Mattie Carver has relinquished the world of magic, with all its dark temptations. In six weeks, she’ll marry Ben Ward and claim the safe, small-town existence she craves. But Mattie’s talents being a reliquary-someone in a position to smuggle magic within her body-make her a very important commodity, even to those she trusts probably the most. Pressured out of retirement by a painful betrayal, she must seek assistance from the person she’s tried frantically to stay from: Ben’s estranged brother, Asa.

Asa, a sensor and magic dealer, may possess saved Ben a few months ago, but he’s complicated Mattie’s life beyond imagining. Trailed by lethal mobsters through Chicago’s seamy magical underbelly and an eerie vacationing carnival, Mattie problems to endure the priceless magic she’s keeping and her feelings for Asa. Once, she thought she’d selected her path. Now the only option could be to succumb to the destiny that’s choosing her, and hope she’s strong plenty of to survive.