Kairos didn't come to the Sharli compound looking for a woman, he just wants to do his job and go home. Only he's been duped by Synol, his family's patriarch, and Mar'kos, who seem to think that he needs a woman in his life. Not bloody likely. The last woman to enter his life extracts a hefty price from him every year. But they've made sure he can't refuse this woman by placing her life in his hands, either he keeps her or she dies.The Sharli have one purpose to the people of Gatlantis: ensure their survival. Most Sharli enter the compound as babes and are trained in the arts of seduction. But Mhairi is like no other Sharli. She wasn't given to the compound, but taken by force. She wasn't bred into submissiveness, but taught to protect what is hers. She is a fighter by nature and her instincts tell her that Kairos' lethal arms is where she belongs. There's only one problem: Damia.