But Myles Standish (the archangel Michael) was equally passionate in his belief that the Silver Bloods no longer walked the earth. For the first time in Blue Blood history there was disagreement within the Conclave of Elders. But John Carver lost the White Vote, as the Conclave chose Myles Standish, thereby confirming their faith in Michael once again. The
Carvers lost their governing position in the Conclave, their lone opposing voice silenced under the Regis’s ironfisted rule.
As the years went by, the Blue Bloods grew comfortable, satisfied, fearless, and proud. They amassed vast wealth and influence in the New World that rivaled the grand palaces and empires they had built in the Old. The Silver Bloods had neither been seen nor heard from since Roanoke. As far as the ruling
Conclave was concerned, Croatan were a myth; their existence legislated out of Blue Blood history.
In New York City, the Conclave leadership established the
Committee, under whose aegis the vampires ran the Board of
Trustees of the New York Blood Bank, among other educational institutions and charitable causes, as the Blue Bloods continued to advance their mission to bring art, light, truth, and justice to the human world.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW YORK . . .
Four hundred years after the disappearance of the Roanoke colony, the mysterious attacks on the vampires began again. In
New York City, Blue Blood victims were being taken during their most vulnerable period, their adolescence, before they are fully in control of their powers. Aggie Carondolet, a student at the
Duchesne School, and four other teenagers, were fully consumed to Dissipation, their life force drained from their veins.
Half-blood vampire Schuyler Van Alen, along with her human Conduit, Oliver Hazard-Perry, and fellow Blue Blood
Bliss Llewellyn, attempted to solve the murders and the disappearance of their friend Dylan Ward, who was charged with the crime. Schuyler’s investigation brought her in contact with her secret crush, Jack Force, and to the malicious attention of his twin sister, Mimi. The Force twins hailed from the richest and most powerful Blue Blood family in the city. Their father, Charles Force, was the latest reincarnation of Michael, the vampires’ immortal leader.
Schuyler learned the truth about the Silver Bloods from her grandmother Cordelia Van Alen, who was fatally injured after a
Silver Blood ambush. Following Cordelia’s last wish, Schuyler left for Venice to find her exiled grandfather. Lawrence Van Alen returned to New York to tell the Coven the same thing he had told them back in Plymouth as John Carver: he suspected that one of the oldest families of the Conclave had been Corrupted, and was hiding a powerful Silver Blood—perhaps the most powerful Silver Blood of all.
After Aggie’s death, the Carondolets called for a White
Vote to replace Charles Force, who was then the Regis of the
Coven, their leader. They were unsuccessful in their attempt.
Like the Carvers centuries before them, the Carondolets were promptly banished from the council. Charles Force refused to believe that the Silver Bloods had returned. He dismissed the deaths as random anomalies, not the work of their old, mythical foes.
But he could not stop the Committee from calling in the
Venators, the Conclave’s secret police force, to investigate the murders, sending one of them to enroll at Duchesne, the elite private school that many of the victims had attended. Kingsley
Martin, the Venator assigned to the mission, was ordered to discover who among the young Blue Bloods had been drawn to the Dark Matter, a sign of Silver Blood Corruption. Mimi Force was the strongest suspect.
A Silver Blood attack at the Repository of History, the very center of the Blue Bloods power, left the Chief Warden murdered. Mimi was charged with the crime and brought to face a blood trial. Only a vampire with Gabrielle’s power would be able to clear her by reading the true memories embedded in her blood. Schuyler, as Gabrielle’s daughter, agreed to perform this act. In the blood memory, Schuyler discovered that Kingsley
Martin, the Venator and allegedly a reformed Silver Blood, was the true culprit, and that Mimi was innocent. Schuyler also found out that Jack Force returned her feelings for him. But this discovery was complicated by the fact that she had recently performed the Sacred Kiss with Oliver Hazard-Perry, marking him as her human familiar, bound to her by blood and love.
Under Lawrence’s influence, and after the embarrassment of the blood trial, the Conclave called for a White Vote, and for the first time since the Blue Bloods’ banishment from the
Kingdom of Heaven, Michael was no longer Regis, as Charles
Force lost his position. They named Lawrence to lead them in his place.
Kingsley Martin disappeared after the trial, but was brought back to the fold when Lawrence discovered the truth behind his actions. Charles Force had secretly ordered the loyal Venator to call up a Silver Blood from deep inside their most protected stronghold. Kingsley, a reformed Silver Blood himself, had set up Mimi to perform the rite, but at the last moment she had been too weak, and he had performed the dark spell himself.
According to Charles, the call should never have worked. It should have been impossible. It was a test that was supposed to have failed.
Now even Charles had to admit that their immortal adversaries had returned. A broken man, he turned his back on the Conclave, wasting his days locked up in his study. In his absence, Mimi promoted herself to the family seat in the council.
The Silver Blood attacks continued, and the Venators reported trouble in Corcovado, where the demon Leviathan, Lucifer’s brother, was imprisoned. Lawrence departed for Rio to secure Corcovado and left the Coven in the hands of the
Regent, the second-highest-ranking Blue Blood, Nan Cutler.
Alone in New York, Schuyler had problems of her own. Her lost friend Dylan Ward had returned unexpectedly, displaying signs of Silver Blood Corruption, but her secret love affair with
Jack Force took up all her attention and distracted her from the danger. But when the whole Conclave was called to Rio, Schuyler suspected something and traveled to the city as well, hoping to aid Lawrence.
During a dinner party to welcome the Blue Bloods to the city, the Silver Bloods revealed themselves at last and, led by the traitor Nan Cutler, slaughtered the members of the Conclave and left the house to burn with the Black Fire. Mimi barely made it out of the party alive, but it was her hand that felled the false
Regent.
Schuyler and Lawrence rushed to Corcovado only to experience more grief. Through Lucifer’s trickery, Leviathan was released and Lawrence slain. Before dying, Lawrence pressed Schuyler to fulfill his legacy and bring salvation back to their people. During the aftermath of Lawrence’s murder, Bliss
Llewellyn discovered a startling revelation about her provenance.
Back in New York, in the absence of a Regis, the Coven named Forsyth Llewellyn Regent, to preside over what was left of the Blue Blood leadership—a Conclave made up almost entirely of retired Elders and Wardens. They blamed Schuyler for causing Lawrence’s death, and she fled New York with
Oliver rather than face her sentence. Schuyler bade good-bye to Jack as well, for loving him could only lead to his doom.
Schuyler and Oliver traveled around the world, one step ahead of the Venators chasing them. In Paris, she was captured by no less than Jack Force himself. Meanwhile, Mimi had joined Kingsley’s team to hunt for Jordan Llewellyn, who had been kidnapped by the Silver Bloods in Rio. Bliss, left at home in the Hamptons, desperately fought for the mastery of her soul.
Charles left for Paris to hunt Leviathan, only to get caught in his own trap. The Conclave, reduced to seven ruling houses, proposed a resolution reinstating Charles in the position of
Regis when he returned. But Forsyth Llewellyn had other plans.
He immediately called for a White Vote, nominating himself as
Regis, under the orders of his true master, Lucifer.
Before the vote was tallied, Ambrose Barlow and Minerva
Morgan, two of the oldest Wardens on the council, brought a damning anonymous letter about Forsyth to Mimi’s attention.
Mimi stalled on giving Forsyth leadership of the Conclave by withholding her approval.
Now, the Conclave remains leaderless in a time of great darkness. But there is a good omen at last: Allegra Van Alen finally awoke from her dreamless sleep with words of wisdom and hope for her two daughters, the light (Schuyler) and the shadow (Bliss).