Book excerpt: The vampires have always feared the first of their kind and his descendants. Now all immortals know there’s a new Eirikrson threatening their way of life. And they don’t intend to let her. Catherine Stormhale has spent decades trying to crawl out of her family’s shadow. Now they’re calling her back home, to serve their clan against her new friends, and she has a choice to make. Bash used to know who he was. A protector. A provider. A huntsman. After being bitten by a feral vampire and turned into a blood-craving thing, he’s lost everything. Family, purpose, honor. When students are attacked outside of the Institute, all warriors are called to help secure their borders. Bash and Cat sign up for the same schedule. He’s a newborn vampire with no control over his thirst and she, a princess born to this life. Neither knows what they’re in for.