This is a story about healing from hurt and betrayal in a world filled with magic, vampires, concubi, and a general public who would rather just ignore that they exist. Gaius had actually been happy after he chose to join the most well-renowned mage clan in the area. He didn’t truly care for the politics of any of it; his wife Hikari was next in line to become leader, and so she dealt with the dysfunction of the organization while he focused on his own work as a botanist and teacher. However, after catching his wife experimenting on one of his students, he decided he did not want anything to do with any of it. Part of him storming out included airing his grievances publicly, an act that got him ‘volunteered’ to go on a one-way trip to the labs. In a stroke of luck, he was picked up by a notorious vampire mercenary, who claims that she’s looking for the immortal witch Sinclair. Charlotte claims the man is her father, which makes very little sense, but that witch was always somewhat sketchy…. Regardless, Gaius has nowhere to go, and owes a debt of gratitude, while Charlotte can’t afford to turn down any help, no matter how strange the situation is.