Evie doesn't remember a life before she was on the streets, a life before thieving to live and killing to stay alive. When a royal family she didn't know anything about goes missing, Evie finds herself thrown into the royal court of the protectors, and they demand her help. Help in exchange for a chance at freedom and the name that's haunted her, forgotten. A name she can’t even read, a name she doesn’t understand.

A simple promise I made to myself after escaping a brutal childhood of abuse and being trained to enact violence on unblessed witches. Since that moment, I've managed to survive on the streets by successfully pickpocketing. Unfortunately, after years of hiding, the monster who stars in all my nightmares is closer than ever, and I'm faced with only one option—to seek refuge at the Dark Imaginarium Academy. The Academy is filled with the elite witches of our society. I should have expected I'd run into some of my previous targets. Normally, that wouldn't be a proble—except for my last hit.

It’s Monsters Night, the annual event where the portals to other realms and realities open, and monsters flood the streets to search for their potential mates. And I’m one of the candidates. Why? Because I broke all the rules. I fought back against the elitist system hellbent on enslaving humankind. And f--k if I’m going to let one of these monsters claim me. Let alone three of themOrcus.

Unfortunately, not all people from magical bloodlines have powers, and at 22, I’m several years past the age they usually appear. So I’ve resigned myself to a boring, magic-less life. Then something strange happens. I get stuck in the middle of a bar fight, and instead of just punching the guy back, I blow a hole in the wall. So...I guess I do have powers. But they’re unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. This shit is definitely not normal. And it seems the magical authorities agree. I can go to school, learn to control my magic. Or they’ll take it away. Permanently.

My sadistic mother and god-fearing father believe I have the devil inside of me because I heal after their abuse. I accepted long ago I would die in the very place I'd been born without ever feeling the sun on my skin. Then, one day, my mother took me from my father's religious cult in the wake of his death. Nearly a week later, and after countless hours with her boyfriend Jed's creepy remarks, I find myself in Washington State. I had only ever interacted with my parents and now Jed, so you can imagine my surprise when I ran smack dab into possibly the most handsome man in the world.