Her options are to enslave more people, or die in a prison camp. But Avilene has other ideas.

Rescuing the Phantom Nightingale from the clutches of the empire seems an impossible task, especially when Avilene is kidnapped by a dreaded skyhound, leaving the Carpathia in a crash dive for the Earth's surface. Brayde must seek the help of a gruff insurgent leader to repair the ship and locate Avilene.

Trapped in the confines of an Andul work camp, Avilene is cut off from her magic abilities, unable to escape the inhuman treatment of the camp's guards that land her in a perverse hospital with only one way out: the morgue.

To find each other again, Brayde and Avilene must overcome the conniving designs of a Skyhound Master before he destroys Xanthe and twists Avilene into a tool of repression for the empire.