“‘And the Challenge?’ I said.

‘The Challenge will destroy you only you if you lose. Win, and I will walk away from the galaxy forever and leave your family in peace. It’s your choice. Sacrifice yourself for the ones you love, or live and watch them be sacrificed. What will it be?’”

Ian Quicksilver, heir to the Bankhirian throne, has two weeks to get Princess Arianna to fall for him in order to break the curse the magician Silivus has cast over Ian and Ari’s worlds. In the meantime, he still has to go to school, where he is all but invisible, and practice fighting tactics with his guardian, Corbin.

But something is wrong with Ari, and the closer she gets to Ian, the sicker she becomes. After a disastrous dinner that seals Ian as the worst date in the universe, Silivus hits him with a proposal: a winner-take-all challenge that would overrule his quest for Ari’s heart and free them from the curse for good—that is, if Ian can win.

When tragedy strikes Ian’s family and Ari’s illness worsens, Ian must find a way to rise to the challenge, stop a rampaging dragon, and save the day before time runs out for both of them.