Jani Kilian's life at Thalassa, the hybrid enclave, is proving more challenging than she expected. Tsecha, her idomeni mentor and friend, is displeased with her progress in her priestly studies. Moreover, his religious treatises are angering his dominants, and the fallout could affect not only idomeni, but humans and hybrids as well.

And then there are the dreams. Of the sands of an alien world, and an event that upended her life twenty years before.

But all that must take a backseat when news arrives from Earth that threatens Thalassa's continued existence. Tensions mount as human and idomeni political conflicts collide, culminating in a heartbreaking event that jeopardizes the stability of two civilizations. To help quell the storm, Jani must return to the idomeni homeworld of Shèrá. There she must not only confront her past but meet a present danger that could claim her life.

The first time she died, bleeding edge medicine brought her back.

This time, she may not be so lucky.