To become an airship pilot, Sira must survive her final exam-and the pirates determined to kill her. Everyone assumed Sira was going to ace the practical exam. Top of her class at the Academy, she's proven she can fly an airship. What she can't seem to do is make it home. Shot down in the dead of night, she and James Hawk, the frustrating mage assigned to her exam, are stranded in the Bellever forest. Sira doesn't trust magic, or the mage she's stranded with, but they're the only survivors of the attack and it will take both their talents to get back to the city. Pursued by mercenaries and low on supplies, Sira and James flee to a hidden Fae village for refuge. There, she realizes this is no random act of piracy. Someone powerful wants to keep them from finishing their journey at any cost. With a target on her back and a growing sense of uncertainty, Sira must decide who she can trust-and what she's willing to sacrifice-to make it home alive.