In one selfish act, twelve year-old Lily unleashes an army of Night Ones, monsters who are rumored to eat children. She struggles to set her world right and save the empire, but not everything she's been told about the Night Ones is true, and the emperor-the only person who can control the Night Ones-is missing. To save her people, Lily must find a lost treasure, uncover the truth about the emperor, and foil a plot to kill an entire suppressed minority race. In the process, she discovers who she is-but can she complete her quest before thousands of innocent lives are lost?