"In a society that decides your status by the color of your hair, black-haired Shumei clings to the bottom of the social ladder, forever doomed to slave away in the medicine field of a tiny mountain village. However, a catastrophic disease breaks out among their small population and she must provide treatment for the deadly fever. When her supply of medicine runs out, she is forced to make a trip to the medicine field, but traveling outside the village at night is almost certainly a death sentence. Demons roam the woods and magic is believed to be one of the Damned Arts. Shumei nearly makes it back safely but is literally caught by a breathtakingly handsome man...who isn't really human. From that night onward, her dismal, isolated life radically changes. Set in a fictional world based upon sixteenth-century Japan, Shumei's story overflows with powerful magic, mortal danger, shocking discoveries, hidden histories and soul-shaking passion." --Publisher description.