Maeve lives a charmed life in the small desert town of Redington in Arizona Territory–where spousal prospects are sorely lacking, career choices are shamefully limited to the saloon, and Death himself has a vendetta against her. All Maeve wants is her independence but 1883 society has decidedly different expectations for her. Enter Shadow Wolf, notorious for his dark reputation and grotesque mechanical arm. The gunslinger, a suspiciously werewolf-esque man whose social situation bears some obnoxious similarities to Maeve’s, has found his place among the masses by walking on the wrong side of the law. When Maeve stumbles upon Shadow Wolf’s scheme to rob a stagecoach, he forces her to choose between her life or breaking the witches’ Golden Rule. Despite certain karmic retribution, Maeve relies on her wit and a sprinkling of magic to survive the heist. When nothing goes according to plan, she finds herself not just on the ride of a lifetime, but also roped into an unanticipated romance with a sexy bandit at the reins.

Something dark stirs within Maeve; something living, powerful, and terrifying. She has the ability to manipulate fire, but she cannot control it. When Redington finds itself mired in an arson investigation, Maeve attempts to rein in her powers or else risk being implicated in the crime. When her fiancé leaves her behind in a wild Territory, and her closest friend is murdered, shadows from her past emerge and trail her every move, testing her resolve to let sleeping beasts lie. If everyone around her is to survive, Maeve must not surrender to the monster raging within.

Following a hellish 6-months apart, Maeve MacKenna and Rafaele Forino are fleeing Arizona Territory—and their criminal pasts. When Rafaele gets a tip on Maeve's stolen engagement ring, their journey west takes an unexpected turn. Tailed through the wilderness by the god of death over what Maeve believes to be a case of mistaken identity, and among a throng of inexperienced and unfriendly travelers, emotions run high, sleep runs short, and already hot tempers flare. The lovers' future is in jeopardy as they fight to not become another snack for a legendary winged monster of southwest lore. If the giant owl doesn't get them, either God or the devil will tear them apart.