Thousands of years after the first vampire was created, vampire civilization, which thrived during the days of the Roman Empire, finds itself at its weakest point in its entire history. A new vampire hasn't been created in over 15 years. Having lost the ability to re-stock their ranks, their numbers have been diminished by hunters who want nothing more than to eradicate every last one of them. Only 2,200 vampires remain. The last surviving vampires have either gone into hiding or come to Los Angeles for protection under the leadership of The Prince, one of the oldest and most powerful vampires left, who rules as if Rome had never fallen. When The Prince discovers that the first new vampire has been created in years, a mystery begins to unfold as The Prince wards off forces that challenge his power and the future of vampire civilization itself: conspiracies from within the vampire senate, an unseen force whose loyalties are unclear, and The Prince's own secret addiction that threatens his stability most of all.