There hadn't always been something wrong with Briella Blake, but when she's invited to attend Parkhaven, a private school for extremely gifted students, the girl's wicked genius begins to manifest itself in ways her mother can no longer deny are...strange.

Briella's friendship with a raven, Onyx, that’s equally as smart as she is prompts her mother to restrict the animal from Briella's company. Soon Marian learns that nothing can stop her daughter from interacting with the bird, who seems to have become an integral part of the girl's experiments into the possibilities of recording and re-creating personality and memory as well as the existence of angels, the afterlife, and the soul.

Marian's pregnancy with a sibling Briella doesn't want spurs the girl further into a frenzied activity of experiments and desperation. Soon, it's impossible for Marian to ignore that although there hadn't always been something wrong with Briella, something is certainly wrong with her now. Certainly even a child genius can't be blamed for the unexpected deaths and sickness surrounding her. Even the idea that the raven has become some kind of paranormal instigator of tragedy is too ridiculous an idea for Marian to entertain. But when her pregnancy turns difficult and begins to sap her strength, it's all Marian can do to keep herself out of the hospital, much less torture herself with worry about the daughter who's never caused trouble before.

A mother's worst nightmare might be something terrible happening to her child - but what happens when the terrible thing is the child?