**AN INSTANT NO.1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**

From the #1 Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of Arcana Academy comes the first in a new, heart-pounding fantasy duology, about a young woman who must survive a score of brutal tests and trials to escape her cursed fate.

The moment you see a dragon is usually your last...

Since the dragons emerged - along with the scourge that ravaged our lands and people - there's only one human city that remains standing: Vingard.

But the hellfire from above is nothing compared to the threat from within. For there is no worse fate than being Dragon Cursed. Slowly and excruciatingly, you'll be transformed into a mindless beast who destroys everything - and everyone - you love.

Any of us could be tainted. Any of us could be lying. Any of us could be caught and killed by the authorities. And I'm terrified that I might be next.

There's only one other person who might suspect my secret. He's like my shadow, following me wherever I go. Part protector, part tormentor, fully annoying. Sometimes I think I am just one of the million unfathomable secrets he keeps hidden.

Because Lucan definitely knows something.

And if I'm Dragon Cursed, death might be the only mercy I get.