Lawyer Erin Tsong knows how to put on her game face, intimidate an opposing witness, play tough, but there's such a thing as carrying intimidation too far. At least that's what the judge says when she grows snakes out of her head. And Erin finds herself without a job, without a boyfriend, and with the threat of her mother coming to take care of her. Unfortunately, what happens to Erin is not unique--all over America, people are being transformed--and Erin is caught up in the backlash. A human retrovirus has exposed long-suppressed DNA sequences, sequences that carry the genes for vampires, giants, shapeshifters, and even Gorgons. As the world struggles to deal with the consequences of the transformation, Erin finds herself caught in the middle. She's involved in a high-profile legal case, one aimed at classifying the transformed as violent criminals, but she's also threatened by a group of vampires who believe she's a traitor to the transformed community.