle-of-nowhere facility? Sign him up. If the money’s good, he’ll happily take the peace and quiet of a long night watching an empty cell.

And then he meets Subject B-31. Blue, beautiful, and completely inhuman. Her captors call her Batty, thanks to her big ears and the way she hangs upside down by her tail.

He’s told not to talk to her. He’s told to think of her as a test subject, not a person. He’s told to cash his checks and live his humble life. He’s told to ignore the sorrow...

Grant has a tolerance for boredom. Late shift in a middle-of-nowhere facility? Sign him up. If the money’s good, he’ll happily take the peace and quiet of a long night watching an empty cell.

And then he meets Subject B-31. Blue, beautiful, and completely inhuman. Her captors call her Batty, thanks to her big ears and the way she hangs upside down by her tail.

He’s told not to talk to her. He’s told to think of her as a test subject, not a person. He’s told to cash his checks and live his humble life. He’s told to ignore the sorrow on her face and the desperation in her crimson eyes. Maybe he should have listened. When he finally busts her out, the rescue isn’t a rescue at all: it’s an abduction.

Batty is Princess Sykora, of the tyrannical Taiikari Empire. She commands the Black Pike, a massive voidship on the imperial frontier. Grant must learn a new life, in a firmament filled with ambitious nobles, deadly rivals, and the sinister smiles of the Taiikari Imperial Court. And he’ll have to learn fast.

Because when the Princess of the Void looks at Grant, she doesn’t just see a savior—she sees a husband.

And she isn’t asking.