At the Convent of Sweet Mercy, young girls are trained to become killers. Some are born with old blood, granting rare abilities that can be shaped into deadly skill. When nine-year-old Nona Grey arrives, accused of murder and guilty of worse, even the mistresses of sword and shadow do not fully understand what they have taken in.
Rescued from the noose by Abbess Glass, Nona begins a decade-long education in the arts of death. Within the convent walls she finds both friendship and bitter rivalry, but her violent past refuses to stay buried.
As political intrigue and ancient feuds close in, Nona must learn to control the darkness within her. Because survival is not enough. She intends to make her enemies regret they ever drew breath.
