When Eli signs up for the Academy, he believes he is exchanging his life of poverty for one of learning and luxury. All too soon, he learns that he has been tricked, and his contract amounts to giving himself to the masters of the Academy. His body, his movement, his life are all theirs to do with as they wish, no matter how depraved and sinister. At his darkest, Eli is approached by the enigmatic Eramus, an unseen creature who offers Eli the power to strike back against his victimizers—if only Eli will join with him and grant him entrance into this world. Eli must choose between enduring a life of torment or trusting the word of a being who almost certainly has his own dark agenda.