Gabriel awakens from a long sleep to discover his brother is gone. He needs to find sustenance quickly, and unexpectedly finds help from his lifemate, whom he has yet to bond with. He's quick to absorb information which will help him fit into the modern world he's awakened to.

For the last few hundred years, Gabriel has been hunting his own twin brother, Lucien, who has turned to the dark side, to become one of the hated undead. A binding promise was made between the brothers--if one turned vampire, the other would hunt and destroy him. No other Carpathian hunter is powerful enough to do it.

Francesca Del Ponce, believes it's too late to become Gabriel's lifemate. She's found a way to walk in the sun, to be up and around during daylight hours, but to her anger, Gabriel changes all that by binding her to him with the ritual words of mating. Brice Renaldo causes problems for the couple, by interfering in their relationship and trying to prevent Francesca from becoming guardian to a severely abused teenager.

These four characters create an intriguing plot of manipulation, pain, and a well matched battle, fueled by the odd behavior of a hunter turned vampire. The characters are deep and believable. There's a fine balance of human and Carpathian input in the story. While one learns to trust, another lets his jealousy get in the way of good sense, and another must find the means to sever a 2000 year old blood tie. Each emotion adds to the tension and moves the story forward to its conclusion.

If you like a twist on the original vampire stories, you'll find Christine Feehan's Dark series entertaining, as she continues to mesmerize readers with her tales of a hunted people.