'Emme, illegitimate daughter of a woman who hates and beats her, longs to run away from her primitive, barbaric village.
'When a stranger appears in her forest and entices her to run away with him to his home, the great city, she agrees. Abruptly a black portal opens up. Thrust into the portal, she finds herself in an alien city on the other side of the world.
'Realising she has been tricked, Emme flees into the vast grey maze and finds a world full of enemies - relentless enemies who would turn her in for the hefty price on her head.
'Alone, vulnerable, and longing for the reason she is here, Emme does not know who to trust. Can she trust the cunning street rats and their secretive gentleman leader? The deadly magic-wielding priests who long ago lost their innocence when they enacted a sinister ritual of human sacrifice? The stranger who risked everything to bring her here and has put the price on her head? The powerful, corrupt underground organisation of the Black Bands? Or maybe, in a bleak wintry city of strangers and a dark past, Emme can only rely upon herself and her quest for the truth.' (Publisher's blurb)
