In the seven years she’s served the goddess Persephone, Ciara has been many things. A comforting shoulder, a voice of caution, a threatening whisper in the dark—whatever can charm Persephone’s allies and trick her enemies long enough to get the goddess what she wants. The only thing Ciara hasn’t been... is honest. But when she meets Mal Keyne, a fledgling agent of Hades in danger from her own temple, her usual tactics aren’t enough anymore. If she wants to save her new friend’s life, she’ll need to do the scariest thing the gods have ever asked of her. She’ll need to let someone in.

It’s been ten years since Mal died. Five years since the god Hades dragged her from the underworld and forged her, through blood and pain, into his living weapon. And in five minutes, the only other agent of Hades she trusts will die. Someone is assassinating Hades’s agents all over New York City. If Mal can’t find the one responsible, she’ll be next—if she’s lucky. If not, she’ll watch everything she cares about go up in flames first. Mal didn’t choose this life. But now it’s all she has. And she’ll be damned if she lets anyone—human or god—take what is hers.

She used to be a simple assassin. Those were the days... Mal’s job used to be find the people causing problems for Hades and give them a one-way ticket to his realm. But with Hades’s temple a pile of rubble and his other operatives dead, she has a new mission—prevent the entire world from finding out about the temple while single-handedly holding Hades’s territory against the rest of the gods. And in less than two days, a documentary crew will get access to the ruins of the temple, and broadcast the truth about the gods’ secret wars. Unless... Mnemosyne, goddess of memory, can alter a few memories and make the publicity problem go away. All she wants in return is one human dead—a human who happens to have the power to level entire buildings with a thought. Mal’s maybe-ally Bastian offers to provide backup—but nothing is ever free. He needs her help settling an old score against a certain goddess. A goddess named Mnemosyne...

A month ago, Mal was ordered to close a gate between Hades’s realm and the mortal world—by killing Hades’s last surviving priestess, one of her only friends. She hesitated, and saved her friend’s life. Now the city is paying the price. Two spirits are haunting the streets of Manhattan, and one of them has a body count. Victims have been turning up all over the city, each killing more vicious than the last, and the only way to stop it is to send the spirits back where they belong—before they grow too strong for even Hades to control. If Mal can’t return them to the afterlife, she’ll pay a price of her own. When she let the spirits slip through the gate, she violated a fundamental law of the underworld: the worlds of the living and the dead must remain separate at all costs. For this betrayal of her god, only one punishment exists—she will be stripped of Hades’s Mark. And the only way to remove a god’s Mark is to destroy the bearer’s soul.

When humans start showing up dead after visiting Manhattan’s hottest new club, Mal’s mission seems simple enough: find whatever supernatural critter is responsible, and show them the consequences of intruding on Hades’s territory. Mal isn’t complaining—between moving in with Bastian and dealing with the fallout of Melinoë’s attack, she could use an easy job. But the more she investigates, the less simple it becomes... because someone wanted Mal to find out about these deaths. Someone with the power to command creatures that even the gods fear. Someone with a plan that could tear apart the divine and mortal realms alike—a plan that is missing only its final piece: Mal herself. Mal would never betray Hades. At least that’s what she always thought. But everyone has their price... and somebody may have found hers.

War is coming. Mal and Bastian have always known that when Humanity Ascendant declares war on the gods, they’ll be fighting on opposite sides. But that’s always felt like a problem for another day. Not anymore. Mal knows Bastian won’t live to see the end of the war. The only question is how many of Mal’s friends he’ll take down with him. Unless Mal stops the war before it starts. She has one shot, and she’s going to take it. Even if that means defying her god. Even if it means deceiving her allies. Even if it means losing Bastian.

Hades’s assassins are closing in, and Mal has only one place left to run: home. In her previous life, Mal was the dutiful daughter of a prominent United States Senator, and her family is still living and working just outside the city. It’s a risky move, but she knows the Marked of the gods won’t dare follow her into the public eye. For the last ten years, the world has believed Mal dead. It’s time to show them how wrong they are. But she hasn’t taken into account how far her family will go to avoid losing her a second time. Or her knack for finding divine trouble wherever she goes. Or that the long-forgotten ghost of her former self still lurks inside her, desperate to get her old life back… at any cost.

Mal is back—but nothing is the same. Ciara won’t look her in the eye. Kimmy is acting like Mal is going to murder them all in their beds. Ginevra is too friendly all of a sudden. And in the wake of Mal’s crimes against Persephone’s temple, relations between Hades and Persephone are growing more strained by the day. When an unexpected attack strikes at the heart of the temple, the rift between Hades and his allies widens—and the bonds between Hades’s operatives begin to fracture. The deeper Mal digs, the less she understands her enigmatic enemy, and the more she discovers that everyone has something to hide… including her. As she tries to outthink a foe whose actions make no sense, she doesn’t know who she can trust anymore—or who will make it out alive.

Breaking up is hell...The gods don’t do anything by half-measures—including breakups. Persephone has decided she’s done with Hades and wants NYC all to herself… and she’s willing to play dirty to get it.Mal knows Hades’s temple doesn’t have the strength for war, or the leverage to negotiate better terms. But they do have Ciara—Marked of Persephone and Mal’s oldest friend. She’s working from the inside, and she promises her plan will get them through this alive.And it had better work. Because if it doesn’t, it will be up to Mal to figure out plan B. And unlike Ciara, Mal will have no problem sacrificing whoever and whatever gets in the way of her mission—including her own humanity.