Diplomacy has never been Alex's strong suit... When the vampire council puts Alex and James on trial for exposing the species' existence to the world, Alex's freedom and James's life hang in the balance, though Alex suspects James's new daywalking ability is the real aim of their inquisition. Any hope of talking their way out of hot water evaporates when one of the council members is found murdered...with James standing over the smoldering corpse. With every vampire looking to claim Alex's power for themselves, she will have to team up with an unlikely ally, push her magic to its limits, and match wits against a powerful new foe if she hopes to come out unscathed. Praise for L. R. Braden:"Magic, Murder and Romance, oh my! This is an amazing fantasy in which every character is more than they appear."-Winchester Public Library on A Drop of Magic "A riveting world filled with amazing characters and a tightly woven plot."-Richelle Rodarte, Netgalley reviewer on Chaos Song "This is one of my favorite fictional worlds to visit. . . . I devoured this like a reader starved for every word, gulping yet somehow managing to savor the delightful taste of the story."-Lucretia, Goodreads reviewer on Of Mettle & Magic About the Author: L.R. Braden is the bestselling author of the Magicsmith urban fantasy series, the spin-off Rifter Series (Book One Demon Riding Shotgun), and several works of short fiction. Her writing has won the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Sci-fi/Fantasy, the First Horizon Award for debut authors, the Imadjinn Award for Best Urban Fantasy, and the CAL Award in both the Fantasy and Paranormal categories. She was also honored to be a finalist for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers 2021 Writer of the Year award. She and her family live in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies.