Evie has been charged by a grieving wife to find a lost husband, who holds the key to exposing the disappearances from the streets of the Empire—a man she once loved. But to find him, she must join him among the missing. To become one of the Savages, expendable warriors thrown at the Empire’s enemies in wars they can never acknowledge.
The Savages are the greatest weapon the Empire ever forged.

They are the ones no one will miss: the poor, the criminal, the indigent. Snatched from the street by the city guard, they are thrown in their thousands at the Empire’s enemies. If they live, they fight again. If they die, there are always more to take their place.

And most citizens have never heard of them. Everyone in Crache has their needs met; who would the guards seize? Crache has no enemies and fights in no wars; why would it need an army?

Evie is a warrior, charged by a grieving wife to find a lost husband, a man who holds the key to exposing the pressgangs. A man Evie herself once loved.

But to find him, she must join him among the missing. To be marked in her blood, to fight in the Empire’s wars, and to find her purpose. To become a Savage.