But the blood coursing through her veins holds a secret...

When Amalie stabs Theo Vallon in the heart with an ash spike, she finally proves her uncle wrong: Vampires do exist, and she will be the one to vanquish them.

When Theo attacks her alone late that night, she comes face to face with her deadly mistake. He can't die, at least not in the way the legends proclaimed, and her life will be payment for her naivety.

Instead, Theo offers her a bargain. The truth about her bloodline for help only she can offer him.

He swears they both want the same thing. His death.

But the curse of the Shadow won't release its claws that easily, and creatures of the dark are better known for seduction than honesty.

Amalie can't relinquish her chance to avenge her mother's death and rid the region of the vampire's dark plague, but as her blood surges toward the darkness she was created to satisfy, she realizes she may have traipsed willingly into the spider's den.

And she may not want to retreat.