The vampires now call me the Heartless Heir... Summer has passed, and the trial is over. Now that Alex is Heir, she's taking an active role in the public duties, which includes interacting with vampires...including one vampire who'd like to pretend she doesn't exist when it suits him. Unfortunately, that isn't the only fallout from those seven weeks. The betrayal among Alex's own clan is affecting the people still in it, including Alex. Bringing in the turned vampire traitor, Sage, hasn't helped anything either, but Sage needs a safe space and Alex is determined to make sure he has it. It would be easier if a particular vampire liege would stop showing up and insisting she's going to need help and acting as if the two of them are more than obligated enemies. As Alex navigates her position as Heir, finding ways to coexist with vampires is among the difficulties everyone is now dealing with. The vampires are trying to become part of society, and as they do, it becomes clear that there are issues among the vampires...issues that start spilling onto the witches. When the problem finally explodes into Alex's personal life, she's going to jump right into the middle of the vampire mess, and what happened over the summer at House Vital is going to decide the outcome...and who the heartless one really is.