On a harsh frontier where good and evil contend for people's minds, a young woman must fight for her true identity in this scintillating YA fantasy from the author of the award-winning Age of the Seventh Sun trilogy.
Once, Catriona Macgregor led a charmed life. Daughter of a wealthy rancher, pretty and educated, she looked forward to all the world had to offerâuntil fate took a turn. Now family, home, and even her name have been stripped away. As "Black Cat Whitfield," adopted daughter of an outlaw, she's wanted by the authorities. It certainly wasn't the destiny she imaginedâespecially as one of the Blessed.
The Blessed, rare people like Cat, are supposed to use their gifts to carry out missions for the Patron Saints, but she can only imagine that Saint Prudentia made a terrible mistake in choosing her. Still, her gift has never deserted her. Whenever danger threatens, Cat receives a visionâjust in time to save her life. And when she meets a renegade priest, Father Ignatius, he helps her understand how her ability may be part of a much bigger picture. A picture that involves facing up to the monstrous Baron Caldwellâthe one who ordered her parents killedâand his son, Adrian, who betrayed them all.
Cat is torn between guilt over her parents' deaths, a longing for vengeance against their killers, and a dismaying new interest in Adrian. It would be easiest to flee the whole situation and never look back. But as someone once told her, you can't outrun the darkness on your heels. There's only one way to break through to sunriseâby turning to face the night.