Chosen when a child, Lady Joselyn is trained to be a ruthless killer. She is destined to be the English king's assassin and protector. Only he and the guild master are supposed to know. It's a life and death secret that must be kept. For an assassin survival is precarious. Life is something you simply cannot take for granted because the next day is never granted. Despite her privileged upbringing, Joselyn quickly learned how to survive on her own and to never trust a soul while following the Guild without question. Upon her return to England, a murderous plot against King Cassiush is discovered. Joselyn is shocked when she finds out who the fiend is. She's even more shocked when the King proposes marriage, a lot. An assassin has never married her king before. The last one who fell in love had her tongue ripped out and was burned alive. Letting her emotions cloud her judgment, Joselynfalls for Cassius and agrees to the marriage, jeopardizing not only his life but her own. Disobeying the Guild means death. Now she must figure out how to keep them both alive and not piles of smoldering ash.

Leonard wants to bequeath his tattooed skin to the National Gallery of Australia. He has been almost completely inked by one of Australia's best contemporary artists, but he is a canvas that nobody wants. Strange things start happening to Leonard, Darwin's moth, a tattoo from his calf, flutters around him one night, he wakes with a Cold War gas mask on his head, Mao Tse Tung appears in his bed. Tattoos from his skin come alive before him and he becomes more convinced than ever that his skin is truly precious.