Kira Solomon is unable to touch another living being--she draws off the energy of animate objects, "downloading" thoughts, emotions, memories...and, dangerously, draining the spirit. An antiquities specialist by day, she catalogs and defuses ancient magical artifacts; by night, she's a Shadowchaser--a bounty hunter in the eternal struggle against the Shadow of Chaos. When Kira comes across an ancient dagger that belongs to Khefar, a 4,000 year-old Nubian warrior, the sexual tension between the two builds, and a sinister evil sets its sights on them both.