For two centuries, the vampire elite of the Deep South have governed from the shadows. Born in the crucible of the antebellum era, the secret alliance known as The Twelve Ovals has quietly amassed immense wealth and power, maintaining peace through the strict laws of the Silent Harvest. By the year 2030, they are a glamorous, high-society empire hiding in plain sight amidst the neon-drenched streets and glass towers of the modern world. Alia Vance is the reluctant heir to Alabama's legendary Steel Oval. While her parents train her to inherit an empire of earth and stone, Alia struggles to master her powers-and her own desires. In a world that demands rigid dynastic matches, she secretly longs for a life, and a love, of her own choosing. But the luxury of waiting for the future is shattered in a single, bloody night.