Seventeen-year-old Elver, guardian of the monster forest and cursed with a deadly touch, forms an uneasy alliance with Artair, a Sleepless on a mission, but as she becomes entangled in his cursed dual existence and her own conflicting desires, she must decide where her loyalties lie.

Elver is the guardian of the wild and dangerous monster forest. Saved from the brink of death by a god, her skin will poison anyone she touches. Artair is on a mission--one that takes him face-to-face with Elver at her most ruthless. But her defenses are useless when she discovers he's the only human impervious to her deadly gift. For Artair isn't human: he's one of the Sleepless, cursed to share his body with an evil spirit. Lucian inhabits their body while Artair sleeps, and he is hell-bent on manipulating Elver for his dark purposes. But Elver is harbouring secrets too, and she has her own reasons for feigning an alliance with these two souls. Caught in the crossfire of gods, monsters, and a dangerous magic they can barely understand, it is only a matter of time before the paths the three of them choose to take will set alight the very foundations of their world.