Jada Long is hours away from the biggest audition of her life, the chance to perform for the judges in a top-rated TV talent show, when the bottom drops out of her world. Everything she'd run away from - an alcoholic mother, a life of one dumpy neighborhood after another and finally a disgusting proposition - is supposed to be behind her. But when her mother appears on a television news show with Detective Bristol Thomas, the cop heading up the cold case, everything changes again. Except the love and protection of her vampire Ancient mentor. When an attack by fellow Ancients leaves his life hanging in the balance, circumstances force Jada to rely on Bristol for protection. Her attraction to the man wars with her need to keep her identity secret. The balancing act teeters out of control when she's snatched from under his nose by an Ancient minion, and her worry over losing her heart is overshadowed by the fear of losing her life.