Michael Mirez witnesses a sexual assault and does nothing to stop it. Torn apart by guilt, Michael sabotages his own life, until one year later, when Michael unexpectedly crosses paths with the victim again. Michael is determined to make it up to Noah, a painfully shy Native American boy whose only ambition is to travel into space. But Noah doesn't remember Michael; and Michael doesn't have the courage to refresh his memory. And behind Noah's attack lies a disturbing pastime with roots as old as America itself.

"Sometimes my imagination bleeds into reality." Eleven years ago a serial killer menaced the Nettlebush Indian Reservation. Rafael Gives Light is his son. A loner, Rafael relies on his startlingly overactive imagination to escape the distrust and vitriol of his peers. In the summer of 2000 an exceptionally blond boy moves to Nettlebush. Rafael learns that the boy is his father's last living victim. The boy wants to be friends.

"Don't tell me you didn't miss me " Rafael's devilish sister Mary has returned to the Nettlebush Indian Reservation after a year of absence and a failed stint in a rock band. But the reason behind Mary's triumphant homecoming is anything less than sororal: Mary has her sights set on Paul Looks Over, the man responsible for her father's death. Nothing--and nobody--will stop Mary from staking a Blood Law of her own, a decision that will force Rafael to choose between his love for Skylar and his very own family.