the past hungers for her soul-and its secrets could shatter the future.the painting whispered her name before dr. rowan southeil ever laid eyes on it.what begins as a routine authentication of a 16th-century portrait for a murder investigation becomes something far more sinister when rowan discovers the canvas is enchanted-and hungry. each time she studies the mysterious woman trapped within its ornate frame, vivid visions pull her deeper into a web of ancient magic and modern murder.detective gabriel lancaster needs rowan's expertise to solve the brutal killing of artist cassie bradshaw. but as bodies pile up and a centuries-old immortal emerges from the shadows, rowan realizes the painting isn't just evidence-it's a portal. one that's been waiting four hundred years for someone with her bloodline to unlock its darkest secrets.thrust through time into tudor england, rowan must navigate deadly court intrigue while her own essence begins merging with the enchanted portrait. with each journey to the past, she loses more of herself to the painting's supernatural pull. the immortal lev rubilov will stop at nothing to possess both rowan and the canvas, knowing together they hold the power to rewrite history itself.but rowan's grandmother lies trapped under an ancient spell, gabriel's life hangs in the balance, and the boundary between past and present is crumbling. as her red hair transforms to match the painted sorceress and her modern world fades away, rowan faces an impossible choice: surrender her soul to save those she loves-or watch both timelines burn.some secrets are worth dying for. others are worth killing for.perfect for readers who love deborah harkness's a discovery of witches, paula brackston's the witch's daughter, susanna kearsley's the rose garden, diana gabaldon's outlander, katherine howe's the physick book of deliverance dane, louisa morgan's the secret history of witches, and elizabeth kostova's the historian-a spellbinding blend of historical fantasy, dark magic, time-bending secrets, and deadly choices that will shape the past and the future.