Free from their mentor Seba Nile, Larten Crepsley and Wester Flack join the Cubs -- wild young vampires with little respect for human life and a taste for mindless enjoyment. For the Cubs, everything is easy. But nothing has ever been easy for Larten, and soon fate throws his life into another spin. With dark paths to travel, Larten finds himself far from the Vampire Mountain and its rules. A long way from home, sick and alone, he must decide what kind of vampire he will be. Whether he will stand firm, be true to his master and his principles -- or whether he will lose himself in blood. . . .