by R. K. Brainerd (Author)
Meet Fairian Leynthall. She's irreverent, the unwilling heiress of her family's business empire, and obsessed with learning magic. She's also got two big problems.
One, there's evidence the magical being who killed her sister is in town.
Two, there's this supernatural jerk interfering with her field research. He keeps spouting nonsense about danger, treating her like she matters, and distracting her with big lonely eyes. Not to mention it's aggravating how much being around him makes her feel like her true self.
Then turns out that her supernatural jerk, Daimyn, is some kind of lynchpin in the magical community, and people are desperate to control the power he holds. As Fairian struggles to unravel the truth about her sister's death, a ridiculous rumor of Daimyn's affection for her spreads, and she becomes a target. Fairian convinces Daimyn to work together to fix it, but she won't let herself get close to him. Because the last magical being she trusted? Killed her sister.
History threatens to repeat itself as Fairian falls further into the tangled web of supernatural politics. Becoming a pawn would be the easy path. The hard path will mean believing in herself, being vulnerable enough to trust, and take back power to be her own piece on the board.