When the emortal Cian, whose mesmeric powers had kept him alive for eight centuries, saved the 'ephemeral' Talya from being brutalized and murdered by a Brisbane street gang, he could not have known that she would reveal herself to be the end of a quest he didn't even know he had been on. And who could have known that she possessed a power that even exceeded his own? Her rescue alerted those who had been on Cian's trail, wanting not only the secret to his longevity but also his ability to effortlessly control people's beliefs and actions. As the net closed inexorably around Talya and Cian, help appeared from an unexpected quarter. But whom could they trust not to betray them?