Succeeding in her quest might be a monstrous mistake. Alexandra isn't a monster magnet. Honest, not at all, no matter how willingly magical critters obey her or how often fanged things creep from the shadows to follow her home. They're usually not man-eaters, after all! But she's tired of her outsider status, both in her own half-human family and at the academy of magic. Alex has a plan to remake her reputation. An impossible plan. A plan so crazy that even the power-hungry Lord Mayor wants a stake – just in case. All Alex has to do is unlock the long-sealed workshop of the legendary spellslinger Corsair . . . Her human allies have their own devious agendas. Her greatest assets may be her Dwarvish best friend and the very "monsters" she wants to repudiate. And Corsair? Less dead than advertised – and more treacherous. Friendship, honor, identity, it's all on the line for Alex. Will success be the biggest mistake of her life?