Lyrielle owns only two things: a friend named Ifan, and the courage to keep her heart open when the world strikes her. Bound by magical contract to parents who treat her as a slave, Lyrielle has served in their inn since childhood, protected by Ifan, a eunuch with an immense heart who dreams for the two of them of a better life. The day three dragon hunters buy her to sell her across the sea, she loses Ifan, her only family, and discovers a world in which humans are nothing but merchandise. Coll, Titorn, and Valeyrios are dragons haven’t been able to shift for three centuries, trapped in human form by a curse that haunts their entire people. Coll doesn't smile, doesn't speak of his past, and shouldn't be looking at her the way he does. Titorn is gentleness itself, the one whose smile warms the worst mornings and whose patience knows no bounds. Valeyrios is the warrior who throws her to the ground six times a day to teach her to fight, and then buys her a hairbrush without a word of explanation. Their mission is simple: sell this evalune to the army of Dragonis, where her ability to disrupt the magic of dragons will be used to contain the Dragans, a corrupted and murderous form of dragon. But nothing goes as planned. Every night, Coll is forced to sleep against Lyrielle to maintain the bond of the contract. His dragon heat wraps around the body of the woman he refuses to desire. Lyrielle's touch brings forth on Coll's hip the first shifting scale seen since the curse. And when the time comes to sell her, none of the three hunters can bring himself to do it.