The battle lines have been drawn and the people of Russalka turn upon one another in a ruthless and unwavering civil war.

Katya Kuriakova knows it cannot last. Both sides are exhausted – it can only be a matter of days or weeks before they finally call a truce and negotiate. But the days and weeks pass, the death toll mounts, and still the enemies will not talk.

Then a figure from the tainted past returns to make her an offer she cannot refuse – a plan to end the war. But to do it she will have to turn her back on everything she has believed in, everything she has ever fought for, to make sacrifices greater even than laying down her own life. To save Russalka, she must become its greatest enemy.