Hilde is shunned for her strange looks and ability to dream the future, both unwelcome gifts of the half-kyrbodan blood that flows in her veins. One of those dreams summons the legendary mage, Ilfayne, a tortured man driven by demons as cruel as her own. The only man who doesnt recoil from her. Condemned to four thousand years of loneliness and regret, Ilfayne finds a rare thing in Hilde: a friend. Just as he gathers the courage to reveal the tender feelings he thought hed lost, her kyrbodan blood forces her to bond with a man of her own race. To deny the bond means she could die. Either way, she is lost to him. Now llfaynes oldest enemy has resurfaced, one who will stop at nothing to destroy him. Including targeting their greatest vulnerabilitiesIlfaynes hidden love for Hilde, and Hildes guilt-wracked conscience. Holding the lives of two men in her hands, Hilde is faced with a terrible and deadly choice. Loyaltyor love.