**WHEN TWISTED INDIVIDUALS CLASH, WHOSE BELIEFS WILL PREVAIL. ** After working with the mafia to halt a rising drug problem in the city of Halian, Zig is back to protecting Siasha—but with a new wariness of Claritism, a doctrine that asserts demi-humans are subhuman. Aware that Claritists would persecute Siasha for her witch nature if it were discovered, Zig gathers intel while keeping the religion and its followers at arm's length. However, after sharing a meal with Urbas, a scalefolk demi-human, Zig is targeted directly. So much for neutrality. With the help of the network they've established in the city, Zig and Siasha storm the church to confront Yaesar, a Claritist confessor with a sinister agenda. Can the witch and mercenary fight against the deep-rooted prejudice festering beneath the city's surface…or will they soon find themselves on the wrong side of the allies they've gathered