Full of sensuality and the all-consuming anticipation of latent powers unleashed, Laurell K. Hamilton’s world of gods, shapeshifters and immortal souls is unveiled in all of its supreme magnificence and its treacherous deceits . . .Merry Gentry has heard the whispers of her guard. They fear her even as they protect her, and who can blame them? When a long missing chalice appears as if summoned from her dreams, she awakens a magic that has slumbered within her guards for thousands of years. What once stripped their powers is now restoring them.At the same time, Merry’s aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness, has shifted her focus from her usual sadistic hobbies to an unwavering obsession with her niece. While Merry spends each night with her immortal guards, no heir has come from their decadent pleasures. And still her power is surging like never before.And there are those who loathe her for it. Some in the Unseelie Court would not have it weakened further by a half-mortal queen. Merry’s enemies grow in number every day. But they do not know what she is capable of. Nor, for that matter, does she . . .