Tallon Wade is unraveling. Her photography career is thriving, but inside she's fading-untethered from the spark that once made her feel alive. When her best friend Mara convinces her to take a high-profile contract located in the remote and enchanting Canadian Appalachian Mountains. Tallon expects a creative reset. Instead, she finds a lake that whispers back. Her client, Adrian Grant, is desperate to sell the haunted property and escape his past. But the forest surrounding Echo Lake holds something older than guilt. Something hungry. And it knows Tallon. As the line between the living and the ancient dark begins to fracture, Tallon discovers she isn't just visiting Echo Lake-she's tied to it by blood. To survive the rising horror, she must confront a buried Dacian legacy of magic, sacrifice, and divine feminine power before the lake claims her completely. Gothic. Queer-inclusive. Laced with Romanian folklore and high-stakes romance. Some bloodlines don't stay buried.