by Jennifer St. Clair ~
When Alban's father appeared at the castle door with a vampire in tow and apologies on his lips, Alban fell under his spell just like everyone else and welcomed him home. But Terrin did not return to live quietly in his brother's kingdom. He had other plans, and with Alban's untrained powers at his disposal, he begins his plan to destroy the Seven Kingdoms and rule them all, beginning with his brother's death. He engineers to cast the blame on his nephew, Teluride, intending to see the boy executed for his father's murder. But there are those who would thwart him in his mad plan for power, and Alban forms an unlikely alliance with Skade, the reclusive Queen of Iomar, and Terrin's slave, a young vampire with no memory of his name or origins. Although the future looks grim, Alban and the vampire attempt to stop Terrin, and they almost succeed. But a darker history lies at the heart of Terrin's treachery, and only Skade knows the true reason why Terrin would murder his own brother and attempt to destroy both Alban and the vampire to achieve his goals. The Ghost who resides in Skade's mirror--her servant and slave--holds one of the keys to Terrin's madness, but more than one person wishes for the past to remain the past and the future to hold no shadows of what might have been. But the past will collide with the present, and the future remains uncertain and grim. Alban must find enough strength to withstand his father's spells in the face of certain death. His only hope for survival lie in the hands of his newfound friends, but each of them holds secrets of their own that could destroy the fragile peace of an entire world.