With her boss preoccupied with research into the Founder's Houses in Morganville, student Claire Danvers is left to her own devices when she learns that three vampires have disappeared without a trace. She soon discovers that the last person to see one of the missing vampires is new to town - a mysterious man named Magnus. After a difficult encounter with the last resident of Morganville, Claire is sure that Magnus is not an ordinary person. But is he a vampire - or something else?