Riley is twenty-five years old. She has a doctorate in linguistics and taught at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a descendant of the Cloud People and the Incas. She is a child of the cloud forest and has an affinity for the earth. All the women of her family are part of an ancient lineage with a duty that has passed from mother to daughter for centuries. They must perform a ritual on a mountain in the Andes every five years to contain the vampire that is trapped inside. Unbeknownst to her, Riley's lifemate Dax is also trapped there.