A ragged old wolf-dog that appears and disappears, an imaginary playmate who turns out to be real, an unexpected fortune and the death of her only relative are just the beginning.

Amanda Dorning searches for her identity, her Aunt Haley's past and the reason someone wants her beating heart. The journey leads Amanda from a farm in Kentucky back to Madrona. In the Cascade Mountains of Washington she comes face to face with her twin sister and both realize that one of them must die.

The other will live to carry out the prophecies of an ancient legend.