Scarlet has spent her entire life surviving in the shadows. With no family, no past, and no one to depend on but herself, she has become one of the most clever rogues in Asterfall. She knows every hidden alley, every rooftop, and every locked door worth opening. As a member of the Black Thorn, an underground criminal guild, Scarlet has learned how to steal, lie, fight, and disappear before anyone can catch her. Unfortunately for Scarlet, someone finally does. Captain Elias Drevok is one of the King's most loyal and feared guards, and he has been given a simple order: capture Scarlet alive. But Scarlet has never been good at following orders. After a series of dangerous encounters, narrow escapes, and increasingly frustrating run-ins, Scarlet finds herself crossing paths with Elias far more often than either of them would like. He is everything she isn't-disciplined, controlled, honorable, and infuriatingly difficult to escape. She is reckless, sarcastic, unpredictable, and apparently incapable of staying out of trouble. When a mysterious letter arrives and draws Scarlet into a secret far larger than anything she has ever known, she is forced to leave behind the only home she has ever had. With enemies beginning to close in and danger waiting beyond the borders of the kingdom, Scarlet reluctantly finds herself traveling alongside the very man who was supposed to bring her in.