Eighteen-year-old Aria Morgan, her Dviinu brother Aaron, and their mother are virtually nonexistent members of Avalon Valley, a remote village cupped in the hands of paradise. Outcast since birth, Aria has resigned herself to the grim reality that, without finding love and bearing a child in the next few years, she will die - the unkind result of the Darkness' unrelenting grip on humanity.

But when a harrowing ordeal brings Aria's end hauntingly near, fate intervenes in the form of Liam Trey, handsome Avalon Valley newcomer. Liam is the kind of guy Aria can see herself having a future with, but her sordid family history follows her like shadows. If she bares her secrets, Liam could reject her, but what does she have to lose?

Despite her fears, Liam has fallen for Aria and so begins their relationship, fragile at best, troubled at worst, and tested to no end. Still, Aria's future has never been brighter...until Liam is shunned for his association with her, and a warning brings Aria face to face with a decision that will cost her everything she thought she'd never have.