"I'm a work in progress, just like everyone else."

Although the Dea Vitae cult has been evicted from Thalia Island, Lara and her grandfather's eco-utopia are still in peril. Rupert's ongoing lymphoma treatment in Vancouver deposits Lara at Thalia's helm-with no idea how to navigate the rough waters. And though Finan is back after two tense weeks of silence, the sting of his unscheduled departure lingers.

Beyond the grind of running her own "planet," Lara must contend with the reappearance of Jacinta Ramirez, a fugitive Clarke Innovations has been shielding for years. Jacinta unveils disturbing secrets that reshape the history Lara's been fed about her late mother's past-and how much that past threatens to derail their cumulative future.

When stress sends Lara to the bottom of a whisky bottle, Finan reminds her that slipping into old habits won't fix what's broken. As she tries to pull herself together, a tragedy brings her and Finan close again, but with a series of cryptic clues arriving on Thalia, the mystery of the cult, and its sought-after treasure, deepens.

Lara and Finan must work with investigators, and a few unsavory players, to dismantle the sinister machinations of Dea Vitae before it destroys their blossoming romance, and the sanctity of Thalia Island herself.