St Vladimir's Academy isn't just any boarding school - hidden away, it's a place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess.

Jacob is in the car when his dad stops to pick up a stranger in the rain - the hitchhiker. Who is he? And why is he out in a storm? Soon, Jacob has all the answers. Now he has to save his family from this madman, who will stop at nothing until they are all dead.