The poppy has destroyed Jean-Claude's family. Its baited lure of deception, addiction and now murder, has found him alone and embittered.

With the aid of his friend, Aether, a master bladesmith, they will embark on a quest that will take them into the underworld of the opium trade, and to its warlord: a pirate, who holds secrets both dark ... and familiar.

To avenge those he has lost, Jean-Claude will find himself fighting for his own life, and then fighting for the chance to begin again.

Mired in an emotional web of self-doubt and reprieve, is a haunting memory--a memory of Rochelle: a girl who imprinted on his heart when he was just a lad. He neither pursued her, nor forgot her, and so, when fate calls him to aid in her plight, a beacon of hope begins to pulsate, imploring him to forgive so that he may love again.

To succeed, he must first engage in a battle that is darker than anything he could imagine--the one within. A battle waged between two wolves that reside within him. One is named Self-loathing; the other, Forgiveness. He must feed the one that is to prevail, but which one will he ultimately choose?