I love this series! Dorina is one kickass dhamphir. Dorina has to find a stolen fey relic that is meant to protect her best friends son--a fey prince and heir to the throne that brings Dorina fighting against old and new baddies. While on an assignment from her father, Mircea, to bring back a certain vamp for information, it seems she's not the only one. Trying to escape the hounds (vamps with extrememly high sniffing abilities) while carrying around a vamps decapitated head with a bad attitude--well he did just loose is head--which can still talk even without his body...well...attached, Dorina runs into Louis-Cesaer. After a, um, distraction Louis-Cesaer takes off with the talking head leaving Dorina with the headless vamps body which even though he can't talk it doesn't improve his attitude much. What's funnier than a headless vamp giving you the finger? Everyone knows more than they're telling about who has the relic and Dorina can't work blind. She demands Micrea tell her what's really going on and everything seems to be connected. Louis-Cesaer finally finds his mistress--innocent, fragile, childlike Christine--who has some secrets of her own. Meanwhile Dorina and Louis-Cesaer's relationship grows and even when Dorina tries to convince herself it would never work she can't help how she feels and Louis-Cesaer's protectiveness and soft touch tells us he cares a whole lot more for Dorina than she lets herself hope for.