Mallory Tolliver has been sent by the Faerie Court to convince the mortal Phoebe Rothschild that she is ordinary. Phoebe is the bounty sought to settle an age-old debt between the Faerie Queen and Phoebe's ancestor, Mayer Rothschild. He had bargained with the Queen for five extraordinary sons in exchange for one ordinary daughter in a future generation of the Rothschild's. Mallory's mission was to become close to Phoebe, and then to break her into believing that she is ordinary. But Mallory becomes too emotionally close to Phoebe, which corrupts her mission. And so the Faerie Court sends Mallory's older brother, Ryland, to seduce Phoebe, and manipulate her into believing that she is ordinary so that the Fey can sacrifice her and restore balance to the earth. But Mallory is trying to convince Phoebe that she is not ordinary, even trying to tell her about the Faerie Queen's trade with Mayer Rothschild. And when that happens, the Fey realize that Phoebe is harder to break than they expected, and they decide to strike at the heart of the matter. They put Phoebe's mother into a coma while on a trip to Nantucket Island, which makes Phoebe unstable and at the mercy of Ryland. Under all of the strain, Phoebe breaks, and she is ready for the sacrifice. She is summoned to Faerie, and waits to be sacrificed. But Mallory brings her friend Benjamin to be with her and he convinces Phoebe that she is not ordinary, and so the sacrifice is not valid. But the balance must be restored, and so the Faerie Queen sacrifices herself and names her daughter Mallory, real name Kethalia, the new Faerie Queen.