Caged and sold down the Nile, Zelda knows her captor intends to discard her the moment it is safe. Each night, she, in her cage, is thrown into the river—and each dawn she returns, untouched and beyond their control. While her enemies scheme in daylight, Zelda slips into another world after dark: a serene, mythic realm where Anpu and his kin offer her refuge, healing, and glimpses of a purpose she does not yet understand. Between terror and sanctuary, Zelda clings to a fragile truth—that kindness, even in captivity, still has power.

When the journey ends in Alexandria, Zelda is sold to a man whose fear rivals his ambition. Desperate to escape her cage, she gambles everything on a dangerous lie, presenting herself as a bound jinni who grants wishes. But magic has a way of binding both ways, and Zelda realizes she may have traded one cage for another—one far more subtle, and far more perilous.