Sola Morte, former cat burglar and safecracker, is on the run from a drug lord's family. Her heart, though, is back up north, with the only man who has ever gotten through her defenses: Assail, son of Assail, who never meant to fall in love-- and certainly not with a human woman. They have no future: he's a vampire, and he is not about to stop dealing arms to the Black Dagger Brotherhood. When Assail falls into a coma and lingers on the verge of death, his cousins seek out Sola and beg her to give him a reason to live. A lethal new enemy of the vampires has shown its face, and the Brotherhood needs Assail back on his feet.