Lieutenant Commander Connor Montgomery's trust in his own judgment is gone, wiped out with the betrayal by the one person he trusted above all others. His failure to see the wolf in their midst has cost the people he loves more than they can afford to lose. His niece Nicole has been taken by the Xenos, by order of the most heinous and evil leaders of the Sorracchi race, and Connor will do whatever it takes to find her and bring her home safe. In the hours and days following the war, the Sorracchi hid and fled however they could, including snatching people out of their lives to create new husks and hide behind unknown faces. Evelyn woke in a world she didn't recognize, and no memory of the last two years beyond her name. They call her an "Emancipated," a human freed from the possession of a Sorracchi conscience, but the people in charge of her care will tell her little else. When the memories come, they are dark and sickening, and she can only pray they are not her own. To save the life of a stolen child, Evelyn must face the crimes her hands committed and gain the trust of a man with no trust left. Not even for himself.