Roped into helping his favorite millionaire author host a charitable Halloween gala at her mansion, Deputy Chief Vasily Korsokovach finds himself unusually annoyed at having to set aside his clandestine wedding planning; with the possible New Years date now visible on the horizon, not only are there far too many items to get pinned down than he would like, Vas is increasingly worried his fiancé has begun to realize something is afoot — and he knows from experience a suspicious Alejandro Ortega-Cortez is a force to be reckoned with. Constitutionally being unable to say no to Rosie Frankenhoffer does offer one benefit: dragging Alex along to the party will temporarily distract the diver-turned-career counselor from his quest to uncover the truth. While it may only be a reprieve of a few hours, it’s one that Vas sorely needs.

Unbeknownst to Vasily, someone else has also chosen to use the gala as cover, albeit for far more nefarious reasons. The discovery of a mask belonging to one of the very teens the gala was meant to support is the first clue that a darkness, long dormant in Rancho Linda, has finally awakened, one with a sinister design to rid the city of anything deemed insufficiently adherent to cultural norms that never existed in Southern California. Thrust into a race to find the missing teenager before the unthinkable happens, Vasily is startled to discover that more than a few residents in Rancho Linda feel the same way — otherwise normal people who seem to have latched on to a philosophy that makes it acceptable to blame society’s ills on those considered to be an other.

No stranger to placing himself into harm’s way, Vasily knows he has to tread carefully in order to protect those he holds dear. For the closer he gets to the truth, the more unwanted attention he and his fiancé will attract — attention that could spell the end of their dreams to have a happily-ever-after together…