Vlad keeps so many secrets that they surround him like a cloak of mist: one secret hides another, protects another. He's a gay man in Volgograd, Russia...and a drug dealer...and a vedmak, a witch, who can release the souls of the dying, if they wish it.

His secrets keep him safe...until he meets a rusalka, an undead water spirit who drowns the men who get too close to her, and has to face the terrible truth she brings...