Book excerpt: A writer, Kelly Weatherford, has been looking into the past of Chance Noble and following him around L.A. when Chance unexpectedly confronts Kelly in a parking garage. Chance tells Kelly he knows who she is and what she is doing, but he can't figure out why any writer would be interested in him or his past. The meeting between Chance and Kelly is interrupted by a gun-wielding trio of punks with larceny on their mind, but a friend of Chance's, Miguel Sanchez, suddenly appears out of nowhere, and using just his bare hands, routs the punks and makes them fear for their lives. Miguel's arrival in L.A. causes Chance to invite Kelly to come with him and Miguel to Napa Valley, where he promises Kelly all her questions will be answered and the mystery cleared up. Kelly reluctantly agrees to the trip but is stunned when, instead of driving to Napa Valley, they go the Van Nuys airport and board a Gulfstream V jet owned and piloted by Chance. In Napa Valley, Kelly meets and becomes a friend with the Tiszan clan, a family that owns a huge mansion and runs a winery. Over a period of days Kelly learns the real story behind the vampire legends and finds out that Chance Noble is more than he appears to be. Kelly's eyes are further opened when she learns that the Tiszan clan is just one of the many pure-blood and half-blood vampire clans who live and work among mortal humans. And most importantly, Kelly witnesses a deadly sword duel that ill decide whether the vampire clans stay at peace or go to war.