This book is the first in the Dirk & Steele series. Book has 272 pages on the Nook. I Liked this first novel by Marjorie M. Liu. She introduces us into a world of magical, paranormal and shape shifting characters. Dela is a metal artist with an affinity to metal, while Hari is a shape shifter, these two meet right out of the box. The story will keep you reading at a good pace.He looks out of place in Dela Reese's Beijing hotel room- exotic and poignant, some mythic, tragic hero of an epic tale. With his feline yellow eyes, he's like nothing from her world. Yet Dela has danced through the echo of his soul and knows this warrior will obey her every command.Hari has been used and abused for millennia. But he sees, upon his release from the riddle box, that this new mistress is different. There is a hidden power in Dela's eyes- and with her, he may regain all that was lost to him. Where once he savaged, now he must protect; where once he only knew hatred, now he must embrace love. Dela is the key. For Dela, he will risk all.
