A starship captain. A bounty hunter. A web of secrets and lies.Four years after a galaxy-wide war that tore them apart and reshaped the world they knew, former soldiers and friends Jace and Athena couldn't have more different lives. Jace is a merchant captain, delivering cargo with a small but loyal crew. Athena is a bounty hunter, alone and in hiding after faking her death to escape the new regime. She hasn't seen Jace since the fateful day they were separated; he thinks she didn't survive, and she believes he abandoned her to save himself.When a mysterious organization hires them both to assassinate a key official, Athena and Jace are reunited under less than pleasant circumstances. Blackmailed into working together, they must navigate a deadly new galaxy filled with mercenaries, crime lords, and monsters. But as they unravel the truth and realize not everything is as it seems, the friends-turned-enemies must face something entirely worse: their changing feelings and the truth of what happened on the day they were separated.Author's Note: The Nature of Darkness is the first in a series of interconnected novels but can be read as a stand-alone. The sequel will follow different characters.