The Pine Lands

Maddie wants to be believed.

Rowan wants to be human.

Maddie Phillips made the biggest mistake of her life when she told her mother about the unicorn. 

Now, ten years later, she's still suffering the consequences. Trapped under her mother's thumb while her golden-boy brother, Jackson, lives his life free of scrutiny. Until, that is, an encounter in the woods with Maddie's unicorn, who informs them that not only is she very real, but she needs Jackson to save her world from destruction.

Meanwhile, Rowan Temorast, son of a previous world-saving hero, is a monster. If he doesn't eat magic-magic that is becoming a scarcer and scarcer resource these days-he'll cease to exist as more than a slavering predator. He'd rather stay as human as possible, which means following his father's orders to hunt down the unicorn and bring her new heroes to him. 

As Rowan and Maddie play cat-and-mouse across a fantastical landscape, they start to realize they may have more in common with one another than with the forces setting them at odds. 

And as the beauty of unicorns and magic begins to crumble, it becomes clear why fairy tales aren't written for adults.