Not thinking twice, I ran to Josh and pulled his head into my lap. Taking the silver, I began to burn the venom from his cuts as I cried. He didn't respond, not a cry or a scream, nothing. My heart ached, he was dying. His heart beat once more and then stopped. Everyone in the clearing froze, waiting for the next beat but it never came. Everything inside me broke and I wailed out in pain. This couldn't be happening. "No." I cried as I pulled his lifeless body closer to me, "Please. You have to come back to me." Everything inside me was on fire and my chest ached worse than anything I had ever felt before, "Come back to me." I kissed his lips but no response, no need, no nothing. "You can't leave me." Desperately, I clutched him tighter to me. "Please." But nothing came.

Siena can heal wounds with a touch of her hands. A captive since birth, she is used as a tool of war by a Plainsmen tribe. A chance escape into the forest proves successful... and deadly. Rescued by the Forestfolk--a group of people she always thought were nothing more than bedtime stories--Siena remains on edge. Trust does not come easily when persecution is all she's ever known. Keeping her abilities a secret seems like the right thing to do, until a tragic accident renders two Forestfolk spiraling toward death. If she chooses to reveal her abilities, she risks being subjugated again. Treated as no longer human. Maybe even sent back to the Plainsmen. But keeping her talent to herself means ignoring the injured around her, even allowing them to die. The choice seems obvious to Siena, but living with the repercussions of that choice is another matter altogether. A journey of self-discovery, a bit of adventure, and a splash of romance. On the Wattys 2017 Shortlist!