As the chaos of the Sundering rages around her, young warlock Farideh faces a more personal turmoil wrought by a deal she made with a devil years ago. Hoping to protect her twin sister, she leaves everything she holds dear to assist a wizard in a scheme that pits the devils of the Nine Hells against the gods above. But when Farideh casts the spell to enter the wizard’s remote mountaintop fortress, she picks up a stowaway—a Harper agent named Dahl who isn’t so inclined to follow devilish demands. Dahl attempts to escape but merely runs into a village of odd people, lurking behind an impenetrable wall. Forced to gaze into the villagers’ souls, Farideh points out the ones who seem different, only to watch as the wizard’s guard carts them off to fates unknown. Are these villagers or prisoners? Are they blessed or doomed by the gods? As the wizard’s guessing game proves more and more diabolical, Farideh resolves to unravel his secrets—even if it means she’ll lose her own soul to the Nine Hells.