A week ago, seventeen-year-old Lela Santos’s best friend, Nadia, killed herself. Today, because of a farewell ritual eliminated awry, Lela is definitely standing in heaven, looking upon a vast gated town in the distance – hell. No one willingly strolls through the Suicide Gates, into a place smothered in darkness and infested with depraved creatures. But Lela isn’t just anyone – she’s driven to save lots of her best friend’s soul, even if this means sacrificing her eternal afterlife. As Lela challenges to find Nadia, she’s captured by the Guards, tremendous, not-quite-human creatures that patrol the dark city’s limitless streets. Their all-too-human head, Malachi, is normally unlike them in every method except one: his deadly performance. When he meets Lela, Malachi forms his very own plan: get her from the city, even if this means she must leave Nadia behind. Malachi knows something Lela doesn’t – the dark city isn’t the worst place Lela could find yourself, and he’ll stop at nothing to maintain her from that destiny.