The Power of Family

Sixteen-year-old Beatrice Antonius has spent her life being told she is too young, too reckless and too small to matter.

Then slavers destroy her home, murder her mother and grandmother, and scatter the rest of her family across the Empire.

Bea's only trail leads to the ancient city of Aventis, where her sister Julia is the property of Hugo Merveille, a merchant lord whose wealth makes him almost untouchable. With only Jorgen, a scarred ranger, and Hound, his unruly companion, Bea must enter the city's criminal underworld, conceal the strange gift that lets her read ancient magic, and get close enough to Hugo to take Julia back.

But Aventis is already breaking apart. Its water is failing, criminal factions are tightening their grip, and the ancient magic that once sustained the city is stirring. Bea's search for Julia draws her into a struggle that could decide who controls whatever returns.

Fail, and Julia remains Hugo's prisoner. Be discovered, and Bea will lose the freedom she has already fought once to reclaim. Choose the wrong allies, and Aventis may fall with her.

Hugo has mistaken the youngest Antonius for the least dangerous.

Can the girl everyone dismissed outwit Hugo, survive the underworld and rescue her sister before Aventis tears itself apart?

The Power of Family begins an epic fantasy series of lost siblings, ancient magic and the price of refusing to be owned.