Trapped in the Seelie Court by a forest of thorns, Selena Hale lives at the mercy of the dragon shifters. Her only chance to gain her freedom is by entering the Atonement Trials: a deadly competition that pits fae magic users against each other. Only three people can win, and Selena intends to be one of them. There is only one problem. Draven Ryat, the ruthless commander of the dragon shifter army, is determined to make her lose.

After the Atonement Trials, Selena is trying to navigate her new life outside the Seelie Court. The world is very different from what she imagined, but her mission remains the same. Using every skill she has, she is going to help the secret resistance take down the Iceheart Dynasty. But that path yet again sets her on a collision course with Draven Ryat. While the rebellion plots a daring scheme, important people start turning up dead. Draven is tasked with solving the murders. Selena is trying to help the killer. If either one of them fails, they will face dire consequences.

A desperate mission takes Selena and her friends to the Unseelie Court. But making deals with the cunning fae of that realm is dangerous. When the Unseelie King forces them into a bargain in exchange for the help they so sorely need, they are pulled into a lethal scheme. To survive it, they must beat the Unseelie King at his own game.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. To take down the Iceheart Dynasty, Selena and her friends must turn enemies into allies and setbacks into opportunities. But the world is filled with more secrets than Selena can imagine, and untangling the twisted web of interconnected loyalties and hidden agendas is far from easy.

The final war against the Iceheart Dynasty has already started, and now it is a race against time to catch up before their enemies can wipe them out completely. But after everything that has been done to her, Selena struggles heavily with the effects of magic. Managing the full impact of it while fighting on the losing side of a war might just prove to be impossible. At least alone. But her friends are battling their own demons, and not everyone comes out unscathed.