Ohh! We get to meet the boogey men for the vampires. The Vampire Council has come to St. Louis and Anita and Jean Claude aren’t sure why they’ve come. Maybe it was to make sure that the empty seat on council from Mr. Oliver is taken by Jean Claude. Of course he knows that he’s not strong enough to keep it so why take it to begin with. Mr. Oliver was killed by Anita earlier and now the council wants to know why. They have brought with them, Asher, a blast from the past with a grudge for Jean Claude. He was with his human servant and Jean Claude for many years until the church took his servant and burned her for being a witch and scarred him for life with holy water. Now he just wants Jean Claude’s pain. He has decided to kill Anita. A love for a love. A human servant for a human servant. Even though Jean Claude tries to tell Asher the truth, he isn’t able to comprehend. Will Anita be able to get through to him?

Someone is going around setting fires to abandoned buildings and the police are asking for Anita’s help. She’s not sure what she can do about it but they say that’s it preternatural and she’s needed for consult. Also the Human’s First, an activist group that believes that vampires having rights is an abomination, are pulling out all the stops and destroying businesses with fire and shooting people. They don’t like lycanthropes either, doesn’t matter what flavor. Stephan and Nathaniel are being guarded at the hospital so Anita has to go down there to find out who shot who. Also there is so much lukoi business with the pack that Anita isn’t sure what to do about it. Her exboyfriend, Richard, the lukoi Ulfric, isn’t too happy with her meddling in the pack’s mess. He wants her to go away but if she drops everything then the wolves and wereleopards would be anyone’s meat. Ever since the break up, Richard hasn’t been himself. He can’t seem to embrace his beast and with the triumverate between him, Anita, and Jean Claude, it is hard to even be in the same room together.

A little more in depth than the others I think. Not that that’s a bad thing. I rather like it better. The characters have flaws like any other human or monster in this case and you get to see that more in this book. Anita’s life isn’t perfect by a long shot but she does her best. Her loyalty to the pack and to the pard has earned her the titles, lupa for the pack, even though her and Richard are no longer together, and Nimir-Ra, leopard queen, from the pard.The sense of family between the pack is what Anita wants for the pard. Since she killed Gabriel, not that he didn’t deserve it, the pard has been without a leader and anyone’s meat so to speak. Anita couldn’t let that happen. Such a profound story that will leave you waiting to pick up the next. You learn so much about the people in Anita’s life that you feel like you know them personally. I like that in a book or series. I enjoy knowing or expecting what a person would say by knowing their personality. I have to keep telling myself that it isn’t real though. But in the middle of a book there’s no way you could tell me that.

Definitely a great read. I highly recommend it and the rest of the series. Happy Reading!!