Artem’s flawless world—an impressive career, a warm home, a beloved wife, and a child—shatters in an instant when his wife is dying. Desperate, and realizing there’s hardly any time left, he finds a single thread of hope: an ancient rite capable of pulling a person out of the clutches of death. But the intervention of darkness is never free—someone will demand payment for the rescue, and it may be more frightening than loss itself. Artem must decide whether to strike a bargain with forces he can’t trust and choose between his love for a loved one and his own human essence.