Joss the vampire slayer has come back to Bathory. He was last here in Vlad's freshman year and they became friends but when he found out that Vlad was a vampire he nearly killed him. Now he is coming back to finish the job. Vlad decides to talk to his Uncle Otis and asks him that he not kill Joss because he still thinks of him as a friend. Vlad thinks about this a lot in the book. He knows that Joss will likely kill him if he got the chance but he knows that some how they are still friends. On the last day summer vacation before Vlad starts his junior year, he is invited to come and celebrate Otis's life at his old house. When he gets to this old house, there are numerous vampires. This is when Vlad learns about D'Ablo and how he got on the Council of Elders. That's when Vlad meets Dorian. A powerful vampire that has a taste for vampire blood - especially Vlad's blood. By the end of Vlad's first day of school, Otis (who is also the mythology teacher at his school) tells him that Vikas will be teaching him all he needs to know about the Slayer Society and how to defend himself against them. He also is still required to do his homework.
Vikas gets poisoned by Joss when he put garlic in his drink. Vlad thinks it's a trap and checks the belfry thinking Vikas getting poisoned was just a distraction. When he gets there the room is a mess and his father's journal is missing. One night Vlad was almost killed by D'Ablo. He was sleeping in his room when D'Able attacked him. D'Ablo was trying to take Vlad's Pravus powers by stabbing him with the sacrificial blade that will take his powers. But since Vlad is the Pravus, his abilities are greater and he breaks the blade that D'Ablo tried to kill him with off in his back. Now that the blade is broken, Vlad thinks D'Ablo isn't much of a threat. Vlad and Otis then flies to New York for Otis's pre-trial. The trails are held in a secret room in the V Bar (a bar only for vampires.)
In December, Tristian (Vikas's drudge) was killed by someone unknown, someone who wants to send a message to the vampires of Bathory. Vikas and Otis think that Joss did it but Vlad doesn't want to believe it. He decides to approach Joss and asks him about Tristian and his father's journal. That's when Vlad wrongly gets revenge on Joss giving him a broken arm and beats him up pretty bad. While Joss was in the hospital, he says that he didn't take the journal and that he didn't kill Tristian. Back at school Eddie Poe had written an article about Vlad being a vampire. Vlad skips school for several days with the intention on never going back. But Nelly soon makes him go back. During one of Vlad's training lesson, Vikas and Otis state that they never have seen a vampire move like that before, hinting that Vlad's Pravus powers are awakening.
One night Dorian and Vlad meet. Dorian allows Vlad to ask questions about the Pravus prophecy. That's when he learns that he will rule over vampire-kind out of necessity and enslave the human race out of charity. Vlad and Otis go back to New York for Otis's trail. It ends up that Otis is innocent but that it was all a trap. Vlad was then put to trail for D'Ablo's injuries, revealing himself to humans, and because of his father for having a relationship with a human. Vlad starts saying goodbye to some people knowing that he will not live after his trail. Later on one night Joss shows up in front of Vlad's house. He was going to kill Vlad but Dorian stepped in the way and was killed. Before Dorian died, he told Vlad that the only way for him to get the prophecy is to drink his blood. So he did. Vlad than starts to fight Joss and nearly killed him when someone came and told him to stop. The last word is "Dad?".
