Ruin and Will

Kyros Vindex, pirate, has fought the Crown and his own fate, but now he needs to fight his heart. Last year he made a deal with witches: Eric's heart for anything in the world. But the price was too high. His quartermaster and best friend Araceli Cross is locked in mortal combat with the spirit Ghalil and Kyros wants her back. But a man doesn't make a deal with witches and then go back on it. Their crows have taken to following his ship, watching his every move.

Eric Deumont is finally free of the demon that has possessed him for the last seven years but his lover, Kyros, just can't let it go. Araceli is dead, but he wants Eric to go back to the plantation, and the man, where it all started. Kyros thinks Philippe can pull Araceli out of the jar, but Eric can't risk the spirit Ghalil running free again, he can't survive that torment a second time, and he can't protect Kyros from the heartbreak of Araceli's loss.

Araceli is alive, but only just. It takes all her skill, and not a small amount of luck, to survive Ghalil's oppressive onslaught, and she can't run forever. Ghalil possesses her body to break out of the jar, blending the two of them together more closely than Eric ever was. Araceli can keep control most of the time, but when the moon is high, Ghalil takes over and demands blood. Cinnamon pushes it deep inside and Araceli wants to find a way to keep it there.

Kyros needs to save her, Eric is horrified that his nightmare has taken a new host, and all the while, the witch crows watch.