Anton Seiber, Master Thaumaturge and reluctant architect of the French Empire’s newest weapon of war, is on the verge of collapse. It wouldn’t be so bad if his blood wasn’t required to power the spell revolutionizing the battlefield, or if he were allowed to communicate with his friends and family, or if he could see his lover Lord Camille Lumière, special investigator for the emperor himself, more than once every few months. As it is, he’s barely holding himself together. He’s determined to make it through…until an accident in the laboratory leads to his collapse. Camille is a loyal servant of the empire, but it will take more than a war to keep him away from Anton. He returns to find his lover on the brink of death, and it takes Camille’s special “gift” to keep him alive. He is ordered to leave Anton behind and return to service—the future of the empire, and everyone “gifted” like him, might depend on it. There’s only one thing to do: escape to England with Anton. If only they weren’t surrounded by armed guards, dangerous magic, deadly cannons and, oh yes—a war for control of the entire continent.