Magic has a way of turning on its caster, something Edrea Braddocke understands all too well. It drove her father to madness and changed her mother into something sinister--a witch who holds the town by spell, assuming the form of a beauty and luring men to their deaths. Against her own will, Edrea has spent her life assisting Mother in this ritual. She wants nothing more than to be free of it, but knows the cost of crossing the witch's magic. Yet, when a foolish boy, in a fit of despair, attempts to stop the ritual, Edrea protects him. Now the witch wants her dead. Edrea faces an impossible choice: fight for her freedom against a foe she cannot defeat or beg forgiveness from a mother who is incapable of mercy. If she hopes to stay alive, she must find a way to appease the witch or stop her once and for all.