Aren Montrell has heard tales of the Oestend wraiths β mysterious creatures which come in the night and kill anyone whoβs not indoors. Arenβs never had reason to believe the stories, but when he takes a job as a bookkeeper on the BarChi, a dusty cattle ranch on the remote Oestend prairie, he soon learns that the wraiths are real. Aren suddenly finds himself living in a supposedly haunted house and depending on wards and generators to protect him from unseen things in the night. As if thatβs not enough, he has to deal with a crotchety old blind woman, face βcowsβ that look like nothing heβs ever seen before, and try to ignore the fact that heβs apparently the most eligible bachelor around.
Aren also finds himself the one and only confidante of Deacon, the BarChiβs burly foreman. Deacon runs the BarChi with an iron fist and is obviously relieved to finally have somebody he can talk to. As their relationship grows, Aren learns thereβs more to Deacon and the BarChi than heβd anticipated. Deacon seems determined to deny both his Oestend heritage and any claim he may have to the BarChi ranch, but if Aren is to survive the perils of Oestend, heβll will have to convince Deacon to stop running from the past and finally claim everything thatβs his.
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