Callo's skin felt sunburned, and there was an acrid odor in the air. He looked around in the dusk and saw that he stood at the center of a blackened ring. He held his fingers up in front of his face and saw that they were blistered, the fingertips cracked and reddened. The wild magery had escaped his control and burned everything around him. He was fortunate he had not set the mountaintop ablaze.

                                                                                      * * *

The walls Callo has maintained all his life to guard against his dangerous power are failing. Uncontrolled, his magic threatens his sanity and the safety of all those around him—even Kirian, who could be forced away by Callo's misuse of his power. Fighting with his own abilities, Callo still resolves to protect the young heir from the intrigues of the King. And Ander himself must decide whom to trust, as he becomes the target of an assassin.