Ximena Reale is certain of one thing: the only good pirate is a dead one.

Ximena has spent her life training to become one of the black-cloaked cazadores, seafaring hunters who capture the pirates pillaging the Luzan Empire. But although Ximena is the top candidate at la aademia, that will not be enough for a daughter of the notorious Reales - pirate captains who were executed for their crimes against the empire.

So when Gasparilla, the most infamous pirate in Luza's history, attacks the capital, Ximena offers to catch him in exchange for being named a cazadora. The Empire accepts, with one catch: she must compete for her cloak against Dante de León, the pompous and infuriating son of the High Minister.

Knowing this is her chance to prove herself once and for all, Ximena must set out on a dangerous quest across the Archipelago to hunt Gasparilla. But no matter how far she sails, her family's pirate legacy continues to haunt her, and she soon has to question the very laws she's always fought to uphold . . .