IF THEY NEVER LOOK YOUR WAY, THEY NEVER SEE YOU COMING. The Kingdom is the world's most exclusive VR platform where the rich, famous, and evil can cavort in a utopian fairy tale world. Little do they know that the code beneath their feet grows weak. The only thing keeping the platform-and all their secrets-secure is the tireless and unsung efforts of a single Plaxis employee and sole remaining Purusha Prime language programmer, Cindira Tieg. For her part, Cindira couldn't care less if the Kingdom went permanently offline tomorrow. Only, the same source code that makes it possible also powers Plaxis's original VR platform, Gaia. There, war is waged virtually, saving the planet and humanity from ruin. It was the greatest legacy her mother left the world, one she intends to defend and sustain. But when a detective from Authority shows up at Plaxis, demanding access to the source code, Cindira fears an enemy at the gate. In the real, Francisco Batista is a mystery, untraceable and without public record. The only way to discover his true identity and intentions is by going into the vreal herself. But when the coder confronts her mother's creation, she'll discover there's a lot more at risk than legacy. Making the wrong move could defragment the vreal and lead to her very real downfall. MISTRESS OF CINDERS is a cyberpunk VR technothriller from the author of the bestselling RED CHRONICLES.