Layde leads a double life: as a Duchess on the Hll, and as a mysterious assassin in a blood-red cloak. Born without a soulstone, set apart from every other person by her difference, she wanders adrift until she falls in love with Sehra, also a hired killer...and a mother. Layde takes jobs to fill the hollowness inside, but Sehra kills by a code. Their differences threaten to drive them apart, and tragedy threatens to destroy Layde. Only the love of a child has a chance of bringing her back from despair's edge.DAYLE A. DERMATIS has been called "one of the best writers working today" by USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith. Under various pseudonyms (and sometimes with coauthors), she's sold several novels and more than a hundred short stories in multiple genres. She lives and works in California within scent of the ocean, and in her spare time follows Styx around the country and travels the world, all of which inspires her writing. She loves music, cats, Wales, TV, magic, laughter, and defying expectations. To find out where she is today, check out her website.