 The book begins with Jacques Dubrinsky, younger brother to Mikhail, being tortured and buried alive by members of the same fanatical group that attacked Raven and killed his sister some 25 years earlier in "Dark Prince".As time goes on he loses much of his memory (perhaps even his sanity), the only thing he has a clear memory of is of the faces of his human tormentors, and the fact that he was betrayed by someone close to him.Shea O’Halloran is a brilliant American surgeon and researcher trying to find the cure for a rare blood disorder.