Francesca 'Frankie' Lee is just a small time country kid, a bit brighter than most but as green as the grass on the hills of her homeland. When she wins a scholarship to study in the big city it seems as if all her dreams have come true. But the city couldn't be more different than the quiet empty fields and moors of West Country and Frankie soon discovers that monsters roam this urban paradise. Frankie is sponsored by a powerful vampire family, but although she is thrilled at the power and wealth this position provides, in the city the old adage 'fair is foul and foul is fair' holds true. The city is a dangerous place where power over others is paramount and no matter how bright Frankie is her ignorance and vulnerabilities cannot make her anything but a target. Those that should have been protecting her seek her downfall and in a moment of violence and awakening Frankie finds herself thralled to another family and at their mercy. Frankie is soon torn between strange powers and finds that she is not quite as normal as she first believed. In this land humans had no magic of their own, but Frankie finds her strength growing until she becomes a danger not just to herself but to others. She is sent to one of the city institutes used to tame rogue magics, but again she is betrayed. Her powers are used for dark purposes, bringing her into contact with some of the most feared creatures in the kingdom. She flees back to West Country, but the city has changed her for ever and this peaceful little backwater is no longer quite the safe haven she remembers it to be.