My ascension through blood and tears to become Saanire Aurelia Rior didn't matter-I felt like an imposter walking into the gathering of Rior, like a child playing dress-up with powers I hadn't grown into yet.

As autumn fades to bitter winter, Aurelia is running out of time to follow Lucien, Aamon, and the others to the distant northern mountains where the long-lost Rior sanctuary lies hidden. An ethereal beast and dangerous storms bar the way . . . but so does the shard of memory lodged in Aurelia's heart. Reliving her mother's murder, she now sees herself rotting before her own eyes, unable to sleep, unable to focus her riore.

When she finally reaches the secluded valley, the truth of why the Rior have stayed hidden for a millennium is worse than anything she could have imagined. Aurelia must use her forbidden blood and the powers that come with it to save those she loves, right ancient wrongs, and close the wound that has plagued Iyarri society since the Night of Bloody Feathers.