A disaster rolls across the Now, from the Waste to the sea, threatening all life. The only hope for what remains of humanity is another desperate escape, leaving their world for parts unknown. It falls to a shaky alliance of the Jesusmen and what remains of the Family to build a gateway, but without Papa Lucy's knowledge humanity will fall, dying in the choking dust and the thrash of fangs. There are even further threats to this plan. Lady Baertha herself has survived, seizing control of Overhaeven. She forces a confrontation with the Most High, creator of all things, a jealous god all too willing to burn his creation down. Weighed down by a centuries long feud, the Family must work together now, or everything ends...