Returning to "The Snow Queen" universe, this story opens with Hegemonic Police Officer Nyx Lais Tree losing his partner and his memory during a raid gone bad on a warehouse full of contraband--illegal tech the Snow Queen covets. Something horrible happened that night, but no one is talking. Tree's only hope rests with a by-the-book sergeant named Gundhalinu, a shape shifter whose loyalties are as elusive as her true face.