A common thief. The kingdom’s protector. And the stone that could damn them all.

Tasked with stealing a powerful artifact from the formidable archduke of Kordouva, Adelaide is forced to balance her conscience against her need for survival. When she’s threatened by the Master of Thieves herself, Adelaide swallows her guilt and focuses on her mission, desperate to provide the only medication that can keep her mother alive. But can she weave a lie careful enough to keep her safe yet convincing enough to get close to the archduke to steal the Eye of Behelwer?

Archduke Gavin Hughes does not know the...

A common thief. The kingdom’s protector. And the stone that could damn them all.

Tasked with stealing a powerful artifact from the formidable archduke of Kordouva, Adelaide is forced to balance her conscience against her need for survival. When she’s threatened by the Master of Thieves herself, Adelaide swallows her guilt and focuses on her mission, desperate to provide the only medication that can keep her mother alive. But can she weave a lie careful enough to keep her safe yet convincing enough to get close to the archduke to steal the Eye of Behelwer?

Archduke Gavin Hughes does not know the luxury of rest. The sworn protector of Kordouva and closest advisor to the king, Gavin must now safeguard the most dangerous artifact of all: the Eye of Behelwer. With his investigation into the years-long string of thefts stalled, he devises a plan to draw the thief out of hiding—after all, what better way to catch a thief than to become their target?

Thrust into each other’s lives, Adelaide and Gavin soon realize neither is at all who they seemed. As they grow closer, so too does the threat of the Eye falling into the wrong hands. When Mistress Scrabs and her powerful new alliance threatens more than Adelaide’s family, can the pair come together in time to save Kordouva or will Penumbra’s Army cast a shadow over the country once more?