In an America that hates magic users, Leander can't be blamed for allowing his difficult childhood in a group home to turn him into a bitter man. Hiding his magic and his heart allowed him to survive into adulthood and the criminal underworld gave him employment. He might have died as alone as he lived, only he learned the child of the one man he ever loved is in terrible danger. So he kidnaps the child and flees back to magical China where he once studied magic and had a secret romance.
But surviving in China means dealing with his hatred of humanity and himself in order to navigate a world where he is the outsider. He has to survive a curmudgeonly pillmaster, an eccentric auntie, an ex-lover seeking immortality, and mythological creatures. Life is even more complicated when a childhood friend who knows all Leander's sins reappears, claiming he wants to help. But others seem to have followed and now danger stalks the new life Leander has tried to create. Leander has to learn to fight back, and for a man who has always hidden or fled, that is a terrifying truth.
