Mercenary Samantha Redwyne has seen too much blood spilled by her sword. She travels to the frigid north to get away from her ghosts, but doesn't find peace for long. The job: help deliver a wagon of wolf skins to a nearby village. The complication: a band of cutthroats on the hunt for a missing wagon with a priceless package hidden within.

Pursued by ruthless men who believe her a thief, Samantha finds herself double-crossed, wounded and alone in a deadly forest. Armed with just her wits in a fight for survival, she discovers that some bloody habits are hard to break.

But it's the longest night of the year, and man isn't the only thing chasing Samantha. The woods are lovely, dark and deep—the place folktales come from, where monsters dwell—and before the night is over, Samantha will have to confront not only death, but the unknown lurking just beyond the safety and sanity of the civilized world.