Heartache Can Pave the Darkest Paths... Atlanta's Shieldheart discovers an awful truth with the potential to undo the mistake that broke his Shield. While the others struggle to protect mankind from Sidhe onslaught, Vitae delves down a dark road. If he can master faerie magic, he could become Creation’s greatest shield and possibly even reclaim Mare from oblivion. Quayla’s self-destructive attempts to rejoin her brothers cost her dearly. Sidhe use her friends as pawns in a power struggle born out of Quayla’s past. A lost Sidhe Court emerges behind new villainy. Leveraging all the shields hold dear, the new foe manipulates Atlanta's phoenixes into becoming the ultimate Sidhe weapon. Embroiled in a three-sided war, the shields uncover the plot behind the chaos, but at a terrible price. Only Quayla and Vitae remain free to protect Atlanta. But locked in bloody conflict with each other, can either save the city, the Shield, or themselves?