Ending a curse was never meant to be easy. When Laura Dantonville learnt her family's well-kept secret and the reason for her inability to age, she never suspected it would impact her relationship with her police-detective boyfriend, Matt Sommers. But neither had she expected the growing attraction she and her vampire-guardian, Alec Munro, would have for each other. In those few days, Laura had entered the world of the Brethren - vampires who rule the city's dark underworld, and where resentment and anger grow at Alec's privileged position as daywalker. Among a powerful few, alliances are made and conspiracies formed, threatening a war that could destroy them all and endanger every human on the planet - creatures who would do anything to prevent the curse from ending. To protect Laura from the Rebel faction who see her as their ticket to the daylight, Alec must invoke the Pledge, an ancient ceremony that enforces Brethren loyalty to the Principate. But will it be enough to ensure her safety and bring about the ending of the curse that has plagued her family for centuries?