The differences between me and the Iyarri were so slight . . . but these similarities brought no kinship; instead the Iyarri treated them as things I'd stolen, things that weren't rightfully mine.

Hated, heckled, and reviled, Aurelia has spent six months cloistered inside the Iyarri stronghold of Idura as a living, breathing reminder of her father's sins. Much as she did in the human world, she takes refuge in her art, but when a savage act of cruelty shatters the last piece of her old life, something inside Aurelia breaks, awakening a dangerous new ability in a rush of golden light. Her new powers, left unchecked, threaten to drive her to madness, but she might never get the chance to learn more—there's someone out there who knows what she is and wants her dead.

Now, in a world full of blades, magic, and threats on all sides, Aurelia must rely on a traitor to master her newfound powers, stay alive, and reveal the secret behind her place in Iyarri society.

Melissa Lynn Herold is artistically talented, scientifically minded, and magically fascinated, things that manifest in both her fiction and her nonfiction. An herbal alchemist, Melissa owns and runs NightBlooming, where she blends up herbs and oils that grow real-life fairytale hair, and has published two nonfiction books, Rehabilitating Damaged Hair Naturally and Coloring Hair Naturally with Henna & Other Herbs.

Her debut fantasy series, the Iyarri Chronicles, began with Heaven's Silhouette, and continues with Mourning's Dawn. She lives with her husband in a sweeping river valley, along with their mutinous cats and garden dotted with honeybees.