Horror and terrible desire fill the dreams of archeologist Caitlyn Kirby. In them, she experiences a creature capable of wiping humanity out of existence—a creature that is drawn in blood on the walls of a four-millennia-old Italian catacomb. Caitlyn doesn't know it, but she's stumbled across evidence of the Awakening. Throughout time, powerful beings have burst forth to lay waste and destroy anything daring to live on the earth's surface. Last time, the dinosaurs perished. Now it's humanity's turn. Desperate to find a way to prevent the Awakening, Caitlyn discovers a slim chance of survival hidden in the past. Four thousand years ago, humanity was spared—or at least given a reprieve. Her only chance is to find out why and hope that what worked once before still holds power over the dark entity in Caitlyn Kirby's dreams—an entity that now walks the earth in human form.

Even sleep cannot drive the disturbing images from Caitlyn's mind. The monstrous being drawn in blood on the catacomb walls invades her dreams, overpowering her defenses and leaving her horrified and confused even as she recovers from its insatiable touch. Caitlyn and her team have stumbled on proof of the Awakening—a periodic extinction event caused by powerful, hate-filled beings of mysterious origin. Their goal is terrifying in its simplicity: to wipe the earth clean of everything that lives. The last Awakening was due four thousand years ago, but somehow humanity slipped from the creatures' claws unscathed. Now, signs point to the imminent onset of a new Awakening. Caitlyn must delve into the past to discover what saved us once before—hoping against hope that the next Awakening can be averted. Has humanity's time on this planet come to an end?