PRE-ORDER NOW - 12 May 2026

An emotionally-charged contemporary fantasy of love, sacrifice and ancient enchantments as Polish folklore thrives in today's Chicago, from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Divergent, Chosen Ones and Arch-Conspirator. Step into a city where monsters feast on human emotions, knights split their souls to make their weapons, and witches always take more than they give. Pain is Dymitr's calling.

To slay the monsters he's been raised to kill, he had to split his soul in half to make a sword from his own spine. Every time he draws it, he gets blood on his hands. Pain is Ala's inheritance

When her mother died, a family curse to witness horrors committed by the Holy Order was passed onto her. The curse will claim her life, as it did her mother's, unless she can find a cure. One fateful night in Chicago, Dymitr comes to Ala with a bargain: her help in finding the legendary witch Baba Jaga in exchange for an enchanted flower that just might cure her.

Desperate, and unaware of what Dymitr really is, Ala agrees. But they only have one day before the flower dies, and Ala's hopes of breaking the curse along with it. 'Lovely, lush, and full of otherworldly longing, this modern fairytale is Roth at her most imaginative and ethereal.' Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six