[1] After surviving a Were attack while attending a play in Shreveport with her new boyfriend John Quinn, Sookie Stackhouse goes to New Orleans to sort out the affairs of her cousin Hadley, a vampire who was murdered.

The following night, Sookie calls on the Queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne Leclerq, and her new husband, the vampire king of Arkansas, Peter Threadgill.

Their conversation eventually leads to the revelation that Amelia and some of her peers plan to magically reconstruct the events of the night of Jake Purifoy's turning.

Sophie-Anne decides that this is something she would like to see, so she, her entourage, and Sookie go back to Hadley's together where they find the witches ready to perform the ectoplasmic reconstruction spell.

Quinn is also in New Orleans on business, and so the couple is together when a group of Weres break into Hadley's apartment to kidnap Sookie and transport her to the Pelt family.