A murdered caravan merchant, a threatened city, and a forbidden magick that could start a war.

As Marshall of the City of Dreams, Marcellus deim Lazar must solve the murder of a half-breed deim merchant discovered in a place no deim should be. The death could ignite a fire that will ravage the City he loves, for humans, powerful Cartos wizards, and the deim — the Cartos's half-breed children — coexist in the City in an uneasy peace. Long have the Cartos ruled, but now whispers fill darkened alleys with rumors that the deim may take back the long-denied power that their half-Cartos bloodline gives them.

To gather the evidence he needs, Marcellus must confront a magick that could save the woman he loves, or destroy everything he has given his life to preserve