Jean Macrae’s family is one of the most prominent clans of Guardians, humans whose magical powers come from nature, but Jean considers her skills modest at best. She has never been able to summon the intense, earth-altering ability that has marked the most talented Guardians, and she is content without the adventure that such skill brings . . . until the day she is confronted by a handsome stranger whose magic imprisons her on his pirate ship. Captain Nikolai Gregorio is convinced that Jean’s father abandoned him, as a child, to slavers. Now he seeks vengeance against the Macraes, no matter the cost.