A lone trader seeks her place in the world and against all odds she dares to find it. Now, she and her "pet", strike an uncomfortable alliance with a band of rebels, their mysterious benefactors, and a powerful ex-Myrmidon warrior. As humanity struggles to survive in a dying world where men and women are divided by two powerful empires--based on fanatical views inherited from the long-dead and forgotten Kindred--they are challenged with a new and terrifying struggle: the evolution of humans into strange and powerful hybrids. Now, the emergence of a new powerful threat sets the stage for a cataclysmic showdown.