Penny Barclay thought she could trust those closest to her. Her mother had been a paragon of virtue, a woman of sense and ingenuity in Penny's eyes. Lou had been Penny's friend, her confidante, her mentor. But both of them had kept dangerous secrets. Now, Penny finds herself trapped in the capital with the evidence Prince Aiden, Lord of the Underworld, needs. With the notes she found in her mother's study, they could finally name the Cartographer and stop the rebellion running rampant through their kingdom. Only there's one problem: the Prince is avoiding her. If she can't figure out how to get him to talk to her, the very kingdom may find themselves redrawn under the Cartographer's hand.

Guilt dogs Prince Aiden's every footstep. He can still hear Penelope's screams in his dreams, see the flames devour Barclay Manor until it was nothing but ashes. But with a murderer on the loose in the capital, he can't risk allowing his feelings to cloud his judgement, even if it means keeping Penelope Barclay far away from him. With Penelope now trapped in the capital, Aiden has to do whatever he can to make the city safe-even if that means running away from the mage girl with cinnamon hair and emerald eyes shadowing his every move.