Suffering from a troublesome spell of artist’s block, Maggie McCalff decides to move in with her old college roommate and plushie dinosaur lover, Violet Kim. The city is more intimidating than she expected, but Maggie quickly settles in and begins looking for work. But then she feels the familiar wax-covered needles of eyes watching her as she waits for the subway. An elderly man comes to her rescue and, after seemingly recognizing her name, invites her to apply for a position at a housing corporation known as The Lion. A short time later, she is invited to a company meeting that shatters her perception of what she thought were merely fairy tales.
Now thrown into the world of Sasvatas, Eagnae, and Hunters, Maggie must find a way to not only survive the mountain of rules that come with a human joining a Syndicate but somehow save her newfound friends from an insidious group known as a portentum. Maggie will need to discover her strength in a world revolving around power—and make a decision that could either save hundreds of lives or subject herself, and those she loves the most, to a gruesome death.