Darian believes she is the only one of her kind left in the world, an immortal Shaede that is at one with the shadows when the sun goes down and can leave her corporeal body behind. Her creator Azriel found her at a most desperate time in her life, when she was beaten down by an abusive husband in a time period when a woman could do nothing about it. They were together for twenty years and although he taught her a lot about fighting and assassinating people, he was very vague about what she was and what abilities she has. One day Azriel abandons her and vanishes into the night, and leaves her to her own fate, she believes he is dead and since he always told her they were the only two surviving Shaedes, she picks up where he left off and becomes a highly trained assassin.

After several decades living as an assassin, Darian finds Tyler, he runs a temp like agency for the seedy people of the world, and he becomes her employer and benefactor. She makes herself believe they are doing good deeds as they only assassinate the truly evil that do not deserve to live. Darian and Tyler have a tight bond of friendship however, she knows that Tyler wants more and as he begins to act on the feelings they have for each other she holds back as she has been hurt several times in her life and is not very trusting.

On a routine job that Tyler has been hired for, Darian finds a surprise, there are others like her, she is not alone in this world. She leaves without the kill because the mark is faster and becomes a shadow like her, in order to find Tyler for some answers as to who hired him. It turns out that they were hired for the main reason to meet Darian and introduce her to the King of the Shaedes, Xander.

Suddenly Darian’s life has drastically changed, not only are there other Shaedes in the world like her, there are other non human beings that have always lived around her and she never knew. She begins to train with Raif, a fierce warrior, as Xander has hired her to kill an unnamed supernatural being that is stronger and faster than most and who is on the verge of causing a war that would end the world as they know it.

The story is a fast moving thrill ride from start to finish with so many twists and turns. I almost had a heart attack close to the end when the plot went in a direction that I did not expect. The story is fascinating and the character depth is amazing. The ending brings many surprises with both main and secondary characters that are not what they seem to be.

I really enjoyed this book; Darian is a very strong woman that has had a hard time in life and has trouble accepting her new role, and Tyler has some secrets of his own that they must work through. The plot wraps up satisfactorily with enough of a story left undone for the next book.