Ten years ago, Niki Ky and Daria Parker saw something unspeakable in an old house in Birmingham, Alabama. Daria has denied it, escaping into a frantic music career and various addictions. But Niki has not had so many distractions. Diagnosed schizophrenic, she's lost years in a haze of therapy and anti-psychotics.

But now, Niki's dead lover, Spyder Baxter, is calling to her from another world-an alien, impossible place where Niki is known as a Hierophant, a feared prophesied sorceress who can open a portal between worlds. And Daria will finally have to face what really happened ten years ago, if she's to help Niki save a world...or destroy it.