The Dead must stay buried. Karthia is nothing like it used to be. The kingdom's borders are open for the first time in nearly three hundred years, and raising the dead has been outlawed. Odessa is determined to explore the world beyond Karthia's waters, hoping to heal a heart broken in more ways than she can count. But with Meredy joining the ocean voyage, vanquishing her sorrow will be a difficult task. Despite the daily reminder of the history they share, Odessa and Meredy are fascinated when their journey takes them to a land where the Dead rule the night and dragons roam the streets. Odessa can't help being mesmerized by the new magic--and by the girl at her side. But just as she and Meredy are beginning to explore the new world, a terrifying development in Karthia summons them home at once. Growing political unrest on top of threats from foreign invaders means Odessa and Meredy are thrust back into the lives they tried to leave behind while specters from their past haunt their tenuous relationship. Gathering a force big enough to ward off enemies seems impossible, until one of Queen Valoria's mages creates a weapon that could make them invincible. As danger continues to mount inside the palace, Odessa fears that without the Dead, even the greatest invention won't be enough to save them. In this enthralling, heartrending sequel to Reign of the Fallen, Odessa faces the fight of her life as the boundaries between the Dead and the living are challenged in a way more gruesome than ever before. * "[R]eaders will fly through the pages not wanting this series to end."  — Booklist , starred review "Sarah Glenn Marsh vividly blurs the lines between hope and fear, love and hate, right and wrong as she explores a world where death doesn't have to be the end."  —Beth Revis, New York Times  bestselling author of Give the Dark my Love "Mesmerizing. Sarah's writing is as magical as the world she has created."  —Alexandra Christo, author of To Kill a Kingdom Sarah Glenn Marsh has been an avid fantasy reader from the day her dad handed her a copy of The Hobbit and promised it would change her life; she's been making up words and worlds ever since. When she's not writing, Sarah enjoys painting, ghost hunting, traveling, and all things nerdy. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and their menagerie: four rescued sighthounds, a bird, and many fish. She is the author of Fear the Drowning Deep and Reign of the Fallen . The Shade darts toward my friends and me on all fours, drooling and snarling as it breathes the human-scented air, a rarity in the Deadlands. Bits of gray, rotten flesh fly off it as it bounds into a field of luminous flowers, gaining ground even as we run our hardest. Valoria falls first, as the monster’s bony hand wraps around her ankle and tugs. I spin around and draw my sword, but too late. Valoria’s already gone, and the monster has Simeon and Jax in its fists, shaking their limp bodies as their heads loll between their shoulders. Unhinging its jaw, the Shade grinds its razor-sharp teeth in anticipation. It pops Jax into its mouth, then Simeon, as I hack at it with my sword. The monster doesn’t even seem to notice the cuts I’m making. It just keeps gulping down my friends as I sob and slash at it. Now it’s got Danial and Kasmira. I thought they’d run ahead to safety when the monster grabbed Valoria. I shove my sword through its middle, but of course, Shades don’t have hearts. Black blood leaks from the wound I created. The Shade releases a gleeful howl, sending spikes of cold down my  back. Gazing into its sightless face, I realize what’s made it so happy: It’s cradling Meredy’s broken body, about to swallow her up. With an anguished yell, I pull my sword free, aiming to cut off the creature’s ugly head. But my sword turns to dust in my hands. There’s nothing I can do. “Odessa!” someone calls from a distance. But I don’t look to see who spoke. Instead, I force myself to watch as the monster unhinges its jaw, splashing Meredy’s pale face with drool. Just as suddenly as it raises her to its mouth, it drops her. It grabs me by the shoulders, locking the black pits of its eyes on mine, and releases an ear-shattering cry. “Wake up!” I blink into the deepest darkness, breathing hard, shrugging off the lingering haze of a dream. It’s Meredy’s warm hands on my shoulders, not the skeletal claws of a Shade. It’s Meredy accidentally sitting on my legs, shaking me awake, her breathing quick with worry. The Paradise gently rocks as it glides over a swell, headed farther away from Lyris toward open seas, assuring me that I’m nowhere near the Deadlands. That the scariest thing I’ve really seen tonight was the crowd at that tavern. “What are you doing?” I mumble, still trying to wake myself further. “I’m all right.” “I’m sorry,” Meredy whispers, dropping her hands. “You woke me up with your muttering, and it sounded like you were having a nigh