House Jhereg, Dragaera's organised crime syndicate, is still hunting Vlad Taltos. There's a big price on his head in Draegara City. Then he hears disturbing news. Aliera - longtime friend, sometime ally - has been arrested by the Empire on a charge of practicing elder sorcery, a capital crime. Everybody knows Aliera's been dabbling in elder sorcery for ages. Why is the Empire down on her now? Why aren't her powerful friends coming to her rescue? And most to the point, why does she refuse to defend herself? Vlad shouldn't jump into this situation. He's a former Jhereg who betrayed his House, and he's being searched for by the most remorseless killers in the world. Naturally, that's exactly why he's going to get involved....