Rusti Syysko is infernal by birth, and very good at making things disappear. In Burnham's rotting Basin district, her ability to hide things from human eyes makes her valuable to the crime lord who employs her father. Her talent leaves her trapped in a life she never chose.
A dead man turns up with her name in his pocket, and a clue about her long - missing boyfriend. Ian, a young prosecutor with blue eyes and bad timing pulls her into the investigation, and eventually, his arms. He’s tasked with destroying the criminal world that defines her. He should be her enemy. He has no idea what powerful forces surround her.
Hell has rules, and loving a human breaks them. The Authorities Below are already choosing Rusti's future and the monster she will share it with. Rusti finds herself caught between the world above the polluted river that runs through Burnham and the dark world beneath it.
A bargain may give Rusti what Hell has always denied the chance to be human, and to choose whom she loves.
Bargains with Hell rarely turn out well.
Rusti must come to terms with her nature and make a heart-wrenching choice that will determine her destiny. Her forbidden love for Ian intensifies like her heartbeat racing against the clock, but trusting someone from the Wrong Side could be fatal—or worse. To survive, Rusti must confront terrifying demonic powers and human fragility. The wrong move will cost her very soul. And Ian’s.