The Gathering Stor, Russia, 1888 As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead No one knows Not her fa school Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift But when she uses her special skill to protect a ht in a web of intrigue An evil presence is groithin Europe&39;s royal bloodlines--and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar Suddenly Katerina&39;s strength as a necromancer attracts attention froe Alexandrovich, the tsar&39;s standoffish uard Russia, even if he&39;s repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose--and to ill she give her heart?