Like all Torrens, Heirath Halis was born as two entities: a human and a symbiote. Now he just wants to be left alone—left human. He—like all those that meet a Torren for the first time—believes in one simple assertion:
All Torrens are monsters.
Natia Grey has heard this statement repeated by her nation since she was young. But she has never believed it is that simple. After falling in love with the Prince of Torren’an, Heirath, she has come to her own conclusion: the “monstrous” Torrens just need help. And Natia wants nothing more than to help Heirath and his people.
Heirath’s decision to travel to have his symbiote removed puts him in opposition with his brother and Torren’an. In the aftermath of an encounter with his people, Heirath is left vulnerable to Natia’s nation, who capture and brutally torture him. The torture only causes his symbiote to gain more control over their body resulting in them both taking an irreversible step towards being the monster Natia’s nation so fears.
Blaming her nation for Heirath’s condition, Natia and her family try to escape with him. Because he is not a monster, and he never will be. She won’t allow him to be. But as Heirath continues to lose control Natia faces a difficult decision: keeping him at her side or letting him go.
Indie Fantasy Review 