The Annual Gathering of the Five Kingdoms is upon us. The Forest King must have forgotten to post my invite. As the Commander of the Shadow Hunters, I don’t reign over one of the Five Kingdoms of Yterras, but rather the darkness that snakes between their borders, keeping out the plague of evil. All I wanted was respect for our work, and to live within their borders without punishment. Instead, I got shot. I didn’t expect the Forest King to have such a good aim. Or to look like… that. Even in the dark, his auburn-orange eyes pierce through me, and his striking scars make me think he’s hiding just as much as I am. It’s easy to keep my secret hidden when I hate him. When he locks me up and punishes my brother just to get to me. But then I feel the heat of his touch. The electricity in the air around him. And when bitter fights turn into amorous nights, I realize if he knew the real reason I spend my life in the shadows, he’d do far worse than shoot me. I’ve been confined to darkness since the day I was born. I’ve lived for so long in the most intricately-spun web of lies, but when the King and I are forced to face far greater issues together, it all threatens to unravel itself.