Beauty and the Beast meets The Sandman in this scorching-hot fantasy that's perfect for fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout and Holly Black. In a world where birth order determines your fate, what if everything you believed about yourself was a lie? Like all second-born daughters of the realm, Cerise Solon has never ventured beyond the temple grounds where she lives in service to the goddess. But unlike her peers, Cerise is a complete failure as an oracle. Her inability to foretell a single tragedy has brought shame upon her family, something she sees reflected in their eyes during their rare visits. Everything changes when the head seer offers Cerise an opportunity to serve the Half King-a young man who rules by day and turns to shadow at sunset. As a firstborn son, the king bears his bloodline's curse, destined to vanish completely upon his twenty-first birthday. While searching for a way to restore him, Cerise finds a kindred spirit in the mysterious young ruler, and with his help discovers a startling revelation about herself that unlocks a powerful set of gifts. But the truth comes with a price. For she is no oracle, but instead the product of a union so forbidden its discovery would sentence her to death. Despite her tainted origins, Cerise might be the key to restoring order to the land and saving the man she's quickly growing to love...if she can outlive those sworn to destroy her.