Chapter One Summary

Rose Hathaway, a Dhampir or half-human or half-vampire mortal, is confused about her future, facing graduation at long last from St. Vladimir's Academy and therefore having to become an active guardian of the Moroi, the fragile vampire clan who live amongst unsuspecting humans but who are susceptible to the Strigoi, immortal vampires who have no moral compulsion to treat any living beings with compassion or mercy. Rose's feelings of leaving the protective Montana school for the training of upcoming Strigoi fighters such as herself is a tender mixture of nostalgia for a past she now must set aside and apprehension about her upcoming challenge to protect the Moroi in the real world without protective teachers and safety nets.

In Chapter One, Rose is unsettled when she receives an unexpected letter from Dimitri, her ex-lover and now mortal enemy who has become...