Stolen away from his cradle as a child, Leinad has been a plaything of the Faerie for thirty years. He has been broken and put back together so many times that he cannot even remember what he used to be. He has given up all hope of escape, until a soft breeze through his cell leads him home, only to find out that home has gone on without him. A man with Leinad’s face is there in his place, with his siblings, acting out his life. A changeling. The creature who enabled his imprisonment and torture for all those years. Daniel Tessel is a thirty year old folklorist. He is meeting his brother and sister at their family cabin, to spend the anniversary of their parent’s deaths together. His biggest worry is the séance his little sister is insisting on, and trying to stave off her inevitable disappointment. That is, until he looks up during the ritual to see his own face watching him from the window. He is pulled into the consequences of a plot he cannot even remember, accused of stealing his own life. Confused, angry, and frightened beyond reason, Daniel tries to escape from Leinad, but there is something pulling them together. Revenge and passion are two very similar things. Blood sings, lust and tempers rise, and before they know it, neither is quite sure who the real monster is anymore. Or if it will even matter in the end.

They steal them away as children, drawn to their short but vibrant lives. They use them as dolls, slaves, entertainment of every kind, tasting the fierce brevity of human life through their captives. But there are times when a taste is not enough. Where is the boundary between hate and love, love and lust, love and hate? Where do you draw the line between jealousy and longing? Is the passion of a killer the same as that of a lover? And how can a human man hope to understand the ways of the two Fae who have turned his captivity upside down?

Nightmares were supposed to begin with dark and stormy nights, not the cheerful colors of a carnival. Love was supposed to strike like lightning, not slip quietly through dreams and sleep until it bled into the waking world. Faeries were supposed to be myths... Funny how nothing in Gentle Carver's life was what it was supposed to be.

Nearly a year since the nightmare at the cabin, life for Daniel and Leinad hasn't gotten easier, but at least there is something to say for familiarity. They fight, they threaten, but they love each other and in the end, that should be enough. It isn’t. When the shadows start stealing closer, and the past catches up to them, how long will the two lovers have before the Fae in Daniel emerges, and before Leinad has to face his own demons once again? Until the harsh light of reality engulfs the fragile world they’ve built for themselves? How long will it be until daybreak?