Kael, a 22-year-old hitman with a rare shadow-walking ability (teleporting through darkness), is blackmailed by a sorcerous crime lord to kidnap Princess Elyra, who possesses dormant starfire magic. The lord threatens to kill Kael’s younger sister unless he delivers Elyra, whose magic can power a world-destroying ritual. Elyra, 19, flees her kingdom to avoid a forced marriage to a tyrannical warlock king. When Kael tracks her, he finds her cornered by bounty hunters and, moved by her defiance, saves her instead of abducting her. Forced to travel together through a monster-filled wilderness, their mutual distrust sparks into a forbidden romance, complicated by the magical bond forming between their shadow and starfire powers. As the crime lord’s deadline looms, Kael must choose between saving his sister or protecting Elyra, whose awakening magic could either save or doom the world.