Seventeen-year-old Fallon Bane was born with a curse: a single touch from another person will always cause her excruciating pain. Thus, she has accepted that she will die without ever being kissed, without even hugging her own father. But when her beloved father falls ill, she breaks into the magical Gilded City to find a healer fae that can save him. When handsome Ariyon Madden agrees to help, everything she knows about herself and her curse changes. Because during her father's healing, Ariyon reaches out and touches her bare skin. She waits for the agony... but it never comes. For the first time she imagines a new future for herself. But it is short-lived, because not only does Ariyon flee from her in disgust when he learns of her curse-he also reveals her existence to powerful fae who want to hurt her. Fallon is then swept away to a magical academy, where she learns the terrifying truth about her family history and her dark magic. Her life and the future of fae everywhere hang in the balance, and all the while Fallon is dreaming of being touched by Ariyon Madden one more time before she dies...