The law of equivalent exchange. The bedrock of the practice of alchemy.

For the owner of a hole-in-the-wall bar, a little alchemy from an unexpected source turns out to be the perfect way to keep her business afloat. Enhance a few bottles of high-class booze for a few special customers, and all of a sudden they're not just carrying on conversations with her, they're confiding business secrets they wouldn't let slip to anyone else.

Sure, alchemy comes with a cost—equivalent exchange, remember?—but she always thought she was willing to pay the price.

Right up until she serves that special booze to one of the old gods, a powerful businessman with a plan of his own.

"One of the best writers I've come across in years. Annie excels at whatever genre of fiction she chooses to write." —Kristine Kathryn Rusch, award-winning editor and writer of The Retrieval Artist series

"The appearance of a new Annie Reed story is a treat. Try one and you'll be hooked." –David H. Hendrickson, award-winning author of "Death in the Serengeti

"Annie's writing is magic, seriously." –Robert J. McCarter, author of A Ghost's Memoir series