A thousand years have passed since a dragon has been seen in the world. Science and technology have replaced magic, which has dwindled until it has become little more than an element of myth and legend. There are those who still have dragon blood flowing through their veins, distant descendants of the mighty creatures of old. These rare humans have the power to cast magic, the power to heal, and the power to craft alchemical weapons capable of starting wars...or ending them.

Telryn "Trip" Yert has always been a little odd, with hunches that are too accurate to explain. Magic is feared and forbidden in Iskandia, so he's struggled his whole life to hide his eccentricities. As a boy, he was forced to watch his mother's execution. Her crime? Witchcraft. Understandably, Trip wants nothing to do with the power that lurks within him, always threatening to reveal itself. Instead, he dedicates himself to serving as an officer in the king's army, to battling pirates and imperial conquerors. He longs to become a soldier as respected and renowned as General Zirkander.

When you're an outlaw hoping for a pardon, and the emperor personally sends a note requesting that your team kidnap him, you make plans to comply, even if it'll involve infiltrating a train full of soldiers, bodyguards, and spies loyal to a nefarious business coalition that has numerous reasons to hate you.

As a freelance assassin, Val Thorvald leads a dangerous life. She’s learned not to stay in the same place for long and not to get too attached to anything. For example, she would never consider adopting a pet. But when she’s searching for a missing friend, she finds an abandoned silver tiger cub. The magical feline is clearly from another realm, but Val has no idea which one or how to send it back. All she knows is that it’s the only witness to her friend's kidnapping.

As a commoner, Kaylina Korbian's duty is to bow to aristocrats, avoid rabble-rousers, and call the haughty royal rangers "my lord"—especially the arrogant Vlerion of Havartaft. Handsome, powerful, and a legendary swordsman, he's the last person you'd want to cross. Naturally, Kaylina irks him at their first meeting, and he arrests her. Unbeknownst to her, the city is dealing with political strife and assassinations, and the rangers are on edge. Kaylina must work with Vlerion to clear suspicion from her name, even as she unearths a dark secret about him that will either bind them together.