In alternating voices, sixteen-year-old Chicagoan Anne and handsome, magical Ethan tell of their fated quest to rescue Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia, who tells of her long captivity in the hut of legendary witch Baba Yaga.

In love and possessing eternal youth, after sampling an experimental polio vaccine in 1916, seventeen-year-olds Emma and Charlie have the perfect life until Charlie disappears and Emma is hunted through the years by the Church of Light, a group of religious fanatics.