Elaine spent a decade sacrificing her pure blood for Samuel, the human she was bound to. Yet on the tenth anniversary of their blood bond, she sees his attention fixed on Lynette, his junior, and watches as Lynette frames her to spark a rift. Heartbroken, Elaine takes a permanent assignment in the vampire outer territories. Three years later, she returns—no longer willing to forgive Samuel, and ready to mark Lord Colin as the sign of her new bond.