On the trail of a dangerous, violent mage, Tannis and his partner, Beck, fall into a nasty trap—and it's Beck who barely survives, losing blood almost faster than Tannis can get her to the nearest village for help. Help proves to be Isani, a curt, mercurial healer who wants nothing to do with Tannis, and even less to do with the mage they're hunting—a mage Isani knows far too well, and had hoped would never return.