Dacie Cantar wishes someone had explained the Laws of Summoning to her before she watched a shadowy creature crawl out of a painting at the local arcade. But at least it explains the strange things she's witnessed since moving in with her great-aunt, after her mother's untimely death. As she nears her 17th birthday, will she be ready for her new responsibilities, or will the shadows that stalked her mother until her death finally consume Dacie too?