In this much-anticipated series opener, fate binds two Black teenagers together as they strike a dangerous alliance to hunt down the ancient creature menacing their home—and discover much more than they bargained for.

Lkossa was once a city of magic and splendor. Now, a hundred years after the Rupture scarred the sky and devastated the land and its people, magic is no more than a myth.

Until one night when Koffi, an indentured beastkeeper at the infamous Night Zoo, unexpectedly unleashes a dangerous, untamed power that has been secretly brewing within her for years. She sets into motion a chilling sequence of events that not only upends her whole world but also links her to a complicated stranger with secrets of his own.

As a warrior-in-training for the elite Sons of the Six, Ekon is ordered to apprehend Koffi as she attempts to flee the Night Zoo. Instead, she saves him from the Shetani - a monster that has plagued Lkossa for nearly a century and stalked Ekon's nightmares. 

Following their encounter with the beast, Koffi and Ekon - each with a hidden agenda - strike a tentative bargain, teaming up to capture the Shetani as a hoped-for solution to their dire circumstances. To do so, they must enter the Greater Jungle, a world steeped in wild, frightening magic and untold dangers. Once the hunt begins, it quickly becomes unclear whether they are the hunters or the hunted.