Amanda’s life is less than ordinary: she is a psychic, is haunted nightly by her late husband, and lives near an underground colony of dwarves. Despite dwarf males normally handling such tasks, the colony’s females ask Amanda to find a lost baby for them . . . then hire her to tell them who strangled their midwife with a diaper and cut out her gossiping tongue.

Amanda is thrilled at the honor, but she must learn first to tame her own unruly psychic power. The shadow side of her gift raises a demon that stalks her, attacks, and slashes her hand with a claw. When she feels something alive wriggle in her wound, she knows she must face this demon alone . . . and that death is no longer the worst possible fate.

The town’s sheriff asks Amanda to help him solve the disappearance of a missing teenage girl. This brings a predator into Amanda’s life, an enemy who allies himself with her demon. To make matters worse, the midwife’s murderer also decides to hunt her.

Amanda, though, has no intention of becoming anyone’s victim.