When the ship she is travelling on is caught in a storm, former slave-girl Coiran finds herself being offered up by the crew in sacrifice to the sea god.
Hunted by temple constables and the ship's captain who tried to sacrifice her, Coiran finds sanctuary in the household of former crown prince Elam Kelshall.
Yet her new-found safety is short-lived when someone starts killing off the royal family. Forced to make a pact with the god of violent death, can Coiran use her newly discovered heritage as the last living wulfharan to save her own life and that of the prince who is beginning to win her heart?
