Princess Aleera  has a gift that could cost her everything. As a Siphon, she can see and steal magic—an ability so feared that those like her are either enslaved or executed. Four years ago, Aleera fled the palace after her powers bloomed unexpectedly and almost killed her brother. Fearing a Siphon’s fate, she vowed never to return. Surviving as a thief among a newfound family, Aleera manages to stay hidden until she is captured and dragged back to the palace in Ilara by the Captain of the King’s Guard, her former lover, whose betrayal still stings as fiercely as their unresolved past. 

Her father is dead, and her ruthless brother has seized the throne. He intends to use her as a pawn in his impending war against the bordering kingdom of Lunate. To escape an arranged marriage, Aleera invokes an ancient law allowing her to choose her own dowry, and demands a bride price no suitor could possibly pay: a relic lost deep within Ilara’s whispering jungles. But when another failed escape from the palace leaves her newfound family in her brother’s clutches, Aleera strikes a desperate bargain to retrieve the relic herself, and hand him the keys to unchecked power.

Venturing into the cursed jungle, Aleera is forced to make an unexpected alliance with a guardsman from Lunate, an enemy whose motives she questions, even as their dangerous attraction ignites. With her new companions, Aleera navigates a labyrinth of treacherous monsters and ancient powers, as she uncovers secrets that could either restore balance to the world or unleash ruin. But the closer she comes to the relic, the harder it becomes to keep her siphoning abilities hidden — especially from those loyal to her brother.