The time has come for Meredith Gentry to put aside her detective work and fulfill her ultimate obligation to the world of Faerie-where her efforts to conceive an heir to the throne of the Unseelie Court are crucial to restoring magic, and life itself, to the fey kingdom. And though her quest may be rife with pleasures, the shadows of intrigue continue to suffuse the royal court , . . and sabotage may lurk at any turn.

While the Unseelie Mound reawakens in the dead gardens, powerful curses are at work. Merry's uncle, the King of Light and Illusion, schemes to accuse her immortal guardsmen of heinous crimes. And Merry's own command of magic has turned wildly and dangerously unpredictable. As plots and counterplots are hatched, and strategies and subterfuges played out, the destiny of an entire world turns upon the fortunes of Merry Gentry: object of obsession, target of treachery, pawn of uncertain fate.