The Wells of Sorcery Trilogy

In the lower wards of Kahnzoka, the port city of the Blessed Empire, 18-year-old ward boss Isoka enforces the will of her criminal masters with the power of Melos, the Well of Combat. The money she collects goes to keep her little sister living in comfort, far from the bloody streets they grew up on. When Isoka's magic is discovered by the government, she's arrested and brought to the Emperor's spymaster, who sends her on an impossible mission: Steal Soliton, a legendary ghost ship - a ship from which no one has ever returned. If she fails, her sister’s life is forfeit.

After surviving the Vile Rot, Isoka, Meroe, and the rest of Soliton’s crew finally arrive at Soliton's mysterious destination, the Harbor - a city of great stone ziggurats, enshrouded in a ghostly veil of Eddica magic. And they're not alone. Royalty, monks, and madmen live in a precarious balance, and by night take shelter from monstrous living corpses. None know how to leave the Harbor, but if Isoka can't find a way to capture Soliton and return it to the Emperor's spymaster before a year is up, her sister Tori's life will be forfeit.

Isoka has done the impossible - she's captured the ghost ship Soliton. With her crew of mage-bloods, including the love of her life, Princess Meroe, Isoka returns to the empire that sent her on her deadly mission. She's ready to hand over the ghost ship as ransom for her sister Tori's life but arrives to find her home city under siege - and Tori at the helm of a rebellion. Neither Isoka's mastery of combat magic nor Tori's proficiency with mind control could have prepared them for the feelings their reunion surfaces.