No matter how convincing the masquerade, it doesn't change what's underneath.
The Shrouded Masks, a sect of assassins feared above all others because they have a unique advantage – they're doppelgangers, giving them perfect disguises. Everyone thought they were exterminated decades ago. Everyone was wrong.
They have returned from the brink of extinction seeking vengeance against those who sent them there – the royal family of Bukahr. To protect themselves from assassins who can take the forms of their most trusted people, the royals hire two who are not easily impersonated, the Death Queens – Aleena Kurrin, gifted warrior, and her adoptive sister, Baezha Ambrose, gifted sorceress. But things aren't as simple as they first appear.
The masks the royals present to their adoring public are much prettier than the faces that wear them. For them, appearances trump everything, including Aleena's strategic advice, making a difficult job even more difficult, and Baezha is sure they are keeping secrets that could prove vital. As Aleena learns about their adversaries, she discovers the relationship between the royals and the assassins may not be as simple as the king said, and she suspects the assassins want something more than blood vengeance, something worse than murder.
Add a secretive king, a haughty queen, a scheming princess, an arrogant prince, and a hostile guard captain to shapeshifting assassins and the sisters are once more tasked with the impossible. And if Aleena is right, the Shrouded Masks intend something far worse than their deaths.
Though listed as book 4 in the series, this is a stand-alone novel.