As the Iris family consolidates their hold on Nether society, Will finds himself more powerful and yet more vulnerable than ever. His strongest supporters are gone, and his wife has left him, a fact that will destroy him if it comes out. To keep his position-and to stay alive-he needs to get her back, whatever the cost. Cathy has finally escaped the Nether but finds her reliance on Sam's protection chafing. When the mysterious sorceress, Bea, offers her a chance to earn true freedom, Cathy makes a deal with her. But can she and Sam work out the best way to navigate Bea's plans for the future without becoming another of her victims? Meanwhile, Sam finds that good deeds bring few rewards in the Elemental Court, and that the path to saving the world from self-destruction is strewn with blood, lawyers, and sleepless nights. Max and the gargoyle struggle to protect innocents as Rupert continues to be obsessed with finding Bea. As their fundamental beliefs in the way the Worlds work falters, they have to make difficult choices about where their loyalties lie.