After all the trials Elizabeth Moon and Lev have endured, they feel sure they can finally leave behind the supernatural forces that transformed him from a sojourner into a human and very nearly killed her in the process, but to have been marked by the supernatural is no small thing, and it's certainly not a temporary one. Elizabeth is now a target for creatures not meant to walk this earth. Always before, Lev's powers have saved her, but this time he's facing an army of darkness which has come to use Elizabeth as a conduit for their dark purposes. Lev has struggled against his newfound mortality from the beginning. He's a human ill-equipped to deal with that humanity, and when Elizabeth is taken once again, he must find a way to rise against the darkness and be as strong as the angel he was in order to get her back.