Sixteen-year-old Addie Flamma has normal goals for a sixteen-year-old: graduate from high school at the top of her class and attend the perfect college, despite growing up under less than ideal conditions. As a minor living in foster care, however, Addie wants more than that; she wants to find out who her parents are and why she has been cursed with serious health problems. Haunted nightly by the same recurring dream of a magical fire that loves her like a mother, Addie just wants answers. Little does she know that she is about to receive them.
During the middle of a presentation in chemistry class, Addie suffers a major seizure. After she lands in the hospital with a concussion, she is given a rare African plant extract in her IV drip known to help adolescents with her type of medical conditions. Miraculously cured by the unique plant only known as ashes of life, Addie returns to school and resumes her job at a shelter for the needy. But when she is drawn to a mysterious boy seeking a hot meal, he changes her future with just four words.
In this young adult tale, mysteries and secret destinies lay hidden underneath Addie's dream life, leaving her to wonder whether she or fate will have ultimate control over her future.