It has been two months since Emma wielded a sword on the deck of the Lady's Mercy alongside the golden-haired Hemmish naval officer with copper eyes. Two months of pins in her hair and napkins in her lap and trying with everything in her to be the person she was born to be, the Charlie Ache never leaving her chest. Circles are appearing everywhere, often accompanied by murders. A house party turns deadly, but not before someone appears who she never expected to see again. Only . . . he might not be who she thought he was.

Lady Olenn is trying everything she can think of to make Emma feel at home, but danger seems to have followed her there. Keeping Emma safe while protecting her own heart from the pirate captain who abandoned and then betrayed her might be her undoing.

Captain Marchand is doing all in his power to track down the elusive Alayan, but first he has to make sure the girl he raised is safe. Which means facing the only woman he's ever loved, who is destined to hate him forever.

When the threat to the entire Alayan coast becomes personal, each of them must decide who they can trust and which battles they're willing to fight. And hope they all survive in the end.