A loner, a runaway, and a failed apprentice Talent, Chad was kicked out of one Institute of Magic for fighting, then fled another when the head wizard's vice caused the death of his closest friend. He may want a quiet life but when he meets Kara Sedgewick, he realizes that is not an option. Kara has spent twenty years living a lie. Her mother was a gifted healer with powerful magical abilities, but not her. Or so the Institutes were led to believe... As Chad and Kara get close, they discover that their magical gifts, if combined, are dangerously powerful. And if they decide to forge this forbidden alliance, they could topple a system that has become rife with vicious infighting and sleaze. But this seems like a dangerous, if not impossible task. Can they face the Institutes and their global network of magical force and triumph?