In the aftermath of the mass slaughter of vampires in eighteenth century Europe, Valentin tries to keep the fragile covenant not to kill mortals intact through a strategy of abundance. Working from the shadows as vampires, elders rule the three nests of modern day Amsterdam. Valentin attempts to manage the finances of the continental vampires while mentoring the newly turned American, Steve.

After dealing with a vampire hunter in Amsterdam, Valentin, Karolina, and Steve travel to the primal vampire nest in tunnels beneath the Mother of Cities to attend the annual council of elders ruled by Lord Makru. However, things go horribly wrong when a newly turned American girl on summer break tells a mortal everything about the vampires, but fails to feed on him, spurring yet another descendant of vampire hunters into action.

Karolina's plans to start throwing feeding parties on unsuspecting mortals again after two and half centuries are put on hold as unrest in the four London nests spills over to Amsterdam, resulting in violence and the true death for some. When she and Viona finally start throwing feeding parties at the mansion in Amsterdam and the palace in the Mother of Cities, another summer concludes with shocking developments and heart breaking loss.