Thorn Season

A persecuted few are Wielders, able to exert a physical power that extends beyond their visible body: magically projecting their Spectre to caress, to pick a lock... even to kill. Feared for this ability, Wielders have always been Hunted. Alissa Paine, heiress of a noble lineage, daughter of a Hunter family... is also a Wielder. As she approaches her 18th Season, Alissa knows she has escaped execution so far only through painful self-control, and the fragile efforts of her beloved father. Summoned to the harsh and glittering royal court for the debutante season, Alissa finds herself caught in a web of hidden intentions—and between two equally dangerous men. One is a brutal ruler with the handsome face of a fairytale prince, who would see her destroyed in an instant if the truth were known—and the other a beguiling foreign ambassador with secret agendas of his own. It’s Rose Season at the palace, but Alissa knows that survival will depend on being the most vicious of the thorns.