Nicola still isn't a hero. Maybe an anti-hero, but she's certainly too broken to be a white knight. She's still an herbalist, single mom and heathen witch.

She takes her family on a cruise to Alaska, a calm vacation until the goddess of sea storms, Ran, and her husband, AEgir, make an appearance. Nicola and her family barely escape to an island, in a Yup'ik village in danger of being flooded out. Trying to become the hero she feels she should be, Nicola dives into challenging the various groups who have arrived to "save" the village.

Nicola must face realities about the fate of the Yup'ik and her own motives for trying to save them. Will she make a difference, or are her own efforts merely a distraction from the pressures of her quest? And, when the time comes, can she pull the trigger... again?