Nhika is a bloodcarver. A coldhearted, ruthless being who can alter human biology with just a touch.

In the harsh, industrial city of Theumas, she is seen not as a healer as she was meant to, but a monster that kills for pleasure. And in the city's criminal underbelly, the rarest of monsters are traded for gold. When Nhika is finally caught by the infamous Butchers, she's auctioned off to the highest bidder—a mysterious girl garbed in white. But this strange buyer doesn't want to use Nhika as an assassin or a trophy piece. She intends to use Nhika's bloodcarving to heal the last person who saw her father's killer.

As Nhika delves into the investigation amid Theumas's wealthiest and most powerful, all signs point to Ven Kochin, an alluring yet entitled physician's aide intent on casting her out of his opulent world. But despite his relentless attempts to push her away, something inexplicable draws Nhika to him. When she discovers Kochin is not who he claims to be, Nhika must face a greater, more terrifying evil, turning her quest for justice into a fight for her life.

Her only chance to survive lies in a terrible choice—become the dreaded monster the city fears, or risk destroying herself and the future of her kind.

"Brilliantly rendered. You'll gasp, you'll scream, you'll cry, and you'll be begging for the next book."—Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of These Violent Delights

"A gritty world filled with a beautifully crafted cast and an intricate magic system I've never seen before. A smart, lush, and utterly compelling read."—Marie Lu, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Legend