When a vampire bonds to a human, the results can be dire. Five-hundred-year-old vampire Marguerite Fontaine is teetering on the brink of mental ruin. The affliction, which plagues older vampires, only has one cure—a mate bond. But when Marguerite finds her mate, human musician Mikey Madeley, he falls short of her exacting social standards. She decides to take an experimental new drug to suppress the feelings triggered by her bond, freeing her from a lifetime of misery with an unsuitable mate. Devastated and confused by her disappearance, Mikey agrees to help a group of ruthless vampire hunters capture Marguerite. He finds himself torn between wrath and desire for her, his misguided pact with the hunters hanging over him like an axe. When they are reunited, he is no longer able to bury his overwhelming need for her, their bond drawing them to one another despite his fury and her disdain. Will Marguerite continue to deny her love for Mikey? And can Mikey forgive her for abandoning him before it’s too late to stop the hunters?