When a healer begins murdering hospital patients, Professor Adrien Desfourneaux discovers that the threat is far closer to him than he could have imagined. Still recovering from a recent institutionalization and unable to trust his own mind or magic, Adrien is drawn into the witch hunt as suspicion falls upon those closest to him. The city's inquisitors and witchfinders are losing control, the magicians are growing more and more resentful, and the scars from Adrien's last brush with disaster refuse to fade. To put an end to the innocent deaths, to keep his dearest friends, and to prove himself worthy of a potential new romance, Adrien is forced to confront his own blind spots before he's fatally ensnared by the angel of death's machinations.

ADVANCED PRAISE

"ââ'¬Ã'¦readers will be thrilled with this second look into Adrien's world." -Kirkus Reviews, starred

"Nakamura displays phenomenal skill in writing intense, engaging dread while maintaining an inherent kindness to the narrative: the characters will hurt, but they'll also love and be loved. Desfourneaux's narrative is sharp, a knife wielded to cut desperately to the truth. I feared the moments it would be used against him and celebrated whenever it struck home where it deserved instead. A queer, smart, bewitching read."
-Meredith Katz, author of The Cybernetic Tea Shop