Darker after midnight

In the dark of night, a blood war escalates within the hidden world of the Breed. After maintaining a fragile peace with the humans who walk beside them unaware, a single act of retaliation has put the vampire nation at risk of discovery. It falls to the Order--a cadre of Breed warriors pledged to protect their own and humankind alike--to stop Dragos, the power-mad vampire, before his push for domination explodes into catastrophe. At the center of the Order's quest is Sterling Chase, whose biggest battle is the one he wages against his own savage nature. But when his eyes meet those of Tavia Fairchild, Chase finds himself drawn to the woman--and convinced she is something much more than she seems. And while everything logical warns Tavia against getting close to Chase, she cannot deny that he stirs something ravenous within her. As the Order's enemy mobilizes for the battle of the ages, Chase and Tavia are thrust into the heart of violence. With time running out, they must find a way to defeat Dragos once and for all--or die tryingl.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction, Romance, Fantasy. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.