Before Astarti’s mother abandoned her to the deadly ocean tides, she gave her infant daughter a parting gift: a tattoo known as the Griever’s Mark, meant to carry her into death. But before the tide could claim her, the Earthmaker Belos, cast out by his people for his cruelty and for delving into forbidden magic, found and saved her. At least, that’s his story.

For seventeen years, Astarti has served Belos, using her control of the energy world, known as the Drift, to help Belos gain power throughout the kingdom of Kelda. Though she hates her master, the Leash he has anchored deep within her makes defiance impossible.

But when Logan, a handsome Earthmaker with his own reasons to hate Belos, recognizes that Astarti may be more than she seems, Astarti begins to unravel Belos’s lies: about her Mark, about her parents, and, most importantly, about her power. Astarti also discovers that Belos’s plans are bigger and more terrible than anyone has guessed, and she must decide: how much will she risk to stand against him?