The fourth book in the series. Author's manuscript. For personal use only. It seemed like just yesterday that vampires first entered a new world, and now two centuries of voluntary exile are behind them. But if you close yourself within four walls, this does not mean that the world around you does the same. Everything flows, everything changes. We have to adapt to new conditions and, remaining in the shadows, continue to observe. And who would have known that it would be hard not from boredom, but from sorrowful ceremonies, when you have to bury old friends, and danger comes from where no one expected it...