The gods were dead, everyone knew that, so why was Alayna wasting her time in attending the ceremony at the temple? No one had seen or heard from the gods in over a hundred years, perhaps they had never existed at all. Still, all she had to do was attend the ceremony, put her childhood behind her and she could leave the village once and for all. But the gods weren't dead, not in the manner Alayna thought. They had returned and were hungry. Traven had been watching her, waiting, studying Alayna for a long time and now it was time to claim her as his Chosen, his pet, his slave and more. And his desires were darker than Alayna could have ever imagined.