Nothing is more dangerous than throwing an unguarded word into the Secret Rows—especially during a ritual of exchanging fates, and especially if the ritual is performed by an old graveyard mara. Militsa is the daughter of a ruined merchant. Kupava is a silvermaster whom her father marries off to an unloved man. What exists seems so insignificant, what’s desired is so hard to resist… But the last thing anyone should do is go to the old mara for help! These creatures can’t be trusted. Forever hungry, thirsting for human warmth, they’re ready for vile treachery and theft of the fate left unwatched so carelessly.