Hidden from birth into our world until she was twenty, Hannalyn is pulled back into her true world where she discovers she's the last living member of a powerful house of mages after an attack that has left almost all of her family murdered. Desperate and learning to work magic on the fly, Hannalyn finds that her best hope for survival is marrying into another mage's home, in New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris's start to a new series.

When Hannalyn sees a portal to the world she has been having visions of materialize in her yard and a hand reaches out, knowing in her heart this is the right move, she takes it and is transported to the world she was truly born into, a Renaissance-era looking world of deadly intrigue and magic. Hannalyn Sevrene is the last living mage of her family line, and she's being hunted by rival families who want to use her power for their own gains. Gathering her half-brother Sandlin and half-sister Berea, warriors both, the three set off on a quest to find a safe haven amidst another mage's stronghold via an arranged marriage that is looking better every time they talk, in New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris's first book in a new series.