Hopeless he''ll never be more than the boy who let his brother drown, seventeen-year-old Avikar accepts his life as the family stable boy and tries to forget the past. But when his sister, Jeslyn, is kidnapped, the thought of losing another sibling catapults him on a desperate quest. With his best friend by his side, Avikar uses the tracking skills his father taught him and discovers Jeslyn''s been taken by Lucino, the young lord of Daath--a mystical place that''s only existed in fables. And Lucino has plans for Jeslyn. His shape-shifting brethren feed off the auras of humans, and Jeslyn''s golden hue is exactly what Lucino needs to increase his power. The longer it takes Avikar to reach her, the more entranced she becomes with Lucino''s world, and the harder it will be for Avikar to set her free. He failed his family once. He won''t fail again.