In a kingdom where faith is restricted to a ruling class that hordes spiritual power, sixteen-year-old Eva, the daughter of freedom fighters, accidentally exposed her family as Traitors when she was caught praying. Her parents were put to death for her crime.

Seeking redemption for her carelessness, Eva attempts to use illegal Gazework—soul-magic—to escape from the prison camp her twin sister and she have been placed in. But after her latest failed attempt, her captor, searching for more spiritual power, rips out her Anima—her soul—in a brutal ceremony, using a cursed black knife named the Fallen’s Kiss.

A chilling numbness threatens to overwhelm Eva. No matter how much she struggles to learn Gazework, her former captor is always near, following her, determined in his quest to purge the world of the divine. To get her Anima back and save her sister, Eva must track down and destroy the Fallen’s Kiss, whose ruin can only be brought about by someone who understands the true nature of the human essence and the mysterious magic it can awaken. But understanding this essence, the Anima, demands the courage to question her own true nature, her core identity. If she fails, her sister will be stuck in Traitor’s Prison, and Eva will be lost forever, dissolving into nothingness.