Inspector Adrian Philips keeps the peace between demons and humans in Avvar, a city not unlike Victorian London. To do his job, he's allowed his strength to be enhanced by demon technology, a choice that's cost him his wife, his family, and—some would say—his humanity. Rejected by both races, he hungers for a woman's touch. Roxanne McAllister is an outcast, too: the illegitimate daughter of an infamous chanteuse. One fateful night brings Roxanne and Adrian together, and though the border between human and demon is treacherous, they might be just the ones to cross it. The question is, will the exquisite pleasure they find together be worth the risk?