The second book in the fast paced Black Spiral Trilogy, and the gripping sequel to Violet Black.

Back from Germany and the assignment that went horribly wrong, Violet doesn't know who to trust:

It's fortunate for me that the Foundation staff can't read my thoughts. . . If they could read my thoughts, they'd never let me go. I'd be a liability, and I know what happens to liabilities.

Phoenix is equally adrift:

For an hour I will forget who I am, what I have done . . . But . . . I will wake with the heavy knowledge that I am the Black Wolf, never to be trusted, never to be loved — because the only people I've ever loved are either dead or hate my guts.

The only thing both of them know for sure is that they have to escape the Foundation's clutches . . .