Leire always knew she was different. Her flaming red hair, her uncanny skill with the needle, and most or all, her curiosity, set her apart in the prison-city of Hiria, dominated by the mysterious Black House. But only when she is arrested does Leire learn just how different she is. A descendant of the cursed witchbrood that haunted the city's nightmares for centuries, she is the only one capable of stopping the plague of monstrous Black Walkers destroying Hiria.

Embarking on a quest through the twisted corridors and uncounted gateways of the Black House, Leire must learn the shattering truth about the city and about her own origin if she is to save Hiria and to be reunited with the man she has reluctantly fallen in love with.