She defeated the treacherous millionaire Lionel Salt and snatched her lover, Vince, from the powerful leaders of the Shadow Lodge—so Charlie was certain she’d finally come out on top. By agreeing to become the Hierophant and wagering her life to hunt dangerous autonomous shadows, she believed it was a small price to pay for a chance to keep Vince.
But Vince is no longer the same: his memories of the last year are gone, replaced by Red’s alter ego—cold, ruthless shadow who’d worked for Salt for years as a hired killer. Red doesn’t recognize Charlie, and she means nothing to him.
After receiving an order to track down the Mawd—an extraordinarily dangerous criminal who left behind a bloody massacre—Charlie feels not only loneliness and a crushed, grieving heart. She understands that she’s become defenseless. In a world where shadows live by their own rules, the main question isn’t simply how to survive. The real challenge is how to protect herself from what she can’t escape: her own shadow.