The prince is missing. Her souls are hungry. And crossing the border may doom them both. Two months after reclaiming the Interior, Alex Kingsley has become the army's most valuable asset-and its greatest liability. Her power is extraordinary. Her conscience is inconvenient. And the Command is counting on her to forget the difference. To make matters worse, Will still hasn't returned from Rhea. With each passing week, hope feels harder to hold, and though her friends urge patience, waiting feels like a betrayal she can't survive. But she refuses to abandon the prince-or the only future worth fighting for-so she defies her commanding officers and crosses the Rim with a moral code no one else will honor. In the bowels of a dying kingdom, surrounded by uneasy allies, she learns that mercy, like love, leaves no one unscathed. And when the mission begins to unravel, Alex must choose: save humanity...or save its soul.