Sireno has grown up knowing that she is the key to the magic that keeps her parents apart. It hasn't been a fun burden to bear when her mom announces that it is time for her to head to the Crossroads to break the binding.

Aeric has seen Sireno in action, both as a shadow who can lift objects and testifying fearlessly in the Mage Guild courts. Her beauty and wit only match her versatility. Without lying outright, she obfuscated enough to make him doubt what he had witnessed. What a woman.

Once she is at the Crossroads, she is ready to settle in, but she gets an emergency call. She sends her shadow out to get two shifters out of trouble, but she is shocked when one of them returns to the Crossroads, looking for her.

With a stunned realization, she finds that she was waiting for him all along.