[1] Previously in the series, the main character, Rose, and her true love Dimitri made a pact that if either of them were turned into strigoi, the other would kill them rather than let them roam as an evil vampire.

After meeting an Alchemist named Sydney, they travel to Siberia, where she eventually finds Dimitri’s family in the small town of Baia.

While in Baia, she meets another "Shadow-Kissed" bonded pair, Oksana and Mark, and a mysterious Moroi man named Abe, who tries to force her to go back to St. Vladimir's.

While held hostage by Dimitri, who has been feeding off her and thus weakening her, Rose eventually manages to escape, grabbing a stake on the way out.

Reluctantly, they tell her of a Spirit user they knew named Robert Doru, who claimed to have restored a Strigoi back to life.